Electronic compressibility of a graphene bilayer

We calculate the electronic compressibility arising from electron-electron interactions for a graphene bilayer within the Hartree-Fock approximation. We show that, due to the chiral nature of the particles in this system, the compressibility is rather different from those of either the two-dimensional electron gas or ordinary semiconductors. We find that an inherent competition between the contributions coming from intraband exchange interactions (dominant at low densities) and interband interactions (dominant at moderate densities) leads to a nonmonotonic behavior of the compressibility as a function of carrier density.     

Enhancement of abdominal organs on hepatic arterial phase: quantitative comparison between 1.5- and 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging

Purpose

To compare the extent of enhancement of abdominal organs as shown on subphases of hepatic arterial phase quantitatively between 1.5- and 3.0-T MRI among patients with various abdominal conditions.

Materials and Methods

A total of 126 patients, of whom 68 were women (age range, 3–82 years; mean age, 48 years) and 58 were men (age range, 6–73 years; mean age, 50 years), were included in the study. Of 126 patients, 98 were scanned at 1.5 T and 28 were scanned at 3.0 T. The presence of one of three predefined subphases of hepatic arterial phase was determined on early post-gadolinium sequence in each patient by two reviewers in consensus. Extent of enhancement of the kidney, pancreas, spleen and liver on these subphases was determined quantitatively by measuring the signal intensities. Mann Whitney–Wilcoxon test was used to compare the contrast enhancement of organs on each subphase between 1.5- and 3.0-T MRI.

Results

The kidney, spleen, pancreas and liver demonstrated 1.79- to 2.45-, 1.65- to 1.97-, 1.66- to 1.8- and 1.1- to 2.02-fold higher enhancement on the subphases of hepatic arterial phase at 3.0 T compared to 1.5 T, respectively. The differences in contrast enhancement were significant for the kidney, pancreas and spleen on all subphases between 1.5 and 3.0 T.

Conclusion

The relative enhancement of the kidney, spleen and pancreas is consistently and significantly higher at 3.0 T than at 1.5 T in matched subphases of hepatic arterial enhancement.     

Energy‐dispersive X‐ray absorption spectroscopy at LNLS: investigation on strongly correlated metal oxides

An energy‐dispersive X‐ray absorption spectroscopy beamline mainly dedicated to X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and material science under extreme conditions has been implemented in a bending‐magnet port at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory. Here the beamline technical characteristics are described, including the most important aspects of the mechanics, optical elements and detection set‐up. The beamline performance is then illustrated through two case studies on strongly correlated transition metal oxides: an XMCD insight into the modifications of the magnetic properties of Cr‐doped manganites and the structural deformation in nickel perovskites under high applied pressure.     

TeV‐ and MeV‐Physics Out of an Model

The standard electroweak interaction is here re‐assessed to accommodate two different situations in Particle Physics. The first one is a ‐model at the TeV‐scale physics. The second one tackles the recent discussion of a possible fifth force mediated by a 17‐MeV X‐boson associated with an electron‐positron emission in the transition of an excited 8‐Beryllium to its ground state. The anomaly‐free model that provides these two scenarios is based on an ‐symmetry. It yields a new massive neutral boson, an exotic massive neutral fermion, right‐neutrinos and an additional neutral Higgs particle, which stems from a supplementary Higgs field, introduced along with the usual Higgs doublet responsible for the electroweak breaking and the masses of and Z⁰. Yukawa interactions of the two scalars generate the masses of the Standard Model leptons, neutrinos and a new exotic fermion of the model. The vacuum expectation values of the Higgses fix up two independent energy scales. One of them is the well‐confirmed electroweak scale, 246 GeV, whereas the other one is set up by adopting an experimental estimate for the ‐mass.     

苯二酚异构体的电动毛细管色谱-玻碳微电极柱上安培检测分析方法研究

在玻碳纤维微电极上研究了电解液中β－环糊精（ＣＤ）的浓度对邻、间、对苯二酚的循环伏安特性的影响,从实验结果和分子结构水平方面考察了β－ＣＤ与邻、间、对苯二酚的包结作用。研究结果表明,β－ＣＤ与邻、间、对苯二酚的包结作用强弱顺序为间苯二酚、邻苯二酚、对苯二酚。讨论了电泳缓冲液中ΝΗ４Ｃｌ,ＳＤＳ,β－ＣＤ的浓度及ｐＨ值对邻、间、对苯二酚迁移时间的影响。建立了苯二酚异构体胶束电动毛细管色谱－玻碳微电极柱上安培检测分析方法,方法的回收率在９８％～１０３％之间。     

