Evidence for Nodal superconductivity in Sr2_{2}ScFePO3_{3}

Point contact Andreev reflection spectra have been taken as a function of temperature and magnetic field on the polycrystalline form of the newly discovered iron-based superconductor Sr2ScFePO3. A zero bias conductance peak which disappears at the superconducting transition temperature, dominates all of the spectra. Data taken in high magnetic fields show that this feature survives until 7T at 2K and a flattening of the feature is observed in some contacts. Here we inspect whether these observations can be interpreted within a d-wave, or nodal order parameter framework which would be consistent with the recent theoretical model where the height of the P in the Fe-P-Fe plane is key to the symmetry of the superconductivity. However, in polycrystalline samples care must be taken when examining Andreev spectra to eliminate or take into account artefacts associated with the possible effects of Josephson junctions and random alignment of grains.Comment: Published versio

High Accretion Rate during Class 0 Phase due to External Trigger

Recent observations indicate that some class 0 sources have orders of magnitude higher accretion rates than those of class I. We investigated the conditions for the high accretion rates of some class 0 sources by numerical calculations, modelling an external trigger. For no external trigger, we find that the maximum value of the accretion rate is determined by the ratio $\alpha$ of the gravitational energy to the thermal one within a flat inner region of the cloud core. The accretion rate reaches \sim 10^{-4} M_{\sun} yr^{-1} if the cloud core has $\alpha > 2$. For an external trigger we find that the maximum value of the accretion rate is proportional to the momentum given to the cloud core. The accretion rate reaches > 10^{-4} M_{\sun} yr^{-1} with a momentum of \sim 0.1 M_{\sun} km s^{-1} when the initial central density of the cloud core is $\sim 10^{-18} g cm^{-3}$. A comparison between recent observational results for prestellar cores and our no triggered collapse model indicates that the flat inner regions of typical prestellar cores are not large enough to cause accretion rates of \sim 10^{-4} M_{\sun} yr^{-1}. Our results show that the triggered collapse of the cloud core is more preferable for the origin of the high accretion rates of class 0 sources than no triggered collapse.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Evolution of superconductivity by oxygen annealing in FeTe0.8S0.2

Oxygen annealing dramatically improved the superconducting properties of solid-state-reacted FeTe0.8S0.2, which showed only a broad onset of superconducting transition just after the synthesis. The zero resistivity appeared and reached 8.5 K by the oxygen annealing at 200\degree C. The superconducting volume fraction was also enhanced from 0 to almost 100%. The lattice constants were compressed by the oxygen annealing, indicating that the evolution of bulk superconductivity in FeTe0.8S0.2 was correlated to the shrinkage of lattice.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

TGFBR2 and BAX Mononucleotide Tract Mutations, Microsatellite Instability, and Prognosis in 1072 Colorectal Cancers

Mononucleotide tracts in the coding regions of the TGFBR2 and BAX genes are commonly mutated in microsatellite instability-high (MSI-high) colon cancers. The receptor TGFBR2 plays an important role in the TGFB1 (transforming growth factor-β, TGF-β) signaling pathway, and BAX plays a key role in apoptosis. However, a role of TGFBR2 or BAX mononucleotide mutation in colorectal cancer as a prognostic biomarker remains uncertain.We utilized a database of 1072 rectal and colon cancers in two prospective cohort studies (the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study). Cox proportional hazards model was used to compute mortality hazard ratio (HR), adjusted for clinical, pathological and molecular features including the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), LINE-1 methylation, and KRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA mutations. MSI-high was observed in 15% (162/1072) of all colorectal cancers. TGFBR2 and BAX mononucleotide mutations were detected in 74% (117/159) and 30% (48/158) of MSI-high tumors, respectively. In Kaplan-Meier analysis as well as univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, compared to microsatellite stable (MSS)/MSI-low cases, MSI-high cases were associated with superior colorectal cancer-specific survival [adjusted HR, 0.34; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.20-0.57] regardless of TGFBR2 or BAX mutation status. Among MSI-high tumors, TGFBR2 mononucleotide mutation was associated with CIMP-high independent of other variables [multivariate odds ratio, 3.57; 95% CI, 1.66-7.66; p = 0.0011].TGFBR2 or BAX mononucleotide mutations are not associated with the patient survival outcome in MSI-high colorectal cancer. Our data do not support those mutations as prognostic biomarkers (beyond MSI) in colorectal carcinoma

