Surface Spectral Function of Momentum-dependent Pairing Potentials in a Topological Insulator: Application to Cux_xBi2_2Se3_3

We propose three possible momentum-dependent pairing potentials for candidate of topological superconductor (for example Cu$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$), and calculate the surface spectral function and surface density of state with these pairing potentials. We find that the first two can give the same spectral functions as the fully-gapped and node-contacted pairing potentials given in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 097001], and that the third one can obtain topological non-trivial case which exists flat Andreev bound state and preserves the $C_3$ rotation symmetry. We hope our proposals and results be judged by future experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Structure of the Ds0(2317)D_{s0}(2317) and the strong coupling constant gDs0DKg_{D_{s0} D K} with the light-cone QCD sum rules

In this article, we take the point of view that the charmed scalar meson $D_{s0}(2317)$ is the conventional $c\bar{s}$ meson and calculate the strong coupling constant $g_{D_{s0} D K}$ within the framework of the light-cone QCD sum rules approach. The numerical values for the large scalar-$DK$ coupling constant $g_{D_{s0} D K}$ support the hadronic dressing mechanism. Just like the scalar mesons $f_0(980)$ and $a_0(980)$, the $D_{s0}(2317)$ may have small scalar $c\bar{s}$ kernel of the typical $c\bar{s}$ meson size. The strong coupling to the hadronic channels (or the virtual mesons loops) may result in smaller mass than the conventional scalar $c\bar{s}$ meson in the constituent quark models, and enrich the pure $c\bar{s}$ state with other components. The $D_{s0}(2317)$ may spend part (or most part) of its lifetime as virtual $D K$ state.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure, revised version, add detailed error analysi

On the Reproducibility of TCGA Ovarian Cancer MicroRNA Profiles

Dysregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression is a well-established feature of human cancer. However, the role of specific miRNAs in determining cancer outcomes remains unclear. Using Level 3 expression data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified 61 miRNAs that are associated with overall survival in 469 ovarian cancers profiled by microarray (p<0.01). We also identified 12 miRNAs that are associated with survival when miRNAs were profiled in the same specimens using Next Generation Sequencing (miRNA-Seq) (p<0.01). Surprisingly, only 1 miRNA transcript is associated with ovarian cancer survival in both datasets. Our analyses indicate that this discrepancy is due to the fact that miRNA levels reported by the two platforms correlate poorly, even after correcting for potential issues inherent to signal detection algorithms. Further investigation is warranted

Numerical study of spin quantum Hall transitions in superconductors with broken time-reversal symmetry

We present results of numerical studies of spin quantum Hall transitions in disordered superconductors, in which the pairing order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry. We focus mainly on p-wave superconductors in which one of the spin components is conserved. The transport properties of the system are studied by numerically diagonalizing pairing Hamiltonians on a lattice, and by calculating the Chern and Thouless numbers of the quasiparticle states. We find that in the presence of disorder, (spin-)current carrying states exist only at discrete critical energies in the thermodynamic limit, and the spin-quantum Hall transition driven by an external Zeeman field has the same critical behavior as the usual integer quantum Hall transition of non-interacting electrons. These critical energies merge and disappear as disorder strength increases, in a manner similar to those in lattice models for integer quantum Hall transition.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Novel method for refinement of retained austenite in micro/nano-structured bainitic steels

A comparative study was conducted to assess the effects of two different heat treatments on the amount and morphology of the retained austenite in a micro/nano-structured bainitic steel. The heat treatments used in this work were two-stage bainitic transformation and bainitic-partitioning transformation. Both methods resulted in the generation of a multi-phase microstructure containing nanoscale bainitic ferrite, and/or fresh martensitic phases and much finer retained austenite. Both heat treatments were verified to be effective in refining the retained austenite in micro/nano-structured bainite and increasing the hardness. However, the bainitic transformation followed by partitioning cycle was proved to be a more viable approach than the two-stage bainitic transformation due to much shorter processing time, i.e. ∼2 h compared to ∼4 day, respectively