Paul Scherrer Institute

About: Paul Scherrer Institute is a facility organization based out in Villigen, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Neutron & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 9248 authors who have published 23984 publications receiving 890129 citations. The organization is also known as: PSI.

The XMM-Newton extended survey of the Taurus molecular cloud (XEST)

Abstract: The Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC) is the nearest large star-forming region, prototypical for the distributed mode of low-mass star formation. Pre-main sequence stars are luminous X-ray sources, probably mostly owing to magnetic energy release. Aims. The XMM-Newton Extended Survey of the Taurus Molecular Cloud (EST) presented in this paper surveys the most populated =5 square degrees of the TMC, using the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory to study the thermal structure, variability, and long-term evolution of hot plasma, to investigate the magnetic dynamo, and to search for new potential members of the association. Many targets are also studied in the optical, and high-resolution X-ray grating spectroscopy has been obtained for selected bright sources. Methods. The X-ray spectra have been coherently analyzed with two different thermal models (2-component thermal model, and a continuous emission measure distribution model). We present overall correlations with fundamental stellar parameters that were derived from the previous literature. A few detections from Chandra observations have been added. Results. The present overview paper introduces the project and provides the basic results from the X-ray analysis of all sources detected in the XEST survey. Comprehensive tables summarize the stellar properties of all targets surveyed. The survey goes deeper than previous X-ray surveys of Taurus by about an order of magnitude and for the first time systematically accesses very faint and strongly absorbed TMC objects. We find a detection rate of 85% and 98% for classical and weak-line T Tau stars (CTTS resp. WTTS), and identify about half of the surveyed protostars and brown dwarfs. Overall, 136 out of 169 surveyed stellar systems are detected. We describe an X-ray luminosity vs. mass correlation, discuss the distribution of X-ray-to-bolometric luminosity ratios, and show evidence for lower X-ray luminosities in CTTS compared to WTTS. Detailed analysis (e.g., variability, rotation-activity relations, influence of accretion on X-rays) will be discussed in a series of accompanying papers.

Molecular Mechanism of Action of Microtubule-Stabilizing Anticancer Agents.

Abstract: Microtubule-stabilizing agents (MSAs) are efficacious chemotherapeutic drugs widely used for the treatment of cancer. Despite the importance of MSAs for medical applications and basic research, their molecular mechanisms of action on tubulin and microtubules remain elusive. We determined high-resolution crystal structures of αβ-tubulin in complex with two unrelated MSAs, zampanolide and epothilone A. Both compounds were bound to the taxane pocket of β-tubulin and used their respective side chains to induce structuring of the M-loop into a short helix. Because the M-loop establishes lateral tubulin contacts in microtubules, these findings explain how taxane-site MSAs promote microtubule assembly and stability. Further, our results offer fundamental structural insights into the control mechanisms of microtubule dynamics.

Topological Phase Transition and Texture Inversion in a Tunable Topological Insulator

Abstract: The recently discovered three-dimensional or bulk topological insulators are expected to exhibit exotic quantum phenomena. It is believed that a trivial insulator can be twisted into a topological state by modulating the spin-orbit interaction or the crystal lattice, driving the system through a topological quantum phase transition. By directly measuring the topological quantum numbers and invariants, we report the observation of a phase transition in a tunable spin-orbit system, BiTl(S(1-δ)Se(δ))(2), in which the topological state formation is visualized. In the topological state, vortex-like polarization states are observed to exhibit three-dimensional vectorial textures, which collectively feature a chirality transition as the spin momentum-locked electrons on the surface go through the zero carrier density point. Such phase transition and texture inversion can be the physical basis for observing fractional charge (±e/2) and other fractional topological phenomena.

Magnetic Order in the Pseudogap Phase of High- T C Superconductors

Abstract: One of the leading issues in high-T(c) superconductors is the origin of the pseudogap phase in underdoped cuprates. Using polarized elastic neutron diffraction, we identify a novel magnetic order in the YB(2)Cu(3)O(6+) system. The observed magnetic order preserves translational symmetry of the lattice as proposed for orbital moments in the circulating current theory of the pseudogap state. To date, it is the first direct evidence of a hidden order parameter characterizing the pseudogap phase in high-T(c) cuprates.