Blue flag with yellow tiger? Flags, authenticity and identity

The Flag of the Formosa Republic in the collection of the National Taiwan Museum is a national icon. It is a copy of one made in 1895 to mark the formation of a new Taiwanese republic; this replica, described in a contemporary newspaper account as an exact copy, was made in Japan in 1909. The painted flag was an intriguing puzzle. Instrumental analysis and a close study of the flag itself and of surviving historic photographs and records were used to try to establish whether what looked like later additions and repairs were actually part of the original construction. An international team of conservators and scientists from Taiwan, the UK, the USA and Germany carried out the investigation and the conservation treatment. Although dye analysis was inconclusive and it has not yet been possible to ascertain the original colour, it was felt that an addition in the upper right corner and some of the repairs could well be part of the original construction and these were left in situ though other repairs were removed. The paper lining was removed, revealing that the flag was painted on both sides. The fabric was cleaned using a vacuum suction table, while the paint surface was cleaned with swabs. The flag was supported using an adhesive treatment with Lascaux acrylic resin

Dielectric susceptibility of the Coulomb-glass

We derive a microscopic expression for the dielectric susceptibility $\chi$ of a Coulomb glass, which corresponds to the definition used in classical electrodynamics, the derivative of the polarization with respect to the electric field. The fluctuation-dissipation theorem tells us that $\chi$ is a function of the thermal fluctuations of the dipole moment of the system. We calculate $\chi$ numerically for three-dimensional Coulomb glasses as a function of temperature and frequency

Electronic correlation effects and the Coulomb gap at finite temperature

We have investigated the effect of the long-range Coulomb interaction on the one-particle excitation spectrum of n-type Germanium, using tunneling spectroscopy on mechanically controllable break junctions. The tunnel conductance was measured as a function of energy and temperature. At low temperatures, the spectra reveal a minimum at zero bias voltage due to the Coulomb gap. In the temperature range above 1 K the Coulomb gap is filled by thermal excitations. This behavior is reflected in the temperature dependence of the variable-range hopping resitivity measured on the same samples: Up to a few degrees Kelvin the Efros-Shkovskii ln$R \propto T^{-1/2}$ law is obeyed, whereas at higher temperatures deviations from this law are observed, indicating a cross-over to Mott's ln$R \propto T^{-1/4}$ law. The mechanism of this cross-over is different from that considered previously in the literature.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

The Electron Glass in a Switchable Mirror: Relaxation, Aging and Universality

The rare earth hydride YH$_{3-\delta}$ can be tuned through the metal-insulator transition both by changing $\delta$ and by illumination with ultraviolet light. The transition is dominated by strong electron-electron interactions, with transport in the insulator sensitive to both a Coulomb gap and persistent quantum fluctuations. Via a systematic variation of UV illumination time, photon flux, Coulomb gap depth, and temperature, we demonstrate that polycrystalline YH$_{3-\delta}$ serves as a model system for studying the properties of the interacting electron glass. Prominent among its features are logarithmic relaxation, aging, and universal scaling of the conductivity

Hopping Conduction in Uniaxially Stressed Si:B near the Insulator-Metal Transition

Using uniaxial stress to tune the critical density near that of the sample, we have studied in detail the low-temperature conductivity of p-type Si:B in the insulating phase very near the metal-insulator transition. For all values of temperature and stress, the conductivity collapses onto a single universal scaling curve. For large values of the argument, the scaling function is well fit by the exponentially activated form associated with variable range hopping when electron-electron interactions cause a soft Coulomb gap in the density of states at the Fermi energy. The temperature dependence of the prefactor, corresponding to the T-dependence of the critical curve, has been determined reliably for this system, and is proportional to the square-root of T. We show explicitly that nevlecting the prefactor leads to substantial errors in the determination of the scaling parameters and the critical exponents derived from them. The conductivity is not consistent with Mott variable-range hopping in the critical region nor does it obey this form for any range of the parameters. Instead, for smaller argument of the scaling function, the conductivity of Si:B is well fit by an exponential form with exponent 0.31 related to the critical exponents of the system at the metal- insulator transition.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Glassy behavior of electrons near metal-insulator transitions

The emergence of glassy behavior of electrons is investigated for systems close to the disorder and/or interaction-driven metal-insulator transitions. Our results indicate that Anderson localization effects strongly stabilize such glassy behavior, while Mott localization tends to suppress it. We predict the emergence of an intermediate metallic glassy phase separating the insulator from the normal metal. This effect is expected to be most pronounced for sufficiently disordered systems, in agreement with recent experimental observations.Comment: Final version as published in Physical Review Letter

Universal Crossover between Efros-Shklovskii and Mott Variable-Range-Hopping Regimes

A universal scaling function, describing the crossover between the Mott and the Efros-Shklovskii hopping regimes, is derived, using the percolation picture of transport in strongly localized systems. This function is agrees very well with experimental data. Quantitative comparison with experiment allows for the possible determination of the role played by polarons in the transport.Comment: 7 pages + 1 figure, Revte

Intravenous Dofetilide, a Class III Antiarrhythmic Agent, for the Termination of Sustained Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter

AbstractObjectives. This study sought to determine the safety and efficacy of a single bolus of intravenous dofetilide, a pure class III antiarrhythmic agent, for the termination of sustained atrial fibrillation or flutter.Background. Dofetilide is a highly selective blocker of the rapid component of the delayed rectifier current causing action potential prolongation. These effects, and preliminary clinical data, suggest that it may be effective in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and flutter.Methods. Ninety-one patients with sustained atrial fibrillation (75 patients) or flutter (16 patients) were entered into a double-blind, randomized multicenter study of one of two doses of dofetilide (4 or 8 μg/kg body weight) or placebo.Results. Dofetilide effectively terminated the arrhythmia in 31% of patients receiving 8 μg/kg, a statistically significant difference from those receiving 4 μg/kg (conversion rate 12.5%, p < 0.05) or placebo (no conversion, p < 0.01). Patients with atrial flutter had a greater response to dofetilide (54% conversion rate) than those with atrial fibrillation (14.5% conversion rate, p < 0.001).Conclusions. Intravenous dofetilide can convert sustained atrial fibrillation or flutter to sinus rhythm. However, its efficacy is greater in flutter—a response that contrasts with the poorer response seen with class I agents. This finding potentially represents an important advance in the pharmacologic termination of atrial flutter.(J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;29:385–90

Improved IBD Detection Using Incomplete Haplotype Information

The availability of high density genetic maps and genotyping platforms has transformed human genetic studies. The use of these platforms has enabled population-based genome-wide association studies. However, in inheritance-based studies, current methods do not take full advantage of the information present in such genotyping analyses. In this paper we describe an improved method for identifying genetic regions shared identical-by-descent (IBD) from recent common ancestors. This method improves existing methods by taking advantage of phase information even if it is less than fully accurate or missing. We present an analysis of how using phase information increases the accuracy of IBD detection compared to using only genotype information