190 research outputs found
Coherent vs incoherent interlayer transport in layered metals
The magnetic-field, temperature, and angular dependence of the interlayer
magnetoresistance of two different quasi-two-dimensional (2D) organic
superconductors is reported. For -(BEDT-TTF)I we find a
well-resolved peak in the angle-dependent magnetoresistance at (field parallel to the layers). This clear-cut proof for the coherent
nature of the interlayer transport is absent for
''-(BEDT-TTF)SFCHCFSO. This and the non-metallic
behavior of the magnetoresistance suggest an incoherent quasiparticle motion
for the latter 2D metal.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Phys. Rev. B, in pres
Magnetic-Field Variations of the Pair-Breaking Effects of Superconductivity in (TMTSF)2ClO4
We have studied the onset temperature of the superconductivity Tc_onset of
the organic superconductor (TMTSF)2ClO4, by precisely controlling the direction
of the magnetic field H. We compare the results of two samples with nearly the
same onset temperature but with different scattering relaxation time tau. We
revealed a complicated interplay of a variety of pair-breaking effects and
mechanisms that overcome these pair-breaking effects. In low fields, the linear
temperature dependences of the onset curves in the H-T phase diagrams are
governed by the orbital pair-breaking effect. The dips in the in-plane
field-angle phi dependence of Tc_onset, which were only observed in the
long-tau sample, provides definitive evidence that the field-induced
dimensional crossover enhances the superconductivity if the field direction is
more than about 19-degrees away from the a axis. In the high-field regime for
H//a, the upturn of the onset curve for the long-tau sample indicates a new
superconducting state that overcomes the Pauli pair-breaking effect but is
easily suppressed by impurity scatterings. The Pauli effect is also overcome
for H//b' by a realization of another state for which the maximum of
Tc_onset(phi) occurs in a direction different from the crystalline axes. The
effect on Tc_onset of tilting the applied field out of the conductive plane
suggests that the Pauli effect plays a significant role in determining
Tc_onset. The most plausible explanation of these results is that (TMTSF)2ClO4
is a singlet superconductor and exhibits Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov
(FFLO) states in high fields.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. (vol.77,
2008
Magic angle effects of the one-dimensional axis conductivity in quasi-one dimensional conductors
In quasi-one-dimensional conductors, the conductivity in both one-dimensional
axis and interchain direction shows peaks when magnetic field is tilted at the
magic angles in the plane perpendicular to the conducting chain. Although there
are several theoretical studies to explain the magic angle effect, no
satisfactory explanation, especially for the one-dimensional conductivity, has
been obtained. We present a new theory of the magic angle effect in the
one-dimensional conductivity by taking account of the momentum-dependence of
the Fermi velocity, which should be large in the systems close to a spin
density wave instability. The magic angle effect is explained in the
semiclassical equations of motion, but neither the large corrugation of the
Fermi surface due to long-range hoppings nor hot spots, where the relaxation
time is small, on the Fermi surface are required.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Pyogenic spondylitis
Pyogenic spondylitis is a neurological and life threatening condition. It encompasses a broad range of clinical entities, including pyogenic spondylodiscitis, septic discitis, vertebral osteomyelitis, and epidural abscess. The incidence though low appears to be on the rise. The diagnosis is based on clinical, radiological, blood and tissue cultures and histopathological findings. Most of the cases can be treated non-operatively. Surgical treatment is required in 10–20% of patients. Anterior decompression, debridement and fusion are generally recommended and instrumentation is acceptable after good surgical debridement with postoperative antibiotic cover
A meta-analysis of N-acetylcysteine in contrast-induced nephrotoxicity: unsupervised clustering to resolve heterogeneity
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Meta-analyses of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for preventing contrast-induced nephrotoxicity (CIN) have led to disparate conclusions. Here we examine and attempt to resolve the heterogeneity evident among these trials.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two reviewers independently extracted and graded the data. Limiting studies to randomized, controlled trials with adequate outcome data yielded 22 reports with 2746 patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant heterogeneity was detected among these trials (<it>I</it><sup>2 </sup>= 37%; <it>p </it>= 0.04). Meta-regression analysis failed to identify significant sources of heterogeneity. A modified L'Abbé plot that substituted groupwise changes in serum creatinine for nephrotoxicity rates, followed by model-based, unsupervised clustering resolved trials into two distinct, significantly different (<it>p </it>< 0.0001) and homogeneous populations (<it>I</it><sup>2 </sup>= 0 and <it>p </it>> 0.5, for both). Cluster 1 studies (<it>n </it>= 18; 2445 patients) showed no benefit (relative risk (RR) = 0.87; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68–1.12, <it>p </it>= 0.28), while cluster 2 studies (<it>n </it>= 4; 301 patients) indicated that NAC was highly beneficial (RR = 0.15; 95% CI 0.07–0.33, <it>p </it>< 0.0001). Benefit in cluster 2 was unexpectedly associated with NAC-induced decreases in creatinine from baseline (<it>p </it>= 0.07). Cluster 2 studies were relatively early, small and of lower quality compared with cluster 1 studies (<it>p </it>= 0.01 for the three factors combined). Dialysis use across all studies (five control, eight treatment; <it>p </it>= 0.42) did not suggest that NAC is beneficial.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This meta-analysis does not support the efficacy of NAC to prevent CIN.</p
A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa.
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex and heritable eating disorder characterized by dangerously low body weight. Neither candidate gene studies nor an initial genome-wide association study (GWAS) have yielded significant and replicated results. We performed a GWAS in 2907 cases with AN from 14 countries (15 sites) and 14 860 ancestrally matched controls as part of the Genetic Consortium for AN (GCAN) and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium 3 (WTCCC3). Individual association analyses were conducted in each stratum and meta-analyzed across all 15 discovery data sets. Seventy-six (72 independent) single nucleotide polymorphisms were taken forward for in silico (two data sets) or de novo (13 data sets) replication genotyping in 2677 independent AN cases and 8629 European ancestry controls along with 458 AN cases and 421 controls from Japan. The final global meta-analysis across discovery and replication data sets comprised 5551 AN cases and 21 080 controls. AN subtype analyses (1606 AN restricting; 1445 AN binge-purge) were performed. No findings reached genome-wide significance. Two intronic variants were suggestively associated: rs9839776 (P=3.01 × 10(-7)) in SOX2OT and rs17030795 (P=5.84 × 10(-6)) in PPP3CA. Two additional signals were specific to Europeans: rs1523921 (P=5.76 × 10(-)(6)) between CUL3 and FAM124B and rs1886797 (P=8.05 × 10(-)(6)) near SPATA13. Comparing discovery with replication results, 76% of the effects were in the same direction, an observation highly unlikely to be due to chance (P=4 × 10(-6)), strongly suggesting that true findings exist but our sample, the largest yet reported, was underpowered for their detection. The accrual of large genotyped AN case-control samples should be an immediate priority for the field
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