Polaronic origin of the isotope effect on the London penetration depth in high-temperature superconducting oxides

Direct measurements of the in-plane London penetration depth λ _L have recently been performed on high-temperature superconducting copper oxides by a new low-energy muon spin rotation technique. The results show that λ _L is isotope dependent, evidencing unconventional electron–phonon interactions as its source. The data are interpreted here in terms of polaronic effects on the single-particle energies, which leads to level shifts and exponential band narrowing. Good agreement with the experimental data is obtained.     

Human neuronal stargazin-like proteins, γ2, γ3 and γ4; an investigation of their specific localization in human brain and their influence on CaV2.1 voltage-dependent calcium channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes.

Background  

Stargazin (γ₂) and the closely related γ₃, and γ₄ transmembrane proteins are part of a family of proteins that may act as both neuronal voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) γ subunits and transmembrane α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproponinc (AMPA) receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs). In this investigation, we examined the distribution patterns of the stargazin-like proteins γ₂, γ₃, and γ₄ in the human central nervous system (CNS). In addition, we investigated whether human γ₂ or γ₄ could modulate the electrophysiological properties of a neuronal VDCC complex transiently expressed in Xenopus oocytes.     

On toric h-vectors of centrally symmetric polytopes

We prove tight lower bounds for the coefficients of the toric h-vector of an arbitrary centrally symmetric polytope generalizing previous results due to R. Stanley and the author using toric varieties. Our proof here is based on the theory of combinatorial intersection cohomology for normal fans of polytopes developed by G. Barthel, J.-P. Brasselet, K. Fieseler and L. Kaup, and independently by P. Bressler and V. Lunts. This theory is also valid for nonrational polytopes when there is no standard correspondence with toric varieties. In this way we can establish our bounds for centrally symmetric polytopes even without requiring them to be rational. Received: 24 March 2004     

Direct Imaging of Octahedral Distortion in a Complex Molybdenum Vanadium Mixed Oxide

Complex Mo,V‐based mixed oxides that crystallize in the orthorhombic M1‐type structure are promising candidates for the selective oxidation of small alkanes. The oxygen sublattice of such a complex oxide has been studied by annular bright field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The recorded micrographs directly display the local distortion in the metal oxygen octahedra. From the degree of distortion we are able to draw conclusions on the distribution of oxidation states in the cation columns at different sites. The results are supported by X‐ray diffraction and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements that provide integral details about the crystal structure and spin coupling, respectively.