360 research outputs found
Effective anisotropies and energy barriers of magnetic nanoparticles with Néel surface anisotropy
Magnetic nanoparticles with Néel surface anisotropy, different internal structures, surface arrangements, and elongation are modeled as many-spin systems. The results suggest that the energy of many-spin nanoparticles cut from cubic lattices can be represented by an effective one-spin potential containing uniaxial and cubic anisotropies. It is shown that the values and signs of the corresponding constants depend strongly on the particle's surface arrangement, internal structure, and shape. Particles cut from a simple cubic lattice have the opposite sign of the effective cubic term, as compared to particles cut from the face-centered cubic lattice. Furthermore, other remarkable phenomena are observed in nanoparticles with relatively strong surface effects. (i) In elongated particles surface effects can change the sign of the uniaxial anisotropy. (ii) In symmetric particles (spherical and truncated octahedral) with cubic core anisotropy surface effects can change the sing of the latter. We also show that the competition between the core and surface anisotropies leads to a new energy that contributes to both the second- and fourth-order effective anisotropies. We evaluate energy barriers ΔE as functions of the strength of the surface anisotropy and the particle size. The results are analyzed with the help of the effective one-spin potential, which allows us to assess the consistency of the widely used formula ΔE/V= K∞ +6 Ks /D, where K∞ is the core anisotropy constant, Ks is a phenomenological constant related to surface anisotropy, and D is the particle's diameter. We show that the energy barriers are consistent with this formula only for elongated particles for which the surface contribution to the effective uniaxial anisotropy scales with the surface and is linear in the constant of the Néel surface anisotropy. © 2007 The American Physical Society
Constrained Monte Carlo Method and Calculation of the Temperature Dependence of Magnetic Anisotropy
We introduce a constrained Monte Carlo method which allows us to traverse the
phase space of a classical spin system while fixing the magnetization
direction. Subsequently we show the method's capability to model the
temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy, and for bulk uniaxial and cubic
anisotropies we recover the low-temperature Callen-Callen power laws in M. We
also calculate the temperature scaling of the 2-ion anisotropy in L10 FePt, and
recover the experimentally observed M^2.1 scaling. The method is newly applied
to evaluate the temperature dependent effective anisotropy in the presence of
the N'eel surface anisotropy in thin films with different easy axis
configurations. In systems having different surface and bulk easy axes, we show
the capability to model the temperature-induced reorientation transition. The
intrinsic surface anisotropy is found to follow a linear temperature behavior
in a large range of temperatures
Influence of interfacial roughness on exchange bias in core-shell nanoparticles
[EN]Exchange bias is a phenomenon that has attracted a great deal of interest in the 50 years following its discovery, but that is still lacking a deep theoretical understanding of its origin in core-shell nanoparticles. We present calculations of ferro-antiferromagnetic core-shell nanoparticles with roughened interfaces and demonstrate a wide dispersion in the calculated exchange-bias field caused by the roughening. Furthermore, we show that the magnitude of the exchange-bias field is strongly correlated with the net interfacial moment in the antiferromagnet, proportional to the degree of the interfacial roughness. This provides new insight into the origins of exchange bias in core-shell nanoparticle
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The ROVCO2 surface decontamination system
DOE needs to decontaminated over one million square feet of nuclear contaminated concrete surfaces. The 1000 lb ROVCO2 system, which automates blasting functions and eliminates secondary blasting waste, integrates a remotely operated vehicle and an enhanced commercial CO{sub 2} blasting system with an Oceaneering-developed work arm and control system. The remote operation protects the operation from contamination and supports functional automation of tedious tasks. The blasting system shoots pellets of dry ice propelled by pressurized gas at the surface to be cleaned. Impact of the pellets fractures and scales off a layer of the contaminated surface. At impact, the pellets return to a gaseous state which is vacuumed up with the debris. The CO{sub 2} gas and debris are passed through the vacuum filter, leaving only the removed material for waste disposal. Phase 2 testing achieved nearly all of the success criteria, with the exception of the commercial workhead`s performance
Control of the chirality and polarity of magnetic vortices in triangular nanodots
Magnetic vortex dynamics in lithographically prepared nanodots is currently a
subject of intensive research, particularly after recent demonstration that the
vortex polarity can be controlled by in-plane magnetic field. This has
stimulated the proposals of non-volatile vortex magnetic random access
memories. In this work, we demonstrate that triangular nanodots offer a real
alternative where vortex chirality, in addition to polarity, can be controlled.
