11,336 research outputs found
Potential contributions of noncontact atomic force microscopy for the future Casimir force measurements
Surface electric noise, i.e., the non-uniform distribution of charges and
potentials on a surface, poses a great experimental challenge in modern
precision force measurements. Such a challenge is encountered in a number of
different experimental circumstances. The scientists employing atomic force
microscopy (AFM) have long focused their efforts to understand the
surface-related noise issues via variants of AFM techniques, such as Kelvin
probe force microscopy or electric force microscopy. Recently, the physicists
investigating quantum vacuum fluctuation phenomena between two closely-spaced
objects have also begun to collect experimental evidence indicating a presence
of surface effects neglected in their previous analyses. It now appears that
the two seemingly disparate science communities are encountering effects rooted
in the same surface phenomena. In this report, we suggest specific experimental
tasks to be performed in the near future that are crucial not only for
fostering needed collaborations between the two communities, but also for
providing valuable data on the surface effects in order to draw the most
realistic conclusion about the actual contribution of the Casimir force (or van
der Waals force) between a pair of real materials.Comment: The paper appeared in the Proceedings to the 12th International
Conference on Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy (NC-AFM 2009) and Casimir
2009 Satellite Worksho
Theoretical Predictions of Superconductivity in Alkali Metals under High Pressure
We calculated the superconductivity properties of alkali metals under high
pressure using the results of band theory and the rigid-muffin-tin theory of
Gaspari and Gyorffy. Our results suggest that at high pressures Lithium,
Potassium, Rubidium and Cesium would be superconductors with transition
temperatures approaching . Our calculations also suggest that Sodium
would not be a superconductor under high pressure even if compressed to less
than half of its equilibrium volume. We found that the compression of the
lattice strengthens the electron-phonon coupling through a delicately balanced
increase of both the electronic and phononic components of this coupling. This
increase of the electron-phonon coupling in Li is due to an enhancement of the
- channel of the interaction, while in the heavier elements the -
channel is the dominant component.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure
Noncontact atomic force microscopy II
Cataloged from PDF version of article.Background: Highly ordered three-dimensional colloidal crystals (supracrystals) comprised of 7.4 nm diameter Au nanocrystals (with a 5% size dispersion) have been imaged and analysed using a combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy and dynamic force microscopy. Results: By exploring the evolution of both the force and tunnel current with respect to tip-sample separation, we arrive at the surprising finding that single nanocrystal resolution is readily obtained in tunnelling microscopy images acquired more than 1 nm into the repulsive (i.e., positive force) regime of the probe-nanocrystal interaction potential. Constant height force microscopy has been used to map tip-sample interactions in this regime, revealing inhomogeneities which arise from the convolution of the tip structure with the ligand distribution at the nanocrystal surface. Conclusion: Our combined STM-AFM measurements show that the contrast mechanism underpinning high resolution imaging of nanoparticle supracrystals involves a form of nanoscale contact imaging, rather than the through-vacuum tunnelling which underpins traditional tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy. © 2015 Sweetman et al; licensee Beilstein-Institut
Efficiency of initiating cell adhesion in hydrodynamic flow
We theoretically investigate the efficiency of initial binding between a
receptor-coated sphere and a ligand-coated wall in linear shear flow. The mean
first passage time for binding decreases monotonically with increasing shear
rate. Above a saturation threshold of the order of a few 100 receptor patches,
the binding efficiency is enhanced only weakly by increasing their number and
size, but strongly by increasing their height. This explains why white blood
cells in the blood flow adhere through receptor patches localized to the tips
of microvilli, and why malaria-infected red blood cells form elevated receptor
patches (knobs).Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, 4 Postscript figures included, to appear in PR
Determination Of Oxygen Chemical Diffusion Coefficients In Single Crystal SrTiO By Capacitance Manometry