Collapse of Rotating Magnetized Molecular Cloud Cores and Mass Outflows

Collapse of the rotating magnetized molecular cloud core is studied with the axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations. Due to the change of the equation of state of the interstellar gas, the molecular cloud cores experience several different phases as collapse proce eds. In the isothermal run-away collapse ($n \lesssim 10^{10}{\rm H_2 cm}^{-3}$), a pseudo-disk is formed and it continues to contract till the opaque core is fo rmed at the center. In this disk, a number of MHD fast and slow shock pairs appear running parallelly to the disk. After the equation of state becomes hard, an adiabatic core is formed, which is separated from the isothermal contracting pseudo-disk by the accretion shock front facing radially outwards. By the effect of the magnetic tension, the angular momentum is transferred from the disk mid-plane to the surface. The gas with excess angular momentum near the surface is finally ejected, which explains the molecular bipolar outflow. Two types of outflows are observed. When the poloidal magnetic field is strong (magnetic energy is comparable to the thermal one), a U-shaped outflow is formed in which fast moving gas is confined to the wall whose shape looks like a capit al letter U. The other is the turbulent outflow in which magnetic field lines and velocity fi elds are randomly oriented. In this case, turbulent gas moves out almost perpendicularly from the disk. The continuous mass accretion leads to the quasistatic contraction of the first core. A second collapse due to dissociation of H$_2$ in the first core follows. Finally another quasistatic core is again formed by atomic hydrogen (the second core). It is found that another outflow is ejected around the second atomic core, which seems to correspond to the optical jets or the fast neutral winds.Comment: submitted to Ap

First-principles Electronic Structure of Superconductor Ca4_4Al2_2O6_6Fe2_2P2_2: Comparison with LaFePO and Ca4_4Al2_2O6_6Fe2_2As2_2

We investigate the electronic structures of iron-based superconductors having perovskite-like blocking layers, %Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ from first principles. Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$P$_2$ and Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$As$_2$ from first principles. Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$P$_2$ is found to have two hole-like Fermi surfaces around $\Gamma$, and one hole-like Fermi surface around M in the unfolded Brillouin zone. This is in contrast with LaFePO, where no Fermi surface is found around M. The relationship of their band structures and measured transition temperatures of superconductivity is discussed. The number of Fermi surfaces in Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$P$_2$ is also different from that of Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$As$_2$, in which only one Fermi surface is formed around $\Gamma$. Analysis using maximally localized Wannier functions clarifies that the differences between their band structures originate mainly from the pnictogen height. We then analyze the alloying effect on the electronic structure of Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$AsP. It is found that its electronic structure is similar to that of Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$P$_2$ and Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$As$_2$ with the average crystal structure, though Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$AsP contains the pnictogen height disorder. We calculate the generalized susceptibility for Ca$_4$Al$_2$O$_6$Fe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ and clarify the factors determining its tendency.Comment: 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

The Optical System for the Large Size Telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Large Size Telescope (LST) of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is designed to achieve a threshold energy of 20 GeV. The LST optics is composed of one parabolic primary mirror 23 m in diameter and 28 m focal length. The reflector dish is segmented in 198 hexagonal, 1.51 m flat to flat mirrors. The total effective reflective area, taking into account the shadow of the mechanical structure, is about 368 m$^2$. The mirrors have a sandwich structure consisting of a glass sheet of 2.7 mm thickness, aluminum honeycomb of 60 mm thickness, and another glass sheet on the rear, and have a total weight about 47 kg. The mirror surface is produced using a sputtering deposition technique to apply a 5-layer coating, and the mirrors reach a reflectivity of $\sim$94% at peak. The mirror facets are actively aligned during operations by an active mirror control system, using actuators, CMOS cameras and a reference laser. Each mirror facet carries a CMOS camera, which measures the position of the light spot of the optical axis reference laser on the target of the telescope camera. The two actuators and the universal joint of each mirror facet are respectively fixed to three neighboring joints of the dish space frame, via specially designed interface plate.Comment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.0589

Doping Dependence of Anisotropic Resistivities in Trilayered Superconductor Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+delta (Bi-2223)

The doping dependence of the themopower, in-plane resistivity rho_ab(T), out-of-plane resistivity rho_c(T), and susceptibility has been systematically measured for high-quality single crystal Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+delta. We found that the transition temperature Tc and pseudogap formation temperature T_rho_c*, below which rho_c shows a typical upturn, do not change from their optimum values in the "overdoped" region, even though doping actually proceeds. This suggests that, in overdoped region, the bulk $T_c$ is determined by the always underdoped inner plane, which have a large superconducting gap, while the carriers are mostly doped in the outer planes, which have a large phase stiffness.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. to be published in PR