Pressure effects in the triangular layered cobaltites NaxCoO2

We have measured transport properties as a function of temperature and pressure up to 30GPa in the NaxCoO2 system. For the x=0.5 sample the transition temperature at 53K increases with pressure, while paradoxically the sample passes from an insulating to a metallic ground state. A similar transition is observed in the x=0.31 sample under pressure. Compression on the x=0.75 sample transforms the sample from a metallic to an insulating state. We discuss our results in terms of interactions between band structure effects and Na+ order.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Large enhancement of the thermopower in Nax_xCoO2_2 at high Na doping

Research on the oxide perovskites has uncovered electronic properties that are strikingly enhanced compared with those in conventional metals. Examples are the high critical temperatures of the cuprate superconductors and the colossal magnetoresistance in the manganites. The conducting layered cobaltate $\rm Na_xCoO_2$ displays several interesting electronic phases as $x$ is varied including water-induced superconductivity and an insulating state that is destroyed by field. Initial measurements showed that, in the as-grown composition, $\rm Na_xCoO_2$ displays moderately large thermopower $S$ and conductivity $\sigma$. However, the prospects for thermoelectric cooling applications faded when the figure of merit $Z$ was found to be small at this composition (0.6$<x<$0.7). Here we report that, in the poorly-explored high-doping region $x>$0.75, $S$ undergoes an even steeper enhancement. At the critical doping $x_p\sim$ 0.85, $Z$ (at 80 K) reaches values $\sim$40 times larger than in the as-grown crystals. We discuss prospects for low-temperature thermoelectric applications.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Effect of fermented fruits on the growth performance, shedding of Enterobacteriaceae and Lactobacilli in post-weaning pigs

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fermented fruits (FF) on the growth performance, Enterobacteriaceae and Lactobacillus counts in faeces of the post-weaning piglets. A total of twenty-four 4 weeks old LandracexLarge WhitexDuroc with initial body weight of 6 kg were used in this study. The piglets were housed individually in metabolic cage and randomly assigned to four groups with six piglets per group. The piglets were fed on basal diet without antibiotic (AF), basal diets with antibiotic (Ab), basal diet with 10% (w/w) fermented fruit (10% FF) and basal diet with 20% (w/w) fermented fruit (20% FF). Faecal samples were taken directly from the rectum of each piglet and cultured for Enterobacteriaceae and Lactobacillus counts. In the growth performance, the piglets of Ab and 10%FF had significantly higher (p0.05) were observed between AF, Ab and 10%FF. Studies showed that the use of fermented fruits (FF) could significantly (p<0.05) reduce Enterobacteriaceae population in piglets' faeces compared to the use of normal feed (AF) and antibiotic (Ab). However, the Lactobacillus population in the faeces was increased in those piglets fed with diets added with FF

NMR studies of Successive Phase Transitions in Na0.5CoO2 and K0.5CoO2

59Co- and 23Na-NMR measurements have been carried out on polycrystalline and c-axis aligned samples of Na0.5CoO2, which exhibits successive transitions at temperatures T = 87 K (= Tc1) and T = 53 K (= Tc2). 59Co-NMR has also been carried out on c-axis aligned crystallites of K0.5CoO2 with similar successive transitions at Tc1 ~ 60 K and Tc2 ~ 20 K. For Na0.5CoO2, two sets of three NMR lines of 23Na nuclei explained by considering the quadrupolar frequencies nuQ ~1.32 and 1.40 MHz have been observed above Tc1, as is expected from the crystalline structure. Rather complicated but characteristic variation of the 23Na-NMR spectra has been observed with varying T through the transition temperatures, and the internal fields at two crystallographically distinct Na sites are discussed on the basis of the magnetic structures reported previously. The internal fields at two distinct Co sites observed below Tc1 and the 591/T1-T curves of Na0.5CoO2 and K0.5CoO2 are also discussed in a comparative way.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, correction is made in right colum of p6 (35th line) as K0.5CoO2-->Na0.5CoO

