345 research outputs found
Antiferromagnetic ordering in the Kondo lattice system YbFeSi
Compounds belonging to the RFeSi series exhibit unusual
superconducting and magnetic properties. Although a number of studies have been
made on the first reentrant antiferromagnet superconductor TmFeSi,
the physical properties of YbFeSi are largely unexplored. In this
work, we attempt to provide a comprehensive study of bulk properties such as,
resistivity, susceptibility and heat-capacity of a well characterized
polycrystalline YbFeSi. Our measurements indicate that Yb
moments order antiferromagnetically below 1.7 K. Moreover, the system behaves
as a Kondo lattice with large Sommerfeld coefficient () of 0.5~J/Yb mol
K at 0.3 K, which is well below T. The absence of superconductivity
in YbFeSi down to 0.3 K at ambient pressure is attributed to the
presence of the Kondo effect.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, tex document. A fuller version has appeared in
PRB. Here we have omitted the figures showing the crystal structure and the
fitting of the X-ray pattern. Also the table with the lattice parameters
obtained from fitting has been remove
Long-Term Consequences of COVID-19: A 1-Year Analysis.
Long-lasting symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection have been described many times in the literature and are referred to as Long COVID. In this prospective, longitudinal, monocentric, observational study, we collected the health complaints of 474 patients (252 ambulatory and 222 hospitalized) at Lausanne University Hospital 1 year after COVID-19 diagnosis. Using a self-reported health survey, we explored cardiopulmonary, vascular, neurological, and psychological complaints. Our results show that age, Charlson comorbidity index, and smoking habits were associated with hospital admission. Regarding the vascular system, we found that having had thromboembolism before SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly associated with a higher risk of recurrence of thromboembolism at 1 year. In the neurologic evaluation, the most frequent symptom was fatigue, which was observed in 87.5% of patients, followed by "feeling slowed down", headache, and smell disturbance in 71.5%, 68.5%, and 60.7% of cases, respectively. Finally, our cohort subjects scored higher overall in the STAI, CESD, Maastricht, and PSQI scores (which measure anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep, respectively) than the healthy population. Using cluster analysis, we identified two phenotypes of patients prone to developing Long COVID. At baseline, CCS score, prior chronic disease, stroke, and atrial fibrillation were associated with Long COVID. During COVID infection, mechanical ventilation and five neurological complaints were also associated with Long COVID. In conclusion, this study confirms the wide range of symptoms developed after COVID with the involvement of all the major systems. Early identification of risk factors associated with the development of Long COVID could improve patient follow-up; nevertheless, the low specificity of these factors remains a challenge to building a systematic approach
Mass-Enhanced Fermi Liquid Ground State in NaCoO
Magnetic, transport, and specific heat measurements have been performed on
layered metallic oxide NaCoO as a function of temperature .
Below a characteristic temperature =3040 K, electrical resistivity
shows a metallic conductivity with a behavior and magnetic susceptibility
deviates from the Curie-Weiss behavior showing a broad peak at 14 K. The
electronic specific heat coefficient is 60 mJ/molK at 2 K.
No evidence for magnetic ordering is found. These behaviors suggest the
formation of mass-enhanced Fermi liquid ground state analogous to that in
-electron heavy fermion compound LiVO.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B 69 (2004
Thermodynamics of the dissipative two-state system: a Bethe Ansatz study
The thermodynamics of the dissipative two-state system is calculated exactly
for all temperatures and level asymmetries for the case of Ohmic dissipation.
