Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Krisch

Publications and source records attributed to M Krisch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Phonon dispersion of oriented DNA by inelastic x-ray scattering.

Films of oriented deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), prepared by the wet spinning method, have been studied using inelastic x-ray scattering. Spectra were recorded within the range of energy transfers -30< homega <30 meV at momentum transfers homegaQ ranging from 2.5 to 30 nm(-1) whereby the direction of Q essentially coincided with the helical axis. Measurements at ambient temperature cover samples in the A, B, C, and D conformations of DNA. Within the limits of the instrumental resolution, the spectra were analyzed by the response of a damped harmonic oscillator delivering dispersion and damping of modes having displacements with nonzero projections onto Q, i.e., essentially the compression waves traveling along the helical axis. The longitudinal speed of sound resulting from the sinusoidal dispersion varies only weakly with conformation. Our sound speed values are compared to results from Brillouin spectroscopy. The dispersion curves exhibit a minimum at about the inverse rise per residue, which -- together with strong elastic scattering -- reflect the large degree of disorder. Overdamping of the modes is observed for Q>5 nm(-1). The possibility that the observed large damping parameters are due to several contributing modes is discussed in terms of a simple model calculation for an idealized double helix. Whereas the quasicrystalline approximation for an effective disordered chain could well describe the sinusoidal dispersion, it fails to reproduce the observed damping by one order of magnitude. Our results indicate that the high-frequency dynamics of DNA is liquidlike and is most appropriately described by instantaneous normal modes of short correlation length.

DNA↗

Probing the coulomb interaction of the unconventional superconductor by phonon spectroscopy.

The phonon dispersion curves of the superconductor PuCoGa(5) were studied by inelastic x-ray scattering at room temperature. The experimental data agree well with ab initio lattice dynamics calculations. An accurate description of the phonon spectrum is obtained only when a local Coulomb repulsion U approximately equal 3 eV among 5f electrons is taken into account.

Journal Article↗

Phonon modes at the 2H-NbSe2 surface observed by grazing incidence inelastic x-ray scattering.

We have determined the dispersion of acoustic and optical surface phonon modes 2H-NbSe2 at the by inelastic x-ray scattering under grazing incidence conditions. Already, at room temperature, an anomaly is observed close to the charge density wave -vector position located at about one-third along the Gamma-M direction of the Brillouin zone. Our results indicate that the anomaly for the surface mode occurs at a lower energy than that measured in bulk sensitive geometry in the same experiment, showing evidence of a modified behavior in the uppermost layers. We demonstrate that inelastic x-ray scattering in grazing incidence conditions provides a unique tool to selectively study either surface or bulk lattice dynamics in a single experiment.

Journal Article↗

High-frequency longitudinal and transverse dynamics in water.

High-resolution, inelastic x-ray scattering measurements of the dynamic structure factor S (Q,omega) of liquid water have been performed for wave vectors Q between 4 and 30 nm(-1) in distinctly different thermodynamic conditions ( T=263-420 K ; at, or close to, ambient pressure and at P=2 kbar ). In agreement with previous inelastic x-ray and neutron studies, the presence of two inelastic contributions (one dispersing with Q and the other almost nondispersive) is confirmed. The study of their temperature and Q dependence provides strong support for a dynamics of liquid water controlled by the structural relaxation process. A viscoelastic analysis of the Q -dispersing mode, associated with the longitudinal dynamics, reveals that the sound velocity undergoes a complete transition from the adiabatic sound velocity ( c(0) ) (viscous limit) to the infinite-frequency sound velocity ( c(infinity) ) (elastic limit). On decreasing Q , as the transition regime is approached from the elastic side, we observe a decrease of the intensity of the second, weakly dispersing feature, which completely disappears when the viscous regime is reached. These findings unambiguously identify the second excitation to be a signature of the transverse dynamics with a longitudinal symmetry component, which becomes visible in S (Q,omega) as soon as the purely viscous regime is left.

Journal Article↗

Elasticity of cobalt at high pressure studied by inelastic x-ray scattering.

The five independent elastic moduli of single-crystalline hcp cobalt were determined by inelastic x-ray scattering to 39 GPa and compared to ultrasonic measurements and first principles calculations. In general the agreement is good, in particular, for the evolution of the longitudinal sound velocity in the a-c plane. This confirms the calculations, suggesting that a similar evolution is valid for hcp iron, the main constituent of the Earth's inner core, up to the highest investigated pressure. Our results represent an important benchmark to further refine ab initio calculations.

Journal Article↗

High-frequency acoustic modes in liquid gallium at the melting point.

The microscopic dynamics in liquid gallium at melting has been studied by inelastic x-ray scattering. We demonstrate the existence of acousticlike modes up to wave vectors above one-half of the first maximum of the static structure factor, at variance with earlier results from inelastic neutron scattering [F. J. Bermejo et al., Phys. Rev. E 49, 3133 (1994)]. Despite structural (extremely rich polymorphism) and electronic (mixed valence) peculiarities, the collective dynamics is strikingly similar to the one of van der Waals and metallic fluids. This result speaks in favor of the universality of the short time dynamics in monatomic liquids rather than of system-specific dynamics.