Interpreting ambiguous ‘trace’ results in Schistosoma mansoni CCA Tests: Estimating sensitivity and specificity of ambiguous results with no gold standard

Background The development of new diagnostics is an important tool in the fight against disease. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) is used to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of tests in the absence of a gold standard. The main field diagnostic for Schistosoma mansoni infection, Kato-Katz (KK), is not very sensitive at low infection intensities. A point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) test has been shown to be more sensitive than KK. However, CCA can return an ambiguous ‘trace’ result between ‘positive’ and ‘negative’, and much debate has focused on interpretation of traces results. Methodology/Principle findings We show how LCA can be extended to include ambiguous trace results and analyse S. mansoni studies from both Côte d’Ivoire (CdI) and Uganda. We compare the diagnostic performance of KK and CCA and the observed results by each test to the estimated infection prevalence in the population. Prevalence by KK was higher in CdI (13.4%) than in Uganda (6.1%), but prevalence by CCA was similar between countries, both when trace was assumed to be negative (CCAtn: 11.7% in CdI and 9.7% in Uganda) and positive (CCAtp: 20.1% in CdI and 22.5% in Uganda). The estimated sensitivity of CCA was more consistent between countries than the estimated sensitivity of KK, and estimated infection prevalence did not significantly differ between CdI (20.5%) and Uganda (19.1%). The prevalence by CCA with trace as positive did not differ significantly from estimates of infection prevalence in either country, whereas both KK and CCA with trace as negative significantly underestimated infection prevalence in both countries. Conclusions Incorporation of ambiguous results into an LCA enables the effect of different treatment thresholds to be directly assessed and is applicable in many fields. Our results showed that CCA with trace as positive most accurately estimated infection prevalence

Correction to: Novel mutation G324C in WNT1 mapped in a large Pakistani family with severe recessively inherited Osteogenesis Imperfecta

In the original publication of this article [1], there are two errors in the article which the cDNA position of the pathogenic variant WNT1 p.Gly324Cys should be c.970G>T instead of c.1168G>T

Evidence of many-body localization in 2D from quantum Monte Carlo simulation

We use the stochastic series expansion quantum Monte Carlo method, together with the eigenstate-to-Hamiltonian mapping approach, to map the localized ground states of the disordered two-dimensional Heisenberg model, to excited states of a target Hamiltonian. The localized nature of the ground state is established by studying the spin stiffness, local entanglement entropy, and local magnetization. This construction allows us to define many body localized states in an energy resolved phase diagram thereby providing concrete numerical evidence for the existence of a many-body localized phase in two dimensions.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Crystal Structure of the Sodium Cobaltate Deuterate Superconductor NaxCoO2o4xD2O (x=1/3)

Neutron and x-ray powder diffraction have been used to investigate the crystal structures of a sample of the newly-discovered superconducting sodium cobaltate deuterate compound with composition Na0.31(3)CoO2o1.25(2)D2O and its anhydrous parent compound Na0.61(1)CoO2. The deuterate superconducting compound is formed by coordinating four D2O molecules (two above and two below) to each Na ion in a way that gives Na-O distances nearly equal to those in the parent compound. One deuteron of the D2O molecule is hydrogen bonded to an oxygen atom in the CoO2 plane and the oxygen atom and the second deuteron of each D2O molecule lie approximately in a plane between the Na layer and the CoO2 layers. This coordination of Na by four D2O molecules leads to ordering of the Na ions and D2O molecules. The sample studied here, which has Tc=4.5 K, has a refined composition of Na0.31(3)CoO2o1.25(2)D2O, in agreement with the expected 1:4 ratio of Na to D2O. These results show that the optimal superconducting composition should be viewed as a specific hydrated compound, not a solid solution of Na and D2O (H2O) in NaxCoO2oyD2O. Studies of physical properties vs. Na or D2O composition should be viewed with caution until it is verified that the compound remains in the same phase over the composition range of the study.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure