Influence of Rb, Cs and Ba on Superconductivity of Magnesium Diboride

Magnesium diboride has been thermally treated in the presence of Rb, Cs, and Ba. Magnetic susceptibility shows onsets of superconductivity in the resulting samples at 52K (Rb), 58K (Cs) and 45K (Ba). Room-temperature 11B NMR indicates to cubic symmetry of the electric field gradient at boron site for the samples reacted with Rb and Cs, in contrast to the axial symmetry in the initial MgB2 and in the sample treated with Ba.Comment: 3 pages (twocolumn), 2 figure

Familial hypomagnesaemia, Hypercalciuria and Nephrocalcinosis associated with a novel mutation of the highly conserved leucine residue 116 of Claudin 16 in a Chinese patient with a delayed diagnosis: A case report

Background: Sixty mutations of claudin 16 coding gene have been reported in familial hypomagnesemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis (FHHNC) patients. Recent investigations revealed that a highly conserved glycine-leucine-tryptophan (115G-L-W117) motif in the first extracellular segment (ESC1) of claudin 16 might be essential for stabilization of the appropriately folded ECS1 structure and conservation of normal claudin 16 function. However, neither missense nor nonsense mutation has ever been described in this motif. Our study aimed at identifying mutations in a Chinese patient with FHHNC and exploring the association between genotype and phenotype. Case presentation: A 33-year-old female presented with 4 years history of recurrent acute pyelonephritis without other notable past medical history. Her healthy parents, who aged 56 and 53 respectively, were second cousins, and her only sibling died from renal failure without definite cause at age 25. Renal ultrasound imaging demonstrated atrophic kidneys and bilateral nephrocalcinosis. The laboratory workup revealed impaired renal function (Stage CKD IV), hypocalcemia and mild hypomagnesemia, accompanied with marked renal loss of magnesium and hypercalciuria. During the follow-up, treatment with calcitriol and calcium but not with magnesium was difficult to achieve normal serum calcium levels, whereas her serum magnesium concentration fluctuated within normal ranges. In the end, the patient unavoidably reached ESRD at 36 years old. The clinical features and family history suggested the diagnosis of FHHNC. To make a definite diagnosis, we use whole-exome sequencing to identify the disease-causing mutations and Sanger sequencing to confirm the mutation co-segregation in the family. As a result, a novel homozygous mutation (c.346C > G, p.Leu116Val) in115G-L-W117motif of claudin 16 was identified. Her parents, grandmother and one of her cousins carried heterozygous p.Leu116Val, whereas 200 unrelated controls did not carry this mutation. Conclusions: We described a delayed diagnosis patient with FHHNC in the Chinese population and identified a novel missense mutation in the highly conserved115G-L-W117motif of claudin 16 for the first time. According to the reported data and the information deduced from 3D modeling, we speculate that this mutation probably reserve partial residual function which might be related to the slight phenotype of the patient

On Bose-Einstein condensate inside moving exciton-phonon droplets

We explore a nonlinear field model to describe the interplay between the ability of excitons to be Bose condensed and their interaction with other modes of a crystal. We apply our consideration to the long-living paraexcitons in Cu2O. Taking into account the exciton-phonon interaction and introducing a coherent phonon part of the moving condensate, we solve quasi-stationary equations for the exciton-phonon condensate. These equations support localized solutions, and we discuss the conditions for the inhomogeneous condensate to appear in the crystal. Allowable values of the characteristic width of ballistic condensates are estimated. The stability conditions of the moving condensate are analyzed by use of Landau arguments, and Landau critical parameters appear in the theory. It follows that, under certain conditions, the condensate can move through the crystal as a stable droplet. To separate the coherent and non-coherent parts of the exciton-phonon packet, we suggest to turn off the phonon wind by the changes in design of the 3D crystal and boundary conditions for the moving droplet.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, three eps figures are incorporated by epsf. submitted to Phys. Letters

