Thermoelectric properties of Co, Ir, and Os-Doped FeSi Alloys: Evidence for Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling

The effects of various transition metal dopants on the electrical and thermal transport properties of Fe1-xMxSi alloys (M= Co, Ir, Os) are reported. The maximum thermoelectric figure of merit ZTmax is improved from 0.007 at 60 K for pure FeSi to ZT = 0.08 at 100 K for 4% Ir doping. A comparison of the thermal conductivity data among Os, Ir and Co doped alloys indicates strong electron-phonon coupling in this compound. Because of this interaction, the common approximation of dividing the total thermal conductivity into independent electronic and lattice components ({\kappa}Total = {\kappa}electronic + {\kappa}lattice) fails for these alloys. The effects of grain size on thermoelectric properties of Fe0.96Ir0.04Si alloys are also reported. The thermal conductivity can be lowered by about 50% with little or no effect on the electrical resistivity or Seebeck coefficient. This results in ZTmax = 0.125 at 100 K, still about a factor of five too low for solid-state refrigeration applications

Retinoic Acid Causes Premature Desquamation of Cells from Confluent Cultures of Stratified Squamous Epithelia

Cells from 2 types of stratified squamous epithelia were grown to confluence in vitro. In these cultures highly differentiated cells were shed into the culture medium at a constant rate for at least 4weeks, thus providing a unique system in which to study factors that influence desquamation. Retinoic acid (RA) decreased the rate of desquamation in calf esophagus epithelial cell (CEEC) cultures and increased the rate of desquamation in human foreskin epithelial cell (HFEC) cultures. Cells shed from CEEC and HFEC cultures treated with RA were less differentiated, as assessed by their protein/DNA ratio, than cells shed from control cultures. These data indicate that retinoic acid induces premature desquamation from stratified squamous epithelia

Evidence for Strong Itinerant Spin Fluctuations in the Normal State of CeFeAsO(0.89)F(0.11) Iron-Oxypnictides

The electronic structure in the normal state of CeFeAsO0.89F0.11 oxypnictide superconductors has been investigated with x-ray absorption and photoemission spectroscopy. All the data exhibit signatures of Fe d-electron itinerancy. Exchange multiplets appearing in the Fe 3s core level indicate the presence of itinerant spin fluctuations. These findings suggest that the underlying physics and the origin of superconductivity in these materials are likely to be quite different from those of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. These materials provide opportunities for elucidating the role of magnetic fluctuations in high-temperature superconductivity.Comment: Shorter version. Accepted in Phys. Rev. Let

Calculation of the photoionization with de-excitation cross sections of He and helium-like ions

We discuss the results of the calculation of the photoionization with de-excitation of excited He and helium-like ions Li$^{+}$ and B$^{3+}$ at high but non-relativistic photon energies $\omega$. Several lower $^{1}S$ and $^{3}S$ states are considered. We present and analyze the ratios $R_{d}^{+\ast}$ of the cross sections of photoionization with de-excitation, $\sigma_{(d)}^{+\ast}(\omega)$, and of the photo-ionization with excitation, $\sigma ^{+\ast}(\omega)$. The dependence of $R_{d}^{+\ast}$ on the excitation of the target object and the charge of its nucleus is presented. Apart to theoretical interest, results obtained can be verified using such long living excited state as $2^{3}S$ of He.Comment: 10 pages, 6 table