Journal Article↗

High-frequency dynamics of the glass former dibutylphthalate under pressure.

The high-frequency dynamics of a fragile molecular glass former (dibutylphthalate) was studied through inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS), as a function of pressure and temperature. The mesoscopic structural arrest associated with the glass transition process was tracked by following upon cooling the inelastic excitations at fixed Q points in the dispersion curves, at ambient pressure and 2 kbar. The application of pressure to this system induces an offset between the macroscopic glass transition temperature T(g) and the mesoscopic glass transition temperature, as determined from IXS. The concomitant fragility decrease of dibutylphthalate under pressure unveils that the stronger the glass former is, the more its mesoscopic dynamics differ from the macroscopic regime. This trend is interpreted as the signature of a nanoscopic inhomogeneous elastic network. Further aspects of this system are obtained when studying the temperature dependence of its nonergodicity factor f(Q)(T). The chemical specificity of the molecule is suggested to be responsible for the nonobservation of a critical temperature T(c) in dibutylphthalate up to approximately 300 K.

Journal Article↗

Pressure evolution of the high-frequency sound velocity in liquid water.

The high-frequency sound velocity v( infinity ) of liquid water has been determined to densities of 1.37 g/cm(3) by inelastic x-ray scattering. In comparison to the hydrodynamic sound velocity v(0), the increase of v( infinity ) with density is substantially less pronounced, indicating that, at high density, the hydrogen-bond network is decreasingly relevant to the physical properties of liquid water. Furthermore, we observe an anomaly in v( infinity ) at densities around 1.12 g/cm(3), contrasting the smooth density evolution of v(0).

Journal Article↗

Anomalous dispersion of longitudinal optical phonons in Nd(1.86)Ce(0.14)CuO(4+delta) determined by inelastic x-ray scattering.

The phonon dispersions of Nd(1.86)Ce(0.14)CuO(4+delta) along the [xi,0,0] direction have been determined by inelastic x-ray scattering. Compared to the undoped parent compound, the two highest longitudinal phonon branches, associated with the Cu-O bond stretching and out-of-plane oxygen vibration, are shifted to lower energies. Moreover, an anomalous softening of the bond-stretching band is observed at about q = (0.2,0,0). These signatures provide evidence for strong electron-phonon coupling in this electron-doped high-temperature superconductor.

Journal Article↗

Phonon dispersion curves in wurtzite-structure GaN determined by inelastic x-ray scattering.

We have investigated the lattice dynamics of a wurtzite GaN single crystal by inelastic x-ray scattering. Several dispersion branches and phonons at high-symmetry points have been measured, including the two zone-center Raman- and infrared-inactive silent modes. The experiments have been complemented by ab initio calculations. They are in very good agreement with our measurements, not only for phonon energies, but also for scattering intensities, thus validating the correctness of the eigenvectors. Other phenomenological and ab initio theories exhibit significant differences.

Journal Article↗

Sound velocities in iron to 110 gigapascals.

The dispersion of longitudinal acoustic phonons was measured by inelastic x-ray scattering in the hexagonal closed-packed (hcp) structure of iron from 19 to 110 gigapascals. Phonon dispersion curves were recorded on polycrystalline iron compressed in a diamond anvil cell, revealing an increase of the longitudinal wave velocity (VP) from 7000 to 8800 meters per second. We show that hcp iron follows a Birch law for VP, which is used to extrapolate velocities to inner core conditions. Extrapolated longitudinal acoustic wave velocities compared with seismic data suggest an inner core that is 4 to 5% lighter than hcp iron.

Journal Article↗

Storage of X-ray photons in a crystal resonator

The temporal structure and high brilliance of the X-ray beams produced by third-generation synchrotrons open up new possibilities in time-dependent diffraction and spectroscopy, where timescales down to the sub-nanosecond regime can now be accessed. These beam properties are such that one can envisage the development of the X-ray equivalent of optical components, such as photon delay lines and resonators, that have proved indispensable in a wide range of experiments--for example, pump-probe and multiple-interaction experiments--and (through shaping the temporal structure and repetition rate of the beams) time-dependent measurements in crystallography, physics, biology and chemistry. Optical resonators, such as those used in lasers, are available at wavelengths from the visible to soft X-rays. Equivalent components for hard X-rays have been discussed for more than thirty years, but have yet to be realized. Here we report the storage of hard X-ray photons (energy 15.817 keV) in a crystal resonator formed by two plates of crystalline silicon. The photons are stored for as many as 14 back-and-forth cycles within the resonator, each cycle separated by one nanosecond.

Journal Article↗

Serum CA 125 levels and survival in advanced ovarian cancer.

We made a retrospective analysis of 85 patients with elevated serum CA 125 after surgery for ovarian cancer. Absolute CA 125 serum levels were a poor guide to prognosis. However, the ratio between the serum CA 125 after the first, second, or third course of treatment and the postoperative value was an excellent guide to prognosis. These were also independent and stable in the Cox Regression analysis.

Adult↗