Average and extreme multi-atom Van der Waals interactions: Strong coupling of multi-atom Van der Waals interactions with covalent bonding

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prediction of ligand binding or protein structure requires very accurate force field potentials – even small errors in force field potentials can make a 'wrong' structure (from the billions possible) more stable than the single, 'correct' one. However, despite huge efforts to optimize them, currently-used all-atom force fields are still not able, in a vast majority of cases, even to keep a protein molecule in its native conformation in the course of molecular dynamics simulations or to bring an approximate, homology-based model of protein structure closer to its native conformation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A strict analysis shows that a specific coupling of multi-atom Van der Waals interactions with covalent bonding can, in extreme cases, increase (or decrease) the interaction energy by about 20–40% at certain angles between the direction of interaction and the covalent bond. It is also shown that on average multi-body effects decrease the total Van der Waals energy in proportion to the square root of the electronic component of dielectric permittivity corresponding to dipole-dipole interactions at small distances, where Van der Waals interactions take place.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study shows that currently-ignored multi-atom Van der Waals interactions can, in certain instances, lead to significant energy effects, comparable to those caused by the replacement of atoms (for instance, C by N) in conventional pairwise Van der Waals interactions.</p

Sporadic fatal insomnia in a young woman: A diagnostic challenge: Case Report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sporadic fatal insomnia (sFI) and fatal familial insomnia (FFI) are rare human prion diseases.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>We report a case of a 33-year-old female who died of a prion disease for whom the diagnosis of sFI or FFI was not considered clinically. Following death of this patient, an interview with a close family member indicated the patient's illness included a major change in her sleep pattern, corroborating the reported autopsy diagnosis of sFI. Genetic tests identified no prion protein (PrP) gene mutation, but neuropathological examination and molecular study showed protease-resistant PrP (PrP^res) in several brain regions and severe atrophy of the anterior-ventral and medial-dorsal thalamic nuclei similar to that described in FFI.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In patients with suspected prion disease, a characteristic change in sleep pattern can be an important clinical clue for identifying sFI or FFI; polysomnography (PSG), genetic analysis, and nuclear imaging may aid in diagnosis.</p

Magnetic Response in the Holographic Insulator/Superconductor Transition

We study the magnetic response of holographic superconductors exhibiting an insulating "normal" phase. These materials can be realized as a CFT compactified on a circle, which is dual to the AdS Soliton geometry. We study the response under i) magnetic fields and ii) a Wilson line on the circle. Magnetic fields lead to formation of vortices and allows one to infer that the superconductor is of type II. The response to a Wilson line is in the form of Aharonov-Bohm-like effects. These are suppressed in the holographic conductor/superconductor transition but, instead, they are unsuppressed for the insulator case. Holography, thus, predicts that generically insulators display stronger Aharonov-Bohm effects than conductors. In the fluid-mechanical limit the AdS Soliton is interpreted as a supersolid. Our results imply that supersolids display unsuppressed Aharonov-Bohm (or "Sagnac") effects - stronger than in superfluids.Comment: 31 pages, 24 figures; discussion on vortex lattice, few comments and references added; article published in JHE

Dispersion forces between ultracold atoms and a carbon nanotube

Dispersion forces are long-range interactions between polarizable objects that arise from fluctuations in the electromagnetic field between them. Dispersion forces have been observed between microscopic objects such as atoms and molecules (the van der Waals interaction), between macroscopic objects (the Casimir interaction) and between an atom and a macroscopic object (the Casimir–Polder interaction). Dispersion forces are known to increase the attractive forces between the components in nanomechanical devices, to influence adsorption rates onto nanostructures, and to influence the interactions between biomolecules in biological systems. In recent years, there has been growing interest in studying dispersion forces in nanoscale systems and in exploring the interactions between carbon nanotubes and cold atoms. However, there are considerable difficulties in developing dispersion force theories for general, finite geometries such as nanostructures. Thus, there is a need for new experimental methods that are able to go beyond measurements of planar surfaces and nanoscale gratings and make measurements on isolated nanostructures. Here, we measure the dispersion force between a rubidium atom and a multiwalled carbon nanotube by inserting the nanotube into a cloud of ultracold rubidium atoms and monitoring the loss of atoms from the cloud as a function of time. We perform these experiments with both thermal clouds of ultracold atoms and with Bose–Einstein condensates. The results obtained with this approach will aid the development of theories describing quantum fields near nanostructures, and hybrid cold-atom/solid-state devices may also prove useful for applications in quantum sensing and quantum information