Time-domain sensitivity enhancement in pulsed Pb-TDL gas monitors

A Pb-salt tunable diode laser (TDL) has found many applications in the field of atmospheric gas analysis. Its continuous tunablility and fine spectral purity in the mid infrared region are outstanding from other lasers. The only shortcoming is that it requires cryogenic operating temperatures, though, it is improved year by year towards the room temperature operation. A repeated pulse operation of Pb salt diode lasers is possible with a thermoelectric cooling device, which allows an instrument a portable geometry disusing a heavy, bulky and power consuming mechanical refrigerator. A derivative spectrometry was exploiting the quick tunability of Pb salt diode lasers, though they are continuous wave (cw) operated with refrigerator or liquid nitrogen so far. A new system for derivative spectrometry with a pulsed diode laser will extend its field of applications because of reduced weights and size of measuring instruments. A preliminary results is shown that demonstrates the feasibility of an attempt to implement the derivative spectrmetry with repeatedly pulse driven diode lasers. Atmospheric methane was measured with 8 ppm/m sensitivity. Further results of parametric optimization for the best signal to noise ratios under any given device characteristics as well as for available real devices is given

Oxidized LDL induces alternative macrophage phenotype through activation of CD36 and PAFR

OxLDL is recognized by macrophage scavenger receptors, including CD36; we have recently found that Platelet-Activating Factor Receptor (PAFR) is also involved. Since PAFR in macrophages is associated with suppressor function, we examined the effect of oxLDL on macrophage phenotype. It was found that the presence of oxLDL during macrophage differentiation induced high mRNA levels to IL-10, mannose receptor, PPARγ and arginase-1 and low levels of IL-12 and iNOS. When human THP-1 macrophages were pre-treated with oxLDL then stimulated with LPS, the production of IL-10 and TGF-β significantly increased, whereas that of IL-6 and IL-8 decreased. In murine TG-elicited macrophages, this protocol significantly reduced NO, iNOS and COX2 expression. Thus, oxLDL induced macrophage differentiation and activation towards the alternatively activated M2-phenotype. In murine macrophages, oxLDL induced TGF-β, arginase-1 and IL-10 mRNA expression, which were significantly reduced by pre-treatment with PAFR antagonists (WEB and CV) or with antibodies to CD36. The mRNA expression of IL-12, RANTES and CXCL2 were not affected. We showed that this profile of macrophage activation is dependent on the engagement of both CD36 and PAFR. We conclude that oxLDL induces alternative macrophage activation by mechanisms involving CD36 and PAFR

Zero-temperature Phase Diagram of Two Dimensional Hubbard Model

We investigate the two-dimensional Hubbard model on the triangular lattice with anisotropic hopping integrals at half filling. By means of a self-energy functional approach, we discuss how stable the non-magnetic state is against magnetically ordered states in the system. We present the zero-temperature phase diagram, where the normal metallic state competes with magnetically ordered states with $(\pi, \pi)$ and $(2\pi/3, 2\pi/3)$ structures. It is shown that a non-magnetic Mott insulating state is not realized as the ground state, in the present framework, but as a meta-stable state near the magnetically ordered phase with $(2\pi/3, 2\pi/3)$ structure.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Spin, charge and orbital fluctuations in a multi-orbital Mott insulator

The two-orbital degenerate Hubbard model with distinct hopping integrals is studied by combining dynamical mean-field theory with quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The role of orbital fluctuations for the nature of the Mott transition is elucidated by examining the temperature dependence of spin, charge and orbital susceptibilities as well as the one-particle spectral function. We also consider the effect of the hybridization between the two orbitals, which is important particularly close to the Mott transition points. The introduction of the hybridization induces orbital fluctuations, resulting in the formation of a Kondo-like heavy-fermion behavior, similarly to $f$ electron systems, but involving electrons in bands of comparable width.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Effect of Impurities with Internal Structure on Multiband Superconductors - Possible Enhancement of Transition Temperature -

We study inelastic (dynamical) impurity scattering effects in two-band superconductors with the same ($s_{++}$ wave) or different ($s_\pm$ wave) sign order parameters. We focus on the enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ by magnetic interband scattering with the interchange of crystal-field singlet ground and multiplet excited states. Either the $s_{++}$-wave or $s_\pm$-wave state is favored by the impurity-mediated pairing, which depends on the magnetic and nonmagnetic scattering strengths derived from the hybridization of the impurity states with the conduction bands. The details are examined for the singlet-triplet configuration that is suggestive of Pr impurities in the skutterudite superconductor LaOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 79, No. 9 (2010

Numerical Renormalization Group Study of non-Fermi-liquid State on Dilute Uranium Systems

We investigate the non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior of the impurity Anderson model (IAM) with non-Kramers doublet ground state of the f$^2$ configuration under the tetragonal crystalline electric field (CEF). The low energy spectrum is explained by a combination of the NFL and the local-Fermi-liquid parts which are independent with each other. The NFL part of the spectrum has the same form to that of two-channel-Kondo model (TCKM). We have a parameter range that the IAM shows the $- \ln T$ divergence of the magnetic susceptibility together with the positive magneto resistance. We point out a possibility that the anomalous properties of U$_x$Th$_{1-x}$Ru$_2$Si$_2$ including the decreasing resistivity with decreasing temperature can be explained by the NFL scenario of the TCKM type. We also investigate an effect of the lowering of the crystal symmetry. It breaks the NFL behavior at around the temperature, $\delta /10$, where $\delta$ is the orthorhombic CEF splitting. The NFL behavior is still expected above the temperature, $\delta/10$.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figure

The final fate of instability of Reissner-Nordstr\"om-anti-de Sitter black holes by charged complex scalar fields

We investigate instability of 4-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"om-anti-de Sitter (RN-AdS$_4$) black holes with various topologies by charged scalar field perturbations. We numerically find that the RN-AdS$_4$ black holes become unstable against the linear perturbations below a critical temperature. It is analytically shown that charge extraction from the black holes occurs during the unstable evolution. To explore the end state of the instability, we perturbatively construct static black hole solutions with the scalar hair near the critical temperature. It is numerically found that the entropy of the hairly black hole is always larger than the one of the unstable RN-AdS$_4$ black hole in the microcanonical ensemble. Our results support the speculation that the black hole with charged scalar hair always appears as the final fate of the instability of the RN-AdS$_4$ black hole.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. To appear in PR

First-order quantum phase transition in the orthogonal-dimer spin chain

We investigate the low-energy properties of the orthogonal-dimer spin chain characterized by a frustrated dimer-plaquette structure. When the competing antiferromagnetic couplings are varied, the first-order quantum phase transition occurs between the dimer and the plaquette phases, which is accompanied by nontrivial features due to frustration: besides the discontinuity in the lowest excitation gap at the transition point, a sharp level-crossing occurs for the spectrum in the plaquette phase. We further reveal that the plateau in the magnetization curve at 1/4 of the full moment dramatically changes its character in the vicinity of the critical point. It is argued that the first-order phase transition in this system captures some essential properties found in the two-dimensional orthogonal-dimer model proposed for $\rm SrCu_2(BO_3)_2$.Comment: 7 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.