Fermions in gravity and gauge backgrounds on a brane world

We solve the fermionic zero modes in gravity and gauge backgrounds on a brane involving a warped geometry, and study the localization of spin 1/2 fermionic field on the brane world. The result is that there exist massless spin 1/2 fermions which can be localized on the bulk with the exponentially decreasing warp factor if including U(1) gauge background. Two special cases of gauge backgrounds on the extra dimensional manifold are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, final versio

Yang-Mills condensate dark energy coupled with matter and radiation

The coincidence problem is studied for the dark energy model of effective Yang-Mills condensate in a flat expanding universe during the matter-dominated stage. The YMC energy $\rho_y(t)$ is taken to represent the dark energy, which is coupled either with the matter, or with both the matter and the radiation components. The effective YM Lagrangian is completely determined by quantum field theory up to 1-loop order. It is found that under very generic initial conditions and for a variety of forms of coupling, the existence of the scaling solution during the early stages and the subsequent exit from the scaling regime are inevitable. The transition to the accelerating stage always occurs around a redshift $z\simeq (0.3\sim 0.5)$. Moreover, when the Yang-Mills condensate transfers energy into matter or into both matter and radiation, the equation of state $w_y$ of the Yang-Mills condensate can cross over -1 around $z\sim 2$, and takes on a current value $\simeq -1.1$. This is consistent with the recent preliminary observations on supernovae Ia. Therefore, the coincidence problem can be naturally solved in the effective YMC dark energy models.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figure

Novel Topological Invariant in the U(1) Gauge Field Theory

Based on the decomposition of U(1) gauge potential theory and the $\phi$-mapping topological current theory, the three-dimensional knot invariant and a four-dimensional new topological invariant are discussed in the U(1) gauge field.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figures accepted by MPL

Trans-phonon effects in ultrafast nano-devices

We report a novel phenomenon in carbon nanotube (CNT) based devices, the transphonon effects, which resemble the transonic effects in aerodynamics. It is caused by dissipative resonance of nanotube phonons similar to the radial breathing mode, and subsequent drastic surge of the dragging force on the sliding tube, and multiple phonon barriers are encountered as the intertube sliding velocity reaches critical values. It is found that the transphonon effects can be tuned by applying geometric constraints or varying chirality combinations of the nanotubes

An Exact Solution to O(26) Sigma Model coupled to 2-D Gravity

By a mapping to the bosonic string theory, we present an exact solution to the O(26) sigma model coupled to 2-D quantum gravity. In particular, we obtain the exact gravitational dressing to the various matter operators classified by the irreducible representations of O(26). We also derive the exact form of the gravitationally modified beta function for the original coupling constant $e^2$. The relation between our exact solution and the asymptotic solution given in ref[3] is discussed in various aspects.Comment: 10 pages, pupt-144

A New Empirical Model for the Structural Analysis of Early-type Galaxies and a Critical Review of the Nuker Model

The Nuker law was designed to match the inner few (~3-10) arcseconds of predominantly nearby (< 30 Mpc) early-type galaxy light-profiles; it was never intended to describe an entire profile. The Sersic model, on the other hand, was developed to fit the entire profile; however, due to the presence of partially depleted galaxy cores, the Sersic model cannot always describe the very inner region. We have therefore developed a new empirical model consisting of an inner power-law, a transition region, and an outer Sersic model to connect the inner and outer structure of elliptical galaxies. Moreover, the stability of the Nuker model parameters are investigated. Surprisingly, none are found to be stable quantities; all are shown to vary systematically with a profile's fitted radial extent, and often by more than 100%. Considering elliptical galaxies spanning a range of 7.5 magnitudes, the central stellar density of the underlying host galaxy is observed to increase with galaxy luminosity until the onset of core formation, detected only in the brightest elliptical galaxies. We suggest that the so-called ``power-law'' galaxies may actually be described by the Sersic model over their entire radial range