228 research outputs found
On the applicability of the layered sine-Gordon model for Josephson-coupled high-T_c layered superconductors
We find a mapping of the layered sine-Gordon model to an equivalent gas of
topological excitations and determine the long-range interaction potentials of
the topological defects. This enables us to make a detailed comparison to the
so-called layered vortex gas, which can be obtained from the layered
Ginzburg-Landau model. The layered sine-Gordon model has been proposed in the
literature as a candidate field-theoretical model for Josephson-coupled
high-T_c superconductors, and the implications of our analysis for the
applicability of the layered sine-Gordon model to high-T_c superconductors are
discussed. We are led to the conjecture that the layered sine--Gordon and the
layered vortex gas models belong to different universality classes. The
determination of the critical temperature of the layered sine-Gordon model is
based on a renormalization-group analysis.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Length-scale-dependent phase transition in BSCCO single crystals
Electrical transport measurements using a multiterminal configuration are
presented, which prove that in BSCCO single crystals near the transition
temperature in zero external magnetic field the secondary voltage is induced by
thermally activated vortex loop unbinding. The phase transition between the
bound and unbound states of the vortex loops was found to be below the
temperature where the phase coherence of the superconducting order parameter
extends over the whole volume of the sample. We show experimentally that 3D/2D
phase transition in vortex dimensionality is a length-scale-dependent layer
decoupling process and takes place simultaneously with the 3D/2D phase
transition in superconductivity at the same temperature.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Philos. Ma
Weak and saturable protein-surfactant interactions in the denaturation of apo-α-lactalbumin by acidic and lactonic sophorolipid
Biosurfactants are of growing interest as sustainable alternatives to fossil-fuel-derived chemical surfactants, particularly for the detergent industry. To realize this potential, it is necessary to understand how they affect proteins which they may encounter in their applications. However, knowledge of such interactions is limited. Here, we present a study of the interactions between the model protein apo-alpha-lactalbumin (apo-aLA) and the biosurfactant sophorolipid (SL) produced by the yeast Starmerella bombicola. SL occurs both as an acidic and a lactonic form; the lactonic form (lactSL) is sparingly soluble and has a lower critical micelle concentration (cmc) than the acidic form [non-acetylated acidic sophorolipid (acidSL)]. We show that acidSL affects apo-aLA in a similar way to the related glycolipid biosurfactant rhamnolipid (RL), with the important difference that RL is also active below the cmc in contrast to acidSL. Using isothermal titration calorimetry data, we show that acidSL has weak and saturable interactions with apo-aLA at low concentrations; due to the relatively low cmc of acidSL (which means that the monomer concentration is limited to ca. 0-1 mM SL), it is only possible to observe interactions with monomeric acidSL at high apo-aLA concentrations. However, the denaturation kinetics of apo-aLA in the presence of acidSL are consistent with a collaboration between monomeric and micellar surfactant species, similar to RL and non-ionic or zwitterionic surfactants. Inclusion of diacetylated lactonic sophorolipid (lactSL) as mixed micelles with acidSL lowers the cmc and this effectively reduces the rate of unfolding, emphasizing that SL like other biosurfactants is a gentle anionic surfactant. Our data highlight the potential of these biosurfactants for future use in the detergent and pharmaceutical industry
Protein modeling of apical membrane antigen-1(AMA-1) of Plasmodium cynomolgi
Apical membrane Antigen-1(AMA-1), an asexual blood stage antigen of Plasmodium cynomolgi, is an important candidate for testing as a component of malarial vaccine. The degree of conservation ofAMA-1 sequences implies a conserved function for this molecule across different species of Plasmodium. Since the AMA-1 of plasmodium cyanomolgi is yet to be structured, the authors have generated a homology model of AMA-1 by using the Swiss-PDB server. The protein’s conservity has been verified by performing multiple alignments using Bioedit and conserved domain database. The model was further checked for its correctness by predicting 2D and 3D structures, which validates thestructure
Renormalization-Group Analysis of Layered Sine-Gordon Type Models
We analyze the phase structure and the renormalization group (RG) flow of the
generalized sine-Gordon models with nonvanishing mass terms, using the
Wegner-Houghton RG method in the local potential approximation. Particular
emphasis is laid upon the layered sine-Gordon (LSG) model, which is the
bosonized version of the multi-flavour Schwinger model and approaches the sum
of two ``normal'', massless sine-Gordon (SG) models in the limit of a vanishing
interlayer coupling J. Another model of interest is the massive sine-Gordon
(MSG) model. The leading-order approximation to the UV (ultra-violet) RG flow
predicts two phases for the LSG as well as for the MSG, just as it would be
expected for the SG model, where the two phases are known to be separated by
the Coleman fixed point. The presence of finite mass terms (for the LSG and the
MSG) leads to corrections to the UV RG flow, which are naturally identified as
the ``mass corrections''. The leading-order mass corrections are shown to have
the following consequences: (i) for the MSG model, only one phase persists, and
(ii) for the LSG model, the transition temperature is modified. Within the
mass-corrected UV scaling laws, the limit of J -> 0 is thus nonuniform with
respect to the phase structure of the model. The modified phase structure of
general massive sine-Gordon models is connected with the breaking of symmetries
in the internal space spanned by the field variables. For the LSG, the
second-order subleading mass corrections suggest that there exists a cross-over
regime before the IR scaling sets in, and the nonlinear terms show explicitly
that higher-order Fourier modes appear in the periodic blocked potential.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure
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