Curvature effects on surface electron states in ballistic nanostructures

The curvature effect on the electronic states of a deformed cylindrical conducting surface of variable diameter is theoretically investigated. The quantum confinement of electrons normal to the curved surface results in an effective potential energy that affects the electronic structures of the system at low energies. This suggests the possibility that ballistic transport of electrons in low-dimensional nanostructures can be controlled by inducing a local geometric deformation.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Curvature induced quantum potential on deformed surfaces

We investigate the effect of curvature on the behaviour of a quantum particle bound to move on a surface. For the Gaussian bump we derive and discuss the quantum potential which results in the appearance of a bound state for particles with vanishing angular momentum. The Gaussian bump provides a characteristic length for the problem. For completeness we propose an inverse problem in differential geometry, i.e. what deformed surfaces produce prescribed curvature induced quantum potentials. We solve this inverse problem in the case of rotational surfaces. We also show that there exist rotational surfaces in the form of a circular strip around the axis of symmetry which allow particles with generic angular momentum to bind

Low-Temperature Resistivity Anomalies in Periodic Curved Surfaces

Effects of periodic curvature on the the electrical resistivity of corrugated semiconductor films are theoretically considered. The presence of a curvature-induced potential affects the motion of electrons confined to the thin curved film, resulting in a significant resistivity enhancement at specific values of two geometric parameters: the amplitude and period of the surface corrugation. The maximal values of the two parameters in order to observe the corrugation-induced resistivity enhancement in actual experiments are quantified by employing existing material constants.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

It is time to talk about people: a human-centered healthcare system

Examining vulnerabilities within our current healthcare system we propose borrowing two tools from the fields of engineering and design: a) Reason's system approach [1] and b) User-centered design [2,3]. Both approaches are human-centered in that they consider common patterns of human behavior when analyzing systems to identify problems and generate solutions. This paper examines these two human-centered approaches in the context of healthcare. We argue that maintaining a human-centered orientation in clinical care, research, training, and governance is critical to the evolution of an effective and sustainable healthcare system

Dietary phytochemicals, HDAC inhibition, and DNA damage/repair defects in cancer cells

Genomic instability is a common feature of cancer etiology. This provides an avenue for therapeutic intervention, since cancer cells are more susceptible than normal cells to DNA damaging agents. However, there is growing evidence that the epigenetic mechanisms that impact DNA methylation and histone status also contribute to genomic instability. The DNA damage response, for example, is modulated by the acetylation status of histone and non-histone proteins, and by the opposing activities of histone acetyltransferase and histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes. Many HDACs overexpressed in cancer cells have been implicated in protecting such cells from genotoxic insults. Thus, HDAC inhibitors, in addition to unsilencing tumor suppressor genes, also can silence DNA repair pathways, inactivate non-histone proteins that are required for DNA stability, and induce reactive oxygen species and DNA double-strand breaks. This review summarizes how dietary phytochemicals that affect the epigenome also can trigger DNA damage and repair mechanisms. Where such data is available, examples are cited from studies in vitro and in vivo of polyphenols, organosulfur/organoselenium compounds, indoles, sesquiterpene lactones, and miscellaneous agents such as anacardic acid. Finally, by virtue of their genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, cancer chemopreventive agents are being redefined as chemo- or radio-sensitizers. A sustained DNA damage response coupled with insufficient repair may be a pivotal mechanism for apoptosis induction in cancer cells exposed to dietary phytochemicals. Future research, including appropriate clinical investigation, should clarify these emerging concepts in the context of both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms dysregulated in cancer, and the pros and cons of specific dietary intervention strategies

Modeling Spin Transport in Helical Fields: Derivation of an Effective Low-Dimensional Hamiltonian

This study is devoted to a consistent derivation of an effective model Hamiltonian to describe spin transport along a helical pathway and in the presence of spin-orbit interaction, the latter being induced by an external field with helical symmetry. It is found that a sizable spin polarization of an unpolarized incoming state can be obtained without introducing phase breaking processes. For this, at least two energy levels per lattice site in the tight-binding representation are needed. Additionally, asymmetries in the effective electronic-coupling parameters as well as in the spin-orbit interaction strength must be present to achieve net polarization. For a fully symmetric system-in terms of electronic and spin-orbit couplings-no spin polarization is found. The model presented is quite general and is expected to be of interest for the treatment of spin-dependent effects in molecular scale systems with helical symmetry