Spin-polarized electron scattering at single oxygen adsorbates on a magnetic surface

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) on the system of isolated oxygen atoms adsorbed on the double layer of Fe on W(110) shows highly anisotropic spatial oscillations in the local density of states in the vicinity of the adsorbates. We explain this in terms of a single-particle model as electron waves being scattered by the potential induced by the presence of the oxygen atoms. Analysis of the wavelength of the standing electron waves and comparison with ab initio spin-resolved electronic structure calculations reveal that minority-spin bands of d-like symmetry are involved in the scattering process. By applying spin-polarized STS, we observe this standing wave pattern on one particular type of magnetic domain of Fe on W(110) only, thereby proving that the standing electron waves are highly spin polarized.     

Salmonella-host cell interactions, changes in host cell architecture, and destruction of prostate tumor cells with genetically altered Salmonella.

Increasingly, genetically modified Salmonella are being explored as a novel treatment for cancer because Salmonella preferentially replicate within tumors and destroy cancer cells without causing the septic shock that is typically associated with wild-type S. typhimurium infections. However, the mechanisms by which genetically modified Salmonella strains preferentially invade cancer cells have not yet been addressed in cellular detail. Here we present data that show S. typhimurium strains VNP20009, LT2, and CRC1674 invasion of PC-3M prostate cancer cells. S. typhimurium-infected PC-3M human prostate cancer cells were analyzed with immunofluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at various times after inoculation. We analyzed microfilaments, microtubules, and DNA with fluorescence and immunofluorescence microscopy. 3T3 Phi-Yellow-mitochondria mouse 3T3 cells were used to study the effects of Salmonella infestation on mitochondria distribution in live cells. Our TEM results show gradual destruction of mitochondria within the PC-3M prostate cancer cells with complete loss of cristae at 8 h after inoculation. The fluorescence intensity in YFP-mitochondria-transfected mouse 3T3 cells decreased, which indicates loss of mitochondria structure. Interestingly, the nucleus does not appear affected by Salmonella within 8 h. Our data demonstrate that genetically modified S. typhimurium destroy PC-3M prostate cancer cells, perhaps by preferential destruction of mitochondria.     

Time-ordering dependence of measurements in teleportation

We trace back the phenomenon of “delayed-choice entanglement swapping” as it was realized in a recent experiment to the commutativity of the projection operators that are involved in the corresponding measurement process. We also propose an experimental set-up which depends on the order of successive measurements corresponding to noncommutative projection operators. In this case entanglement swapping is used to teleport a quantum state from Alice to Bob, where Bob has now the possibility to examine the noncommutativity within the quantum history.     

Meson screening masses from lattice QCD with two light quarks and one strange quark

We present results for screening masses of mesons built from light and strange quarks in the temperature range of approximately between 140 MeV to 800 MeV. The lattice computations were performed with 2+1 dynamical light and strange flavors of improved (p4) staggered fermions along a line of constant physics defined by a pion mass of about 220 MeV and a kaon mass of 500 MeV. The lattices had temporal extents N _τ =4, 6 and 8 and aspect ratios of N _s /N _τ ≥4. At least up to a temperature of 140 MeV the pseudo-scalar screening mass remains almost equal to the corresponding zero temperature pseudo-scalar (pole) mass. At temperatures around 3T _c (T _c being the transition temperature) the continuum extrapolated pseudo-scalar screening mass approaches very close to the free continuum result of 2πT from below. On the other hand, at high temperatures the vector screening mass turns out to be larger than the free continuum value of 2πT. The pseudo-scalar and the vector screening masses do not become degenerate even for a temperature as high as 4T _c . Using these mesonic spatial correlation functions we have also investigated the restoration of chiral symmetry and the effective restoration of the axial symmetry. We have found that the vector and the axial-vector screening correlators become degenerate, indicating chiral symmetry restoration, at a temperature which is consistent with the QCD transition temperature obtained in previous studies. On the other hand, the pseudo-scalar and the scalar screening correlators become degenerate only at temperatures larger than 1.3T _c , indicating that the effective restoration of the axial symmetry takes place at a temperature larger than the QCD transition temperature.     

Distributed representations of the "preparatory set" in the frontal oculomotor system: a TMS study

Background  

The generation of saccades is influenced by the level of "preparatory set activity" in cortical oculomotor areas. This preparatory activity can be examined using the gap-paradigm in which a temporal gap is introduced between the disappearance of a central fixation target and the appearance of an eccentric target.     

Model Calculations on the Positive Column of a Medium Pressure Neon Gas-discharge

Model calculations on the positive column of a neon gas-discharge for gas pressures between 50 and 350 torr and currents between 5 and 100 mA are presented. In these calculations a Druyvesteyn distribution for the electron energy has been used. Volume recombination and radially dependent electron and gas temperatures have been taken into account. Numerical results are compared with available experimental data. In particular, the axial field strength, electron density, electron temperature and ambipolar field strength are considered. In general, the agreement between experimental and numerical data is good.     

Rotating magnetic macrospheres as heating mechanism for remote controlled drug release

A permanent magnetic macrosphere (diameter: 5 mm) spherically seated in an oil bearing inside an experimental capsule (comparable to a hard gelatine capsule size 2) is turned by a rotating magnetic field (H ? 5 kA/m; frequency ν?500 Hz) and causes a temperature rise up to about 60 °C. In order to find further possible improvements, the experimental results were compared to theoretical expectations. First experiments using improved thermal isolation yielded temperatures of about 100 °C. The heating can be used as a mechanism to remotely release drugs in the gastrointestinal tract.