Multiferroic Quantum Criticality

The zero-temperature limit of a continuous phase transition is marked by a quantum critical point, which can generate exotic physics that extends to elevated temperatures. Magnetic quantum criticality is now well known, and has been explored in systems ranging from heavy fermion metals to quantum Ising materials. Ferroelectric quantum critical behaviour has also been recently established, motivating a flurry of research investigating its consequences. Here, we introduce the concept of multiferroic quantum criticality, in which both magnetic and ferroelectric quantum criticality occur in the same system. We develop the phenomenology of multiferroic quantum critical behaviour, describe the associated experimental signatures, and propose material systems and schemes to realize it.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Generalized Parton Distributions of ^3He

A realistic microscopic calculation of the unpolarized quark Generalized Parton Distribution (GPD) $H_q^3$ of the $^3He$ nucleus is presented. In Impulse Approximation, $H_q^3$ is obtained as a convolution between the GPD of the internal nucleon and the non-diagonal spectral function, describing properly Fermi motion and binding effects. The proposed scheme is valid at low values of $\Delta^2$, the momentum transfer to the target, the most relevant kinematical region for the coherent channel of hard exclusive processes. The obtained formula has the correct forward limit, corresponding to the standard deep inelastic nuclear parton distributions, and first moment, giving the charge form factor of $^3He$. Nuclear effects, evaluated by a modern realistic potential, are found to be larger than in the forward case. In particular, they increase with increasing the momentum transfer when the asymmetry of the process is kept fixed, and they increase with the asymmetry at fixed momentum transfer. Another relevant feature of the obtained results is that the nuclear GPD cannot be factorized into a $\Delta^2$-dependent and a $\Delta^2$-independent term, as suggested in prescriptions proposed for finite nuclei. The size of nuclear effects reaches 8 % even in the most important part of the kinematical range under scrutiny. The relevance of the obtained results to study the feasibility of experiments is addressed.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures; Discussion in section II enlarged; discussion in section IV shortened. Final version accepted by Phys. Rev.

High Pressure optical nanothermometer based on Er3+ photoluminescence

The optical properties of a sparsely investigated material, LaGdO3 doped with Er3+, are explored regarding its suitability as nanothermometer. Besides its excellent capabilities for dielectric applications, when doping with Er3+, this material provides a highly efficient upconversion photoluminescence (PL) for high temperature thermometry at high pressure due to its structural stability. LaGdO3 belongs to the perovskite-type ABO3 compounds with a B-type monoclinic C2/m space group (a = 14.43 Å; b = 3.69 Å; c = 9.00 Å; and ? = 100.70º) at ambient conditions. It undergoes a structural phase transition to a hexagonal ?3#?1 phase at 3GPa yielding a notable PL enhancement, thus enabling it as a potential high-pressure hightemperature nanothermometer.We acknowledge financial support from MAT2015-69508-P (MINECO/FEDER), MAT2015-71070-REDC; PGC2018-101464-B-I00 (MICIN/FEDER), IDIVAL 18/28, the European Research Council FET-OPEN NCLas H2020 Project (EU829161), and BSH Electrodomésticos España, S.A

Osteomielitis vertebral cervical como complicación de cirugía faríngea: a propósito de un caso

Se presenta un caso de un a enferma de 59 años, diabética, afecta de un a osteomielitis vertebral cervical por Candida Albicans. La vía de infección fué la persistencia durante varios meses de unos tutores, colocados tras la resección de un a estenosis nasofaríngea , que impactaban sobre la cara anterior de la vértebra C3. El desarrollo insidioso y la ausencia de un cuadro clínico específico fué la causa del retraso diagnóstico.A 5 9 yea r ol d woma n wit h diabete s mellitu s presente d a cervica l vertebra l osteomyelitis du e t o Candid a Albicans. Th e chroni c implantatio n o f dilatio n tube s followin g th e resectio n o f a nasopharyngea l stenosis wa s th e mod e o f infection . Th e insidiou s an d prolonge d onse t an d n o specifica l clinica l pictur e wer e t h e caus e o f dela y i n th e diagnosi

Infinite-layer fluoro-nickelates as d9d^9 model materials

We study theoretically the fluoro-nickelate series $A$NiF$_2$ ($A=$ Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) in the tetragonal $P4/mmm$ infinite-layer structure. We use density functional theory to determine the structural parameters and the electronic band structure of these unprecedented compounds. Thus, we predict these materials as model $d^9$ systems where the Ni$^{1+}$ oxidation is realized and the low-energy physics is completely determined by the Ni-3$d$ bands only. Fluoro-nickelates of this class thus offer an ideal platform for the study of intriguing physics that emerges out of the special $d^9$ electronic configuration, notably high-temperature unconventional superconductivity.Comment: 6 pages, 4 tables, and 6 figure

Low-temperature specific heat of real crystals: Possibility of leading contribution of optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations

