54,730 research outputs found
Neutrino Masses and GUT Baryogenesis
We reconsider the GUT-baryogenesis mechanism for generating the baryon
asymmetry of the Universe. The baryon asymmetry is produced by the out of
equilibrium decay of coloured Higgs bosons at the GUT scale, conserving B-L. If
neutrinos are Majorana particles, lepton number violating interactions erase
the lepton number excess, but part of the baryon asymmetry may be preserved,
provided those interactions are not in thermal equilibrium when the sphaleron
processes become effective, at . We analyse whether this
mechanism for baryogenesis is feasible in a variety of GUT models of fermion
masses proposed in the literature, based on horizontal symmetries.Comment: Talk presented at AHEP2003, Valencia, Spain, October 200
Gauge field theory approach to spin transport in a 2D electron gas
We discuss the Pauli Hamiltonian including the spin-orbit interaction within
an U(1) x SU(2) gauge theory interpretation, where the gauge symmetry appears
to be broken. This interpretation offers new insight into the problem of spin
currents in the condensed matter environment, and can be extended to Rashba and
Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions. We present a few outcomes of the present
formulation: i) it automatically leads to zero spin conductivity, in contrast
to predictions of Gauge symmetric treatments, ii) a topological quantization
condition leading to voltage quantization follows, and iii) spin
interferometers can be conceived in which, starting from a arbitrary incoming
unpolarized spinor, it is always possible to construct a perfect spin filtering
condition.Comment: Invited contribution to Statphys conference, June 2009, Lviv
(Ukraine
An ab-initio converse NMR approach for pseudopotentials
We extend the recently developed converse NMR approach [T. Thonhauser, D.
Ceresoli, A. Mostofi, N. Marzari, R. Resta, and D. Vanderbilt, J. Chem. Phys.
\textbf{131}, 101101 (2009)] such that it can be used in conjunction with
norm-conserving, non-local pseudopotentials. This extension permits the
efficient ab-initio calculation of NMR chemical shifts for elements other than
hydrogen within the convenience of a plane-wave pseudopotential approach. We
have tested our approach on several finite and periodic systems, finding very
good agreement with established methods and experimental results.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables; references expande
Direct and Inverse Results for Multipoint Hermite-Pade Approximants
Given a system of functions f = (f1, . . . , fd) analytic on a neighborhood
of some compact subset E of the complex plane, we give necessary and sufficient
conditions for the convergence with geometric rate of the common denominators
of multipoint Hermite-Pade approximants. The exact rate of convergence of these
denominators and of the approximants themselves is given in terms of the
analytic properties of the system of functions. These results allow to detect
the location of the poles of the system of functions which are in some sense
closest to E.Comment: 18 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1606.07920,
arXiv:1801.03004, arXiv:1203.494
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Synthesis of molybdenum oxide nanoparticles by nanosecond laser ablation
Phothermal therapy (PTT) is one of the most promising techniques to treat cancer. Finding the ideal PTT agent nanomaterial has remained a challenge and has brought the interest of several researchers. In this work, we report the synthesis of molybdenum oxide (MoOx) nanoparticles (NPs), which exhibit absorption in the biological optical window ~840 nm, by using the laser ablation of solids in liquids (LASL) technique with nanosecond (ns) pulses. A Nd:YAG laser was used to synthesize the NPs in deionized (DI) water, free of surfactants or additives, which were optically characterized by absorption spectroscopy and TEM-EDX microscopy. Semi spherical NPs with a suitable average size and shape for potential use as PTT agents were obtained by laser ablation and ablation + fragmentation. The calculated band gap is 3.1 eV, which corresponds to MoO3. Micro-Raman spectroscopy studies determined that these NPs are composed of amorphous molybdenum oxide hydrates (MoO3 · xH2O)
Chimeric glutamate receptor subunits reveal the transmembrane domain is sufficient for NMDA receptor pore properties but some positive allosteric modulators require additional domains
NMDA receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that underlie transmission at excitatory synapses and play an important role in regulating synaptic strength and stability. Functional NMDA receptors require two copies of the GluN1 subunit coassembled with GluN2 (and/or GluN3) subunits into a heteromeric tetramer. A diverse array of allosteric modulators can upregulate or downregulate NMDA receptor activity. These modulators include both synthetic compounds and endogenous modulators, such as cis-unsaturated fatty acids, 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol, and various neurosteroids. To evaluate the structural requirements for the formation and allosteric modulation of NMDA receptor pores, we have replaced portions of the rat GluN1, GluN2A, and GluN2B subunits with homologous segments from the rat GluK2 kainate receptor subunit. Our results with these chimeric constructs show that the NMDA receptor transmembrane domain is sufficient to account for most pore properties, but that regulation by some allosteric modulators requires additional cytoplasmic or extracellular domains. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Glutamate receptors mediate excitatory synaptic transmission by forming cation channels through the membrane that open upon glutamate binding. Although many compounds have been identified that regulate glutamate receptor activity, in most cases the detailed mechanisms that underlie modulation are poorly understood. To identify what parts of the receptor are essential for pore formation and sensitivity to allosteric modulators, we generated chimeric subunits that combined segments from NMDA and kainate receptors, subtypes with distinct pharmacological profiles. Surprisingly, our results identify separate domain requirements for allosteric potentiation of NMDA receptor pores by pregnenolone sulfate, 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol, and docosahexaenoic acid, three endogenous modulators derived from membrane constituents. Understanding where and how these compounds act on NMDA receptors should aid in designing better therapeutic agents
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