502 research outputs found
Non-equilibrium and non-linear stationary state in thermoelectric materials
Efficiency of thermoelectric materials is characterized by the figure of
merit Z. Z has been believed to be a peculiar material constant. However, the
accurate measurements in the present work reveal that Z has large size
dependence and a non-linear temperature distribution appears as stationary
state in the thermoelectric material. The observation of these phenomena is
achieved by the Harman method. This method is the most appropriate way to
investigate the thermoelectric properties because the dc and ac resistances are
measured by the same electrode configuration. We describe the anomalous
thermoelectric properties observed in mainly (Bi,Sb)2Te3 by the Harman method
and then insist that Z is not the peculiar material constant but must be
defined as the physical quantity dependent of the size and the position in the
material.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. submitted to Applied Physics Lette
Diffusion in crowded colloids of particles cyclically changing their shapes
A simple model of an active colloid consisting of dumbbell-shaped particles that cyclically change their length without propelling themselves is proposed and analyzed. At nanoscales, it represents an idealization for bacterial cytoplasm or for a biomembrane with active protein inclusions. Our numerical simulations demonstrate that non-equilibrium conformational activity of particles can strongly affect diffusion and structural relaxation: while a passive colloid behaves as a glass, it gets progressively fluidized when the activity is turned on. Qualitatively, this agrees with experimental results on optical tracking of probe particles in bacterial and yeast cells where metabolism-induced fluidization of cytoplasm was observed
Photospheric Abundances of Volatile and Refractory Elements in Planet-Harboring Stars
By using the high-dispersion spectra of 14 bright planet-harboring stars
(along with 4 reference stars) observed with the new coude echelle spectrograph
at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, we investigated the abundances of
volatile elements (C, N, O, S, Zn; low condensation temperature Tc) in order to
examine whether these show any significant difference compared to the
abundances of other refractory elements (Si, Ti, V, Fe, Co, Ni; high Tc) which
are known to be generally overabundant in those stars with planets, since a
Tc-dependence is expected if the cause of such a metal-richness is due to the
accretion of solid planetesimals onto the host star. We found, however, that
all elements we studied behave themselves quite similarly to Fe (i.e.,
[X/Fe]~0) even for the case of volatile elements, which may suggest that the
enhanced metallicity in those planet-bearing stars is not so much an acquired
character (by accretion of rocky material) as rather primordial.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, to appear in PAS
MITSuME--Multicolor Imaging Telescopes for Survey and Monstrous Explosions
Development of MITSuME is reported. Two 50-cm optical telescopes have been
built at Akeno in Yamanashi prefecture and at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory
(OAO) in Okayama prefecture. Three CCD cameras for simultaneous g'RcIc
photometry are to be mounted on each focal plane, covering a wide FOV of about
30" x 30". The limiting magnitude at V is fainter than 18. In addition to these
two optical telescopes, a 91-cm IR telescope with a 1 deg x 1 deg field of view
is being built at OAO, which performs photometry in YJHK bands. These robotic
telescopes can start the observation of counterparts of a GRB within a minute
from an alert. We aim to obtain photometric redshifts exceeding 10 with these
telescopes. The performance and the current construction status of the
telescopes are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 4th Workshop on Gamma-Ray Burst in the Afterglow
Era, Roma, October 18-22, 200
Vibrationally resolved molecular-frame angular distribution of O 1s photoelectrons from CO2 molecules
Vibrationally resolved O 1s photoelectron angular distributions from CO2 molecules, aligned parallel and perpendicular to the electric vector of the incident light, have been measured in the 5 sigma(g)(*) shape resonance region, with photon energies up to 2 eV above the O 1s ionization threshold, using multiple-coincidence electron-ion momentum imaging spectroscopy. The angular distributions depend on the vibrational quanta of the antisymmetric vibrations in the O 1s ionized state but do not vary significantly as a function of the photon energy across the 5 sigma(g)(*) shape resonance
Large Thermoelectric Power Factor in TiS2 Crystal with Nearly Stoichiometric Composition
A TiS crystal with a layered structure was found to have a large
thermoelectric power factor.The in-plane power factor at 300 K is
37.1~W/Kcm with resistivity () of 1.7 mcm and
thermopower () of -251~V/K, and this value is comparable to that of the
best thermoelectric material, BiTe alloy. The electrical
resistivity shows both metallic and highly anisotropic behaviors, suggesting
that the electronic structure of this TiS crystal has a
quasi-two-dimensional nature. The large thermoelectric response can be ascribed
to the large density of state just above the Fermi energy and inter-valley
scattering. In spite of the large power factor, the figure of merit, of
TiS is 0.16 at 300 K, because of relatively large thermal conductivity,
68~mW/Kcm. However, most of this value comes from reducible lattice
contribution. Thus, can be improved by reducing lattice thermal
conductivity, e.g., by introducing a rattling unit into the inter-layer sites.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review
Electronic structure of Co_xTiSe_2 and Cr_xTiSe_2
The results of investigations of intercalated compounds Cr_xTiSe_2 and
Co_xTiSe_2 by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray emission
spectroscopy (XES) are presented. The data obtained are compared with
theoretical results of spin-polarized band structure calculations. A good
agreement between theoretical and experimental data for the electronic
structure of the investigated materials has been observed. The interplay
between the M3d--Ti3d hybridization (M=Cr, Co) and the magnetic moment at the M
site is discussed. A 0.9 eV large splitting of the core Cr2p{3/2} level was
observed, which reveals a strong exchange magnetic interaction of 3d-2p
electrons of Cr. In the case of a strong localization of the Cr3d electrons
(for x<0.25), the broadening of the CrL spectra into the region of the states
above the nominal Fermi level was observed and attributed to X-ray re-emission.
The measured kinetic properties are in good accordance with spectral
investigations and band calculation results.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
Diurnal Variation of Human Sweet Taste Recognition Thresholds Is Correlated With Plasma Leptin Levels
OBJECTIVE—It has recently been proposed that the peripheral taste organ is one of the targets for leptin. In lean mice, leptin selectively suppresses gustatory neural and behavioral responses to sweet compounds without affecting responses to other taste stimuli, whereas obese diabetic db/db mice with defects in leptin receptor lack this leptin suppression on sweet taste. Here, we further examined potential links between leptin and sweet taste in humans
Magnetic relaxation phenomena and cluster glass properties of La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} manganites
The dynamic magnetic properties of the distorted perovskite system
La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} (0 <= x <= 0.15) have been investigated by
ac-susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements, with emphasis on
relaxation and aging studies. They evidence for x >= 0.10 the appearance of a
metallic cluster glass phase, that develops just below the ferromagnetic
transition temperature. The clusters grow with decreasing temperature down to a
temperature T(f0) at which they freeze due to severe intercluster frustration.
The formation of these clusters is explained by the presence of yttrium induced
local structural distortions that create localized spin disorder in a magnetic
lattice where double-exchange ferromagnetism is dominant.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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