We point out that the repeatedly reported glass-like properties of crystalline materials are not necessarily associated with localized (or quasilocalized) excitations. In real crystals, optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations remain damped due to defects down to zero temperature. If such a damping is frequency-independent, e.g. due to planar defects or charged defects, these optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations yield a linear-in-$T$ contribution to the low-temperature specific heat of the crystal lattices. At low enough temperatures such a contribution will prevail over that of the long-wavelength acoustical vibrations (Debye contribution). The crossover between the linear and the Debye regime takes place at $T^* \propto \sqrt N$, where $N$ is the concentration of the defects responsible for the damping. Estimates show that this crossover could be observable.Comment: 5 pages. v4: Error in Appendix corrected, which does not change the main results of the pape

A pragmatic patient-reported outcome strategy for rare disease clinical trials: application of the EORTC item library to myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and acute myeloid leukemia.

BackgroundNovel, pragmatic, patient-centered strategies are needed to ensure fit-for-purpose patient-reported outcomes (PRO) instruments in clinical trial research for rare diseases such as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). The objective of the current study was to select supplemental items to add to the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) to ensure content coverage of all important clinical concepts in patients with higher-risk (HR) MDS, low-blast count (LB) AML, and CMML, thus, improving the instrument's ability to detect clinically meaningful treatment benefit for this context of use.MethodsOur mixed methods approach comprised literature review, clinician consultation (n = 3), and qualitative and quantitative analysis of two stages of patient interview data (n = 14, n = 18) to select library bank items to supplement a generic cancer PRO, the EORTC QLQ-C30.ResultsUnique symptom (n = 54) and impact (n = 72) concepts were organized into conceptual frameworks of treatment benefit, compared with EORTC QLQ-C30 items and conceptual gaps identified. Supplemental items (n = 13) addressing those gaps were selected from the EORTC Item Library and tested with patients. Supplemental item endorsement frequencies met World Health Organization Quality of Life criteria, suggesting good targeting and relevance for this sample. However, three supplemental items were confirmed as problematic based upon cognitive debriefing results, and expert clinical consultations. Ultimately, 10 supplemental items (n = 7 symptom; n = 3 impact) were selected for the MDS/AML/CMML context.ConclusionSupplemental items were selected to enhance the conceptual coverage of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in the areas of fatigue, shortness of breath, and functioning

Electromagnon excitations in modulated multiferroics

The phenomenological theory of ferroelectricity in spiral magnets presented in [M. Mostovoy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 067601 (2006)] is generalized to describe consistently states with both uniform and modulated-in-space ferroelectric polarizations. A key point in this description is the symmetric part of the magnetoelectric coupling since, although being irrelevant for the uniform component, it plays an essential role for the non-uniform part of the polarization. We illustrate this importance in generic examples of modulated magnetic systems: longitudinal and transverse spin-density wave states and planar cycloidal phase. We show that even in the cases with no uniform ferroelectricity induced, polarization correlation functions follow to the soft magnetic behavior of the system due to the magnetoelectric effect. Our results can be easily generalized for more complicated types of magnetic ordering, and the applications may concern various natural and artificial systems in condensed matter physics (e.g., magnon properties could be extracted from dynamic dielectric response measurements).Comment: 5 page

The optical identifcation of events with poorly defined locations: The case of the Fermi GBM GRB140801A

We report the early discovery of the optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 140801A in the 137 deg$^2$ 3-$\sigma$ error-box of the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). MASTER is the only observatory that automatically react to all Fermi alerts. GRB 140801A is one of the few GRBs whose optical counterpart was discovered solely from its GBM localization. The optical afterglow of GRB 140801A was found by MASTER Global Robotic Net 53 sec after receiving the alert, making it the fastest optical detection of a GRB from a GBM error-box. Spectroscopy obtained with the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the 6-m BTA of SAO RAS reveals a redshift of $z=1.32$. We performed optical and near-infrared photometry of GRB 140801A using different telescopes with apertures ranging from 0.4-m to 10.4-m. GRB 140801A is a typical burst in many ways. The rest-frame bolometric isotropic energy release and peak energy of the burst is $E_\mathrm{iso} = 5.54_{-0.24}^{+0.26} \times 10^{52}$ erg and $E_\mathrm{p, rest}\simeq280$ keV, respectively, which is consistent with the Amati relation. The absence of a jet break in the optical light curve provides a lower limit on the half-opening angle of the jet $\theta=6.1$ deg. The observed $E_\mathrm{peak}$ is consistent with the limit derived from the Ghirlanda relation. The joint Fermi GBM and Konus-Wind analysis shows that GRB 140801A could belong to the class of intermediate duration. The rapid detection of the optical counterpart of GRB 140801A is especially important regarding the upcoming experiments with large coordinate error-box areas.Comment: in press MNRAS, 201