SOI高温器件及其在汽车电子等领域中的应用

石油钻井,航空航天,汽车等工业领域急需在高温下工作的器件和电路。ＳＯＩ技术在高温器件和电路方面有着广泛的应用前景。文章简要介绍了ＳＯＩ技术应用于制造高温器件和电路方面的进展情况。     

Application of High Temperature High Resolution Gas Chromatography to Crude Extracts of Propolis

The underivatized acetone and hexane fractions from propolis samples (predominant flora Citrus spp. and Vernonia polyanthes) were analyzed by HT-HRGC (high temperature high resolution gas chromatography) and HT-HRGC coupled to mass spectrometry (HT-HRGC-MS). Several compounds, including flavonoid aglycones, phenolic acids, and high molecular weight compounds were characterized in crude extracts by HT-HRGC-MS. HT-HRGC and HT-HRGC-MS were shown to be quick and informative tools for rapid analysis of crude extracts without need for prior derivatization and purification.     

Phytochrome structure: A new methodological approach

Higher plants use the protein phytochrome as a photosensor. In physiological temperatures phytochrome exists in two forms: Pr and Pfr. The chromophore of phytochrome is an open-chain tetrapyrrole. On the pathway from Pr to Pfr four intermediates (Lumi-R, Meta-Ra, Meta-Rb, and Meta-Rc) can be distinguished, while only two (Lumi-F and Meta-F) can be seen on the way back from Pfr to Pr. We have used the x-ray structure of the C-Phycocyanin protein Fremyella diplosiphon bacteria as a template to build a model (∼200 atoms) that includes only the chromophore and five amino acids of the phytochrome (Arg316–Cys321–His322–Leu323–Gln324) around it. Using the existing experimental evidences, we have proposed a three-dimensional (3D) structure for Pr, Pfr, and intermediates and a mechanism for the photoisomerization as well. Structures were fully optimized using AM1 (Unichem package on a Cray J90-NACAD). Using the INDO/S method of Zerner and co-workers, we calculated the absorption spectra of the model compounds and compared them with the experimental data. The oscillator strength ratio is an indicator of the chomophore conformation in biliproteins. The calculated spectra reproduces well the spectra of the phytochrome (Pr, Pfr, and intermediates) except for the lower energy band. This result is attributed to the small number of amino acids in the models. The calculated ratios (f_VIS/f_UV−f_osc of visible band over f_osc of UV band and f₂/f₁−f_osc of second absorption band over f_osc of first absorption band) for the models match very well the experimental ratios obtained for the phytochrome (Pr, Pfr, and intermediates). This supports the proposed mechanism for the photoisomerization process. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 70: 1145–1157, 1998     

Molecular modeling on platelet-activating factor (PAF) and new proposed PAF antagonists

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is an autacoid derived from cellular membrane phospholipids in response to chemical or physical stimuli. It has been identified as 1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glyceryl-3-phosphocholine; the alkyl group is composed of 16 or 18 carbon atoms in human cells. PAF can cause a series of pathophysiological effects, related to inflammatory and allergic diseases such as asthma, gastric ulcerations, transplant rejections, psoriasis, cerebral, renal, and myocardial ischemia. As PAF biological action is a result of interactions with specific receptors on target cells, several specific PAF receptor antagonists have been proposed for therapeutic control of the pathological states in which PAF is implicated. In this work we have calculated at AM1 level 16 conformations of a model (alkyl = octyl) of (R)-PAF. We have used these conformations and calculated structures of two hetrazepines (WEB 2086 and E 6123), FR 128998 and RP 59227, known antagonists of PAF activity currently under development, to test a recently proposed pharmacophore map. Our results suggest that the model is too rigid. Having this in mind, we used the pharmacophore model to evaluate the potential activity of a new series of proposed PAF receptor antagonists based on bicyclo[3.3.0]-2-oxaoctane. The results were used to decide which compounds should receive priority in synthesis. The synthetic results and pharmacological profiles of the new derivatives will be published elsewhere. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Theory of Gravity in Fierz Variables (The Linear Case)

We present a complete theory of massive and massless spin-two field using Fierz variables A_αβμ for flat and curved space-times; its relationship with the standard variable Ψ_μν and the bridge relation which allows the passage from one representation to the other. The theory presented is nothing but the weak approximation of Einstein's General Relativity in the Jordan-Lichnerowicz formulation.