The oxidation kinetics of a single crystal of SrTiOs were measured with a tensivolumetric system over the temperature range 700 -975 at 0.03 atm oxygen pressure. The oxidation was found to be oxygen diffusion limited with an activation energy of 14.9 - 1.3 kcal/mole. Combining the kinetic data with relative defect concentration data yielded an activation energy for oxygen self-diffusion of 57 - 16 kcal/mole. The enthalpy of formation of doubly ionized oxygen vacancies was calculated to be 126 - 13 kcal/mol. © 1975, The Electrochemical Society, Inc. All rights reserved
Classification of IIB backgrounds with 28 supersymmetries
We show that all IIB backgrounds with strictly 28 supersymmetries are locally
isometric to the plane wave solution of arXiv:hep-th/0206195. Moreover, we
demonstrate that all solutions with more than 26 supersymmetries and only
5-form flux are maximally supersymmetric. The N=28 plane wave solution is a
superposition of the maximally supersymmetric IIB plane wave with a heterotic
string solution. We investigate the propagation of strings in this background,
find the spectrum and give the string light-cone Hamiltonian.Comment: 30 pages, typos correcte
Pressure-induced ferromagnetism due to an anisotropic electronic topological transition in Fe1.08Te
A rapid and anisotropic modification of the Fermi-surface shape can be
associated with abrupt changes in crystalline lattice geometry or in the
magnetic state of a material. In this study we show that such an electronic
topological transition is at the basis of the formation of an unusual
pressure-induced tetragonal ferromagnetic phase in FeTe. Around 2 GPa,
the orthorhombic and incommensurate antiferromagnetic ground-state of
FeTe is transformed upon increasing pressure into a tetragonal
ferromagnetic state via a conventional first-order transition. On the other
hand, an isostructural transition takes place from the paramagnetic
high-temperature state into the ferromagnetic phase as a rare case of a `type
0' transformation with anisotropic properties. Electronic-structure
calculations in combination with electrical resistivity, magnetization, and
x-ray diffraction experiments show that the electronic system of FeTe
is instable with respect to profound topological transitions that can drive
fundamental changes of the lattice anisotropy and the associated magnetic
order.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figur
Staging for distant metastases in operable breast cancer: a suggested expansion of the ESMO guideline recommendation for staging imaging of node-negative, hormonal receptor-negative disease
We evaluated the impact of staging procedures to detect asymptomatic distant metastases (DM) in the management of women with operable invasive breast cancer (BC, entire cohort: n = 866). Out of 472 patients with lymph node (LN)-negative disease (pN0), DM were found in four cases (detection rate: 0.8%). All four patients presented with established risk factors: hormone receptor (HR)-negative status, HER2-positive status, n = 3; ‘triple-negative' disease, n = 1. Considering the subgroup of LN-negative patients whose tumors showed the risk factor ‘negative HR status' (n = 66), the detection rate of DM was 6%. The detection rates of DM in higher pN categories were as follows: pN1:1.7%; pN2:9.5%; pN3:13.5%. We generally support the international guidelines, including those published by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) which emphasize that patients with early-stage BC do not profit from radiological staging for the detection of DM and recommend refraining from this. However, we would expand these guidelines and propose that screening should be carried out in node-negative patients whose tumors show established tumor-related risk factors (e.g. HR-negative and HER2-positive status), since in this particular subcohort, the detection rate of DM is with 6% similarly high as that of patients with four to nine positive LN
Pressure-induced phase transitions and high-pressure tetragonal phase of Fe1.08Te
We report the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the temperature-induced
phase transitions in Fe1.08Te in the pressure range 0-3 GPa using synchrotron
powder x-ray diffraction (XRD). The results reveal a plethora of phase
transitions. At ambient pressure, Fe1.08Te undergoes simultaneous first-order
structural symmetry-breaking and magnetic phase transitions, namely from the
paramagnetic tetragonal (P4/nmm) to the antiferromagnetic monoclinic (P2_1/m)
phase. We show that, at a pressure of 1.33 GPa, the low temperature structure
adopts an orthorhombic symmetry. More importantly, for pressures of 2.29 GPa
and higher, a symmetry-conserving tetragonal-tetragonal phase transition has
been identified from a change in the c/a ratio of the lattice parameters. The
succession of different pressure and temperature-induced structural and
magnetic phases indicates the presence of strong magneto-elastic coupling
effects in this material.Comment: 11 page
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