In the static regime, we show that vortex chirality can be tailored by applying
in-plane magnetic field, which is experimentally imaged by means of
Variable-Field Magnetic Force Microscopy. In addition, the polarity can be also
controlled by applying a suitable out-of-plane magnetic field component. The
experiment and simulations show that to control the vortex polarity, the
out-of-plane field component, in this particular case, should be higher than
the in-plane nucleation field. Micromagnetic simulations in the dynamical
regime show that the magnetic vortex polarity can be changed with
short-duration magnetic field pulses, while longer pulses change the vortex
chirality.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure
Untargeted lipidomics uncovers lipid signatures distinguishing severe versus moderate forms of acutely decompensated cirrhosis
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Acutely decompensated of cirrhosis is a heterogeneous clinical entity associated with moderate mortality. In some patients, this condition develops quickly into a more often deadly acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), in which other organs such as the kidneys or brain fail. The aim of this study was to characterize the blood lipidome in a large series of patients with cirrhosis and identify specific signatures associated with acute decompensation and ACLF development. METHODS: Serum untargeted lipidomics was performed in 561 patients with acutely decompensated (AD) cirrhosis (518 without and 43 with ACLF) (discovery cohort) and in 265 AD patients (128 without and 137 with ACLF) in whom serum samples were available to perform repeated measurements during the 28-day follow-up (validation cohort). Analyses were also performed in 78 AD patients included in a therapeutic albumin trial, 43 patients with compensated cirrhosis and 29 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The circulating lipid landscape associated with cirrhosis was characterized by a generalized suppression, which was more manifest during acute decompensation and in non-surviving patients. By computing discriminating accuracy and the variable importance projection score for each of the 223 annotated lipids, we identified a sphingomyelin fingerprint specific for AD cirrhosis and a distinct cholesteryl ester and lysophosphatidylcholine fingerprint for ACLF. Liver dysfunction, mainly, and infections were the principal net contributors to these fingerprints, which were dynamic and interchangeable between AD patients whose condition worsened to ACLF and those who improved. Notably, blood lysophosphatidylcholine levels increased in these patients after albumin therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide insights into the lipid landscape associated with decompensation of cirrhosis and ACLF progression and identify unique noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers of advanced cirrhosis. LAY SUMMARY: Analysis of lipids in blood from patients with advanced cirrhosis reveals a general suppression of their levels in the circulation of these patients. A specific group of lipids known as sphingomyelins are useful to distinguish compensated from decompensated patients with cirrhosis. Another group of lipids designated cholesteryl esters further distinguish patients with decompensated patients who are at risk of developing organ failures
Mathematical modeling and forecasting of COVID-19: experience in Santiago de Cuba province
In the province of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, the COVID-19 epidemic has a limited progression that shows an early small-number peak of infections. Most published mathematical models fit data with high numbers of confirmed cases. In contrast, small numbers of cases make it difficult to predict the course of the epidemic. We present two known models adapted to capture the noisy dynamics of COVID-19 in the Santiago de Cuba province. Parameters of both models were estimated using the approximate-Bayesian-computation framework with dedicated error laws. One parameter of each model was updated on key dates of travel restrictions. Both models approximately predicted the infection peak and the end of the COVID-19 epidemic in Santiago de Cuba. The first model predicted 57 reported cases and 16 unreported cases. Additionally, it estimated six initially exposed persons. The second model forecasted 51 confirmed cases at the end of the epidemic. In conclusion, an opportune epidemiological investigation, along with the low number of initially exposed individuals, might partly explain the favorable evolution of the COVID-19 epidemic in Santiago de Cuba. With the available data, the simplest model predicted the epidemic evolution with greater precision, and the more complex model helped to explain the epidemic phenomenology
The capacity of apob-depleted plasma in inducing atp-binding cassette a1/g1-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux-but not gut microbial-derived metabolites-is independently associated with mortality in patients with st-segment elevation myocardial infarction
Altres ajuts: Fundació per a la Bioquímica Clínica i Patologia MolecularImpaired HDL-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux and higher circulating concentrations of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) levels are independent risk factors for cardiovascular mortality. The TMAO precursors, γ-butyrobetaine (γBB) and Trimethyllysine (TML), have also been recently associated with cardiovascular death, but their interactions with HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux remain unclear. We aimed to determine the associations between APOB depleted plasma-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux and plasma TMAO, γBB, and TML concentrations and explore their association with two-year follow-up mortality in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and unstable angina (UA). Baseline and ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCA1 and ABCG1 (ABCA1/G1)-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux to APOB-depleted plasma was decreased in patients with STEMI, and the latter was further impaired in those who died during follow-up. Moreover, the circulating concentrations of TMAO, γBB, and TML were higher in the deceased STEMI patients when compared with the STEMI survivors or UA patients. However, after statistical adjustment, only ABCA1/G1-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux remained significantly associated with mortality. Furthermore, neither the TMAO, γBB, nor TML levels altered the HDL-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux in vitro. We conclude that impaired ABCA1/G1-mediated macrophage cholesterol efflux is independently associated with mortality at follow-up in STEMI patients
Environmental arginine controls multinuclear giant cell metabolism and formation
Multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) are implicated in many diseases including schistosomiasis, sarcoidosis and arthritis. MGC generation is energy intensive to enforce membrane fusion and cytoplasmic expansion. Using receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Beta ligand (RANKL) induced osteoclastogenesis to model MGC formation, here we report RANKL cellular programming requires extracellular arginine. Systemic arginine restriction improves outcome in multiple murine arthritis models and its removal induces preosteoclast metabolic quiescence, associated with impaired tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle function and metabolite induction. Effects of arginine deprivation on osteoclastogenesis are independent of mTORC1 activity or global transcriptional and translational inhibition. Arginine scarcity also dampens generation of IL-4 induced MGCs. Strikingly, in extracellular arginine absence, both cell types display flexibility as their formation can be restored with select arginine precursors. These data establish how environmental amino acids control the metabolic fate of polykaryons and suggest metabolic ways to manipulate MGC-associated pathologies and bone remodelling. Multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) are important in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Here, the authors demonstrate that extracellular presence of the amino acid arginine is required for MGC formation and metabolism, suggesting a translational impact for strategies utilizing systemic arginine depletion in MGC-mediated diseases
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