We exploit the equivalence of the two-state system to the anisotropic Kondo
model and extract the thermodynamics of the former by solving the thermodynamic
Bethe Ansatz equations of the latter. The universal scaling functions for the
specific heat and static dielectric susceptibility
are extracted for all dissipation strengths for
both symmetric and asymmetric two-state systems. The logarithmic corrections to
these quantities at high temperatures are found in the Kondo limit , whereas for we find the expected power law temperature
dependences with the powers being functions of the dissipative coupling
. The low temperature behaviour is always that of a Fermi liquid.Comment: 24 pages, 32 PS figures. Typos corrected, final versio
FREE ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 2: ALCOHOL AND LIVER—CLINICAL RESEARCHO2.1RAPID DECLINE OF LIVER STIFFNESS WITH ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL IN HEAVY DRINKERS
Background and aims. Measurement of liver stiffness using real-time elastography appears as a promising tool to evaluate the severity of chronic liver diseases. Previous studies in patients with alcoholic liver disease have suggested that fibrosis was the only histological parameter to influence liver stiffness. To challenge this hypothesis, we have prospectively tested the short-term impact of alcohol withdrawal on liver stiffness value. Methods. All patients hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal in our Liver Unit between September 2008 and December 2010 had a liver stiffness determination (using a FibroScan® device) at entry (D0) and 7 days after alcohol withdrawal (D7). Stiffness values were compared using non-parametric test for paired-values. We compared (i) the 10 measures performed at D0 and at D7 for each patient; (ii) the variation of the median result of all patients (using Wilcoxon test in both cases). Results. A total of 138 patients were included in the study [median alcohol consumption: 150g/day (range: 40-400); hepatitis C: n=22 (15.9%); cirrhosis: n=29 (21.0%)]. From D0 to D7, the liver stiffness decreased significantly in 61 patients (44.2%) and increased significantly in 18 (13.0%). Considering all patients, median liver stiffness value decreased from 7.25 to kPa (P<0.001). The stage of fibrosis indicated by liver stiffness changed in 47 patients between D0 and D7 (decrease in 33 and increase in 14). Conclusion. Liver stiffness decreases significantly in nearly half of alcoholic patients after only 7 days of abstinence. This result strongly suggests that non-fibrotic lesions (such as inflammatory ones) may influence liver stiffness. From a practical point of view, it also shows that variation in alcohol consumption must be taken into account for the interpretation of liver stiffness valu
Thermodynamic analysis of the Quantum Critical behavior of Ce-lattice compounds
A systematic analysis of low temperature magnetic phase diagrams of Ce
compounds is performed in order to recognize the thermodynamic conditions to be
fulfilled by those systems to reach a quantum critical regime and,
alternatively, to identify other kinds of low temperature behaviors. Based on
specific heat () and entropy () results, three different types of
phase diagrams are recognized: i) with the entropy involved into the ordered
phase () decreasing proportionally to the ordering temperature
(), ii) those showing a transference of degrees of freedom from the
ordered phase to a non-magnetic component, with their jump
() vanishing at finite temperature, and iii) those ending in a
critical point at finite temperature because their do not decrease
with producing an entropy accumulation at low temperature.
Only those systems belonging to the first case, i.e. with as
, can be regarded as candidates for quantum critical behavior.
Their magnetic phase boundaries deviate from the classical negative curvature
below \,K, denouncing frequent misleading extrapolations down to
T=0. Different characteristic concentrations are recognized and analyzed for
Ce-ligand alloyed systems. Particularly, a pre-critical region is identified,
where the nature of the magnetic transition undergoes significant
modifications, with its discontinuity strongly
affected by magnetic field and showing an increasing remnant entropy at . Physical constraints arising from the third law at are discussed
and recognized from experimental results
Expression of the transcription factor, TFII-I, during post-implantation mouse embryonic development
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>General transcription factor (TFII-I) is a multi-functional transcription factor encoded by the Gtf2i gene, that has been demonstrated to regulate transcription of genes critical for development. Because of the broad range of genes regulated by TFII-I as well as its potential role in a significant neuro-developmental disorder, developing a comprehensive expression profile is critical to the study of this transcription factor. We sought to define the timing and pattern of expression of TFII-I in post-implantation embryos at a time during which many putative TFII-I target genes are expressed.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Antibodies to the N-terminus of TFII-I were used to probe embryonic mouse sections. TFII-I protein is widely expressed in the developing embryo. TFII-I is expressed throughout the period from E8-E16. However, within this period there are striking shifts in localization from cytoplasmic predominant to nuclear. TFII-I expression varies in both a spatial and temporal fashion. There is extensive expression in neural precursors at E8. This expression persists at later stages. TFII-I is expressed in developing lung, heart and gut structures. There is no evidence of isoform specific expression. Available data regarding expression patterns at both an RNA and protein level throughout development are also comprehensively reviewed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our immunohistochemical studies of the temporal and spatial expression patterns of TFII-I in mouse embryonic sections are consistent with the hypothesis that hemizygous deletion of <it>GTF2I </it>in individuals with Williams-Beuren Syndrome contributes to the distinct cognitive and physiological symptoms associated with the disorder.</p
Depletion and voids formation in the substrate during high temperature oxidation of Ni-Cr alloys
A numerical model to treat the kinetics of vacancy annihilation at the metal/oxide interface but also in the bulk metal has been implemented. This was done using EKINOX, which is a mesoscopic scale 1D-code that simulates oxide growth kinetics with explicit calculation of vacancy fluxes. Calculations were performed for high temperature Ni-Cr alloys oxidation forming a single chromia scale. The kinetic parameters used to describe the diffusion in the alloy were directly derived from an atomistic model. Our results showed that the Cr depletion profile can be strongly affected by the cold work state of the alloy. In fact, the oversaturation of vacancies is directly linked to the efficiency of the sinks which is proportional to the density of dislocations. The resulting vacancy profile highlights a supersaturation of vacancy within the metal. Based on the classical nucleation theory, the possibility and the rate of void formation are discussed
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