1,696 research outputs found
Competing topological and Kondo insulator phases on a honeycomb lattice
We investigate the competition between the spin-orbit interaction of
itinerant electrons and their Kondo coupling with local moments densely
distributed on the honeycomb lattice. We find that the model at half-filling
displays a quantum phase transition between topological and Kondo insulators at
a nonzero Kondo coupling. In the Kondo-screened case, tuning the electron
concentration can lead to a new topological insulator phase. The results
suggest that the heavy-fermion phase diagram contains a new regime with a
competition among topological, Kondo-coherent and magnetic states, and that the
regime may be especially relevant to Kondo lattice systems with -conduction
electrons. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results in the context
of the recent experiments on SmB implicating the surface states of a
topological insulator, as well as the existing experiments on the phase
transitions in SmB under pressure and in CeNiSn under chemical pressure.Comment: (v3) Published version including the main text (5 pages + 4 figures)
and a supplementary material discussing the effects of quantum fluctuations
of the slave bosons and antiferromagnetic ordering of the local moments on
the transitions among the Kondo, magnetic and topological state
Prospect of emission reduction standard for sustainable port equipment electrification
Despite efficient carbon monitoring system and the commercialization of battery technology for intra-port transportation, port management are found not deploying environmental equipmentsmainly due to high cost. Port authority who regulates environmental policies lacks leverage to impose tangible reduction standards on emission through concession. This model integrates sustainability into port equipment expansion theory by quantifying viable equipment electrification profile while still observing threeconstraints of operation, cost and environment. A benchmark emission reduction standard (ERS) is surveyed by Delphi method as environmental demand indicator thatsimulates for the electrification of port equipments. The results from Port of Tanjung Pelepas case study suggest an ERS implemented lower than 4% reduction a year is viable to retrofit and replace all electric rubber-tired gantries and prime movers. The simulation model allows informed decision for all port agents to establish viable environmental policies for sustainable port operations
Commensurate lock-in and incommensurate supersolid phases of hardcore bosons on anisotropic triangular lattices
We investigate the interplay between commensurate lock-in and incommensurate
supersolid phases of the hardcore bosons at half-filling with anisotropic
nearest-neighbor hopping and repulsive interactions on triangular lattice. We
use numerical quantum and variational Monte Carlo as well as analytical
Schwinger boson mean-field analysis to establish the ground states and phase
diagram. It is shown that, for finite size systems, there exist a series of
jumps between different supersolid phases as the anisotropy parameter is
changed. The density ordering wavevectors are locked to commensurate values and
jump between adjacent supersolids. In the thermodynamic limit, however, the
magnitude of these jumps vanishes leading to a continuous set of novel
incommensurate supersoild phases.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, added new results, changed title and conclusio
Synthetic Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition on Copper Foils
The discovery of graphene, a single layer of covalently bonded carbon atoms,
has attracted intense interests. Initial studies using mechanically exfoliated
graphene unveiled its remarkable electronic, mechanical and thermal properties.
There has been a growing need and rapid development in large-area deposition of
graphene film and its applications. Chemical vapour deposition on copper has
emerged as one of the most promising methods in obtaining large-scale graphene
films with quality comparable to exfoliated graphene. In this chapter, we
review the synthesis and characterizations of graphene grown on copper foil
substrates by atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition. We also discuss
potential applications of such large scale synthetic graphene.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure
Use of graphene as protection film in biological environments
Corrosion of metal in biomedical devices could cause serious health problems to patients. Currently ceramics coating materials used in metal implants can reduce corrosion to some extent with limitations. Here we proposed graphene as a biocompatible protective film for metal potentially for biomedical application. We confirmed graphene effectively inhibits Cu surface from corrosion in different biological aqueous environments. Results from cell viability tests suggested that graphene greatly eliminates the toxicity of Cu by inhibiting corrosion and reducing the concentration of Cu(2+) ions produced. We demonstrated that additional thiol derivatives assembled on graphene coated Cu surface can prominently enhance durability of sole graphene protection limited by the defects in graphene film. We also demonstrated that graphene coating reduced the immune response to metal in a clinical setting for the first time through the lymphocyte transformation test. Finally, an animal experiment showed the effective protection of graphene to Cu under in vivo condition. Our results open up the potential for using graphene coating to protect metal surface in biomedical application
Membranous expression of Her3 is associated with a decreased survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) still remains a lethal malignancy benefiting from the identification of the new target for early detection and/or development of new therapeutic regimens based on a better understanding of the biological mechanism for treatment. The overexpression of Her2 and Her3 receptors have been identified in various solid tumors, but its prognostic relevance in HNSCC remains controversial.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three hundred eighty-seven primary HNSCCs, 20 matching metasis and 17 recurrent HNSCCs were arrayed into tissue microarrays. The relationships between Her2 and Her3 protein expression and clinicopathological parameters/survival of HNSCC patients were analyzed with immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Her3 is detected as either a cytoplasmic or a membranous dominant expression pattern whereas Her2 expression showed uniform membranous form. In primary tumor tissues, high membranous Her2 expression level was found in 104 (26.9%) cases while positive membranous and cytoplasmic Her3 expression was observed in 34 (8.8%) and 300 (77.5%) samples, respectively. Membranous Her2 expression was significantly associated with histological grade (<it>P </it>= 0.021), as grade 2 tumors showed the highest positive expression. Membranous Her3 over-expression was significantly prevalent in metastatic tissues compared to primary tumors (<it>P </it>= 0.003). Survival analysis indicates that membranous Her3 expression is significantly associated with worse overall survival (<it>P </it>= 0.027) and is an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.23; <it>P </it>= 0.040).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that membranous Her3 expression is strongly associated with poor prognosis of patients with HNSCC and is a potential candidate molecule for targeted therapy.</p
Electrical and thermal conductivities of reduced graphene oxide/polystyrene composites
The author reports an experimental study of electrical and thermal transport in reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/polystyrene (PS) composites. The electrical conductivity (sigma) of RGO/PS composites with different RGO concentrations at room temperature shows a percolation behavior with the percolation threshold of similar to 0.25 vol. %. Their temperature-dependent electrical conductivity follows Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping conduction in the temperature range of 30-300K. The thermal conductivity (kappa) of composites is enhanced by similar to 90% as the concentration is increased from 0 to 10 vol. %. The thermal conductivity of composites approximately linearly increases with increasing temperature from 150 to 300 K. Composites with a higher concentration show a stronger temperature dependence in the thermal conductivity. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC
X-ray Astronomy in the Laboratory with a Miniature Compact Object Produced by Laser-Driven Implosion
Laboratory spectroscopy of non-thermal equilibrium plasmas photoionized by
intense radiation is a key to understanding compact objects, such as black
holes, based on astronomical observations. This paper describes an experiment
to study photoionizing plasmas in laboratory under well-defined and genuine
conditions. Photoionized plasma is here generated using a 0.5-keV Planckian
x-ray source created by means of a laser-driven implosion. The measured x-ray
spectrum from the photoionized silicon plasma resembles those observed from the
binary stars Cygnus X-3 and Vela X-1 with the Chandra x-ray satellite. This
demonstrates that an extreme radiation field was produced in the laboratory,
however, the theoretical interpretation of the laboratory spectrum
significantly contradicts the generally accepted explanations in x-ray
astronomy. This model experiment offers a novel test bed for validation and
verification of computational codes used in x-ray astronomy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures are included. This is the original submitted
version of the manuscript to be published in Nature Physic
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