28,554 research outputs found
Shiga Toxin Detection Methods : A Short Review
The Shiga toxins comprise a family of related protein toxins secreted by
certain types of bacteria. Shigella dysenteriae, some strain of Escherichia
coli and other bacterias can express toxins which caused serious complication
during the infection. Shiga toxin and the closely related Shiga-like toxins
represent a group of very similar cytotoxins that may play an important role in
diarrheal disease and hemolytic-uremic syndrome. The outbreaks caused by this
toxin raised serious public health crisis and caused economic losses. These
toxins have the same biologic activities and according to recent studies also
share the same binding receptor, globotriosyl ceramide (Gb3). Rapid detection
of food contamination is therefore relevant for the containment of food-borne
pathogens. The conventional methods to detect pathogens, such as
microbiological and biochemical identification are time-consuming and
laborious. The immunological or nucleic acid-based techniques require extensive
sample preparation and are not amenable to miniaturization for on-site
detection. In the present are necessary of techniques of rapid identification,
simple and sensitive which can be employed in the countryside with
minimally-sophisticated instrumentation. Biosensors have shown tremendous
promise to overcome these limitations and are being aggressively studied to
provide rapid, reliable and sensitive detection platforms for such
applications.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
Room temperature ferromagnetic-like behavior in Mn-implanted and post-annealed InAs layers deposited by Molecular Beam Epitaxy
We report on the magnetic and structural properties of Ar and Mn implanted
InAs epitaxial films grown on GaAs (100) by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and
the effect of Rapid Thermal Annealing (RTA) for 30 seconds at 750C. Channeling
Particle Induced X- ray Emission (PIXE) experiments reveal that after Mn
implantation almost all Mn atoms are subsbtitutional in the In-site of the InAs
lattice, like in a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS). All of these samples
show diamagnetic behavior. But, after RTA treatment the Mn-InAs films exhibit
room-temperature magnetism. According to PIXE measurements the Mn atoms are no
longer substitutional. When the same set of experiments were performed with As
as implantation ion all of the layers present diamagnetism without exception.
This indicates that the appearance of room-temperature ferromagnetic-like
behavior in the Mn-InAs-RTA layer is not related to lattice disorder produce
during implantation, but to a Mn reaction produced after a short thermal
treatment. X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) and Rutherford Back Scattering
(RBS) measurements evidence the segregation of an oxygen deficient-MnO2 phase
(nominally MnO1.94) in the Mn-InAs-RTA epitaxial layers which might be on the
origin of room temperature ferromagnetic-like response observed.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures. Acepted in J. Appl. Phy
InAs/InP single quantum wire formation and emission at 1.5 microns
Isolated InAs/InP self-assembled quantum wires have been grown using in situ
accumulated stress measurements to adjust the optimal InAs thickness. Atomic
force microscopy imaging shows highly asymmetric nanostructures with average
length exceeding more than ten times their width. High resolution optical
investigation of as-grown samples reveals strong photoluminescence from
individual quantum wires at 1.5 microns. Additional sharp features are related
to monolayer fluctuations of the two dimensional InAs layer present during the
early stages of the quantum wire self-assembling process.Comment: 4 pages and 3 figures submitted to Applied Physics Letter
Magnetotunneling in a Two-Dimensional Electron-Hole System Near Equilibrium
We have measured the zero-bias differential tunneling conductance of
InAs/AlSb/GaS b/AlSb/InAs heterostructures at low temperatures (1.7K < T < 60K)
and unde r a magnetic field at various angles with the heterostructure's
interfaces. Shubni kov-de Haas oscillations in the magnetoconductance reveal
the two-dimensional (2D) character of the electrons accumulated at the InAs
interfaces and yield their num ber in each of them. The temperature dependence
of the oscillations suggests the f ormation of a field-induced energy gap at
the Fermi level, similar to that observe d before in simpler 2D-2D tunneling
systems. A calculation of the magnetoconductan ce that considers different 2D
densities in the two InAs electrodes agrees with th e main observations, but
fails to explain features that might be related to the pr esence of 2D holes in
the GaSb region.Comment: 4 papes, 3 eps figures. Submit to Phys. Rev.
Viscoelastic model for the dynamic structure of binary systems
This paper presents the viscoelastic model for the Ashcroft-Langreth dynamic
structure factors of liquid binary mixtures. We also provide expressions for
the Bhatia-Thornton dynamic structure factors and, within these expressions,
show how the model reproduces both the dynamic and the self-dynamic structure
factors corresponding to a one-component system in the appropriate limits
(pseudobinary system or zero concentration of one component). In particular we
analyze the behavior of the concentration-concentration dynamic structure
factor and longitudinal current, and their corresponding counterparts in the
one-component limit, namely, the self dynamic structure factor and self
longitudinal current. The results for several lithium alloys with different
ordering tendencies are compared with computer simulations data, leading to a
good qualitative agreement, and showing the natural appearance in the model of
the fast sound phenomenon.Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, submitted to PR
Geometrical resonance in spatiotemporal systems
We generalize the concept of geometrical resonance to perturbed sine-Gordon,
Nonlinear Schrödinger and Complex Ginzburg-Landau equations. Using this
theory we can control different dynamical patterns. For instance, we can
stabilize breathers and oscillatory patterns of large amplitudes successfully
avoiding chaos. On the other hand, this method can be used to suppress
spatiotemporal chaos and turbulence in systems where these phenomena are
already present. This method can be generalized to even more general
spatiotemporal systems.Comment: 2 .epl files. Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter
Exciton Gas Compression and Metallic Condensation in a Single Semiconductor Quantum Wire
We study the metal-insulator transition in individual self-assembled quantum
wires and report optical evidences of metallic liquid condensation at low
temperatures. Firstly, we observe that the temperature and power dependence of
the single nanowire photoluminescence follow the evolution expected for an
electron-hole liquid in one dimension. Secondly, we find novel spectral
features that suggest that in this situation the expanding liquid condensate
compresses the exciton gas in real space. Finally, we estimate the critical
density and critical temperature of the phase transition diagram at
cm and K, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Soliton tunneling with sub-barrier kinetic energies
We investigate (theoretically and numerically) the dynamics of a soliton
moving in an asymmetrical potential well with a finite barrier. For large
values of the width of the well, the width of the barrier and/or the height of
the barrier, the soliton behaves classically. On the other hand, we obtain the
conditions for the existence of soliton tunneling with sub-barrier kinetic
energies. We apply these results to the study of soliton propagation in
disordered systems.Comment: 6 eps figures. To appear in Physical Review E (Rapid Communications
From circular paths to elliptic orbits: A geometric approach to Kepler's motion
The hodograph, i.e. the path traced by a body in velocity space, was
introduced by Hamilton in 1846 as an alternative for studying certain dynamical
problems. The hodograph of the Kepler problem was then investigated and shown
to be a circle, it was next used to investigate some other properties of the
motion. We here propose a new method for tracing the hodograph and the
corresponding configuration space orbit in Kepler's problem starting from the
initial conditions given and trying to use no more than the methods of
synthetic geometry in a sort of Newtonian approach. All of our geometric
constructions require straight edge and compass only.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
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