Kinetics of air-hydrate nucleation in polar ice sheets

Nucleation of air clathrate hydrates in air bubbles and diffusive air-mass exchange between coexisting ensembles of bubbles and hydrate crystals are the major interrelated processes that determine the phase change in the air-ice system in polar ice. In continuation of Salamatin et al. where the post-nucleation conversion of single air bubbles to hydrates was considered, we present here a statistical description for transformation of air bubbles to air clathrate hydrates based on the general theory of evolution of these two ensembles, including the gas fractionation effects. The model is fit to data on ice cores from central Antarctica, and then compared to other ice-core data. The focus is on the rate of clathrate-hydrate nucleation, which is determined to be the product of the inverse relative bubble size raised to the power λ≈5.8 with the relative supersaturation to the power β≈2. The clathration-rate constant is k0≈3.2-4.5×10-6 yr-1 at 220 K. The N2- and O2-permeation coefficients in ice, at 220 K, are inferred to be DN(2) 0≈1.8-2.5×10-8 mm2 yr-1 and DO(2) 0≈5.4-7.5×10-8 mm2 yr-1, respectively. Comparison of observations to simulations of bubble-to-hydrate transformation in Greenland ice sheet gave estimates for activation energies of hydrate formation and air diffusion of QJ≈70 kJ mol-1 and Qd≈50 kJ mol-1, respectively

Possible Multiple Gap Superconductivity with Line Nodes in Heavily Hole-Doped Superconductor KFe2As2 Studied by 75As-NQR and Specific Heat

We report the 75As nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) and specific heat measurements of the heavily hole-doped superconductor KFe2As2 (Tc = 3.5 K). The spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 in the superconducting state exhibits quite gradual temperature dependence with no coherence peak below Tc. The quasi-particle specific heat C_QP/T shows small specific heat jump which is about 30% of electronic specific heat coefficient just below Tc. In addition, it suggests the existence of low-energy quasi-particle excitation at the lowest measurement temperature T = 0.4 K \simeq Tc/10. These temperature dependence of 1/T1 and C_QP/T can be explained by multiple nodal superconducting gap scenario rather than multiple fully-gapped s_\pm-wave one within simple gap analysis.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. No.8 issue (2009

Evidence for superconducting gap nodes in the zone-centered hole bands of KFe2As2 from magnetic penetration-depth measurements

Among the iron-based pnictide superconductors the material KFe$_2$As$_2$ is unusual in that its Fermi surface does not consist of quasi-nested electron and hole pockets. Here we report measurements of the temperature dependent London penetration depth of very clean crystals of this compound with residual resistivity ratio $>1200$. We show that the superfluid density at low temperatures exhibits a strong linear-in-temperature dependence which implies that there are line nodes in the energy gap on the large zone-centered hole sheets. The results indicate that KFe$_2$As$_2$ is an unconventional superconductor with strong electron correlations.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Extended version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Maintenance of glucose-sensitive insulin secretion of cryopreserved human islets with University of Wisconsin solution and ascorbic acid-2 glucoside

Normal human islet cells are an ideal source for pancreas-targeted cell therapies, but the availability of human donor pancreata for islet isolation is severely limited. To effectively utilize such scarce donor organs for cell therapies, it is crucial to develop an excellent isolation, effective cryopreservation, and efficient gene transfer techniques for the transportation of isolated cells. In the present study, we investigate the effect of University of Wisconsin (UW) solution and ascorbic acid-2 glucoside (AA2G) on the cryopreservation of human islets. We also evaluate the gene transfer efficiency of a lentiviral vector expressing the E. coli LacZ gene, Lt-NLS/LacZ, in human islets. Human islets were isolated with a standard digestion method at the University of Alberta. Isolated islets were transported to Japan for 40 h and then subjected to cryopreservation experiments. The following preservation solutions were tested: UW solution with 100 mug/mL of AA2G, UW solution, 100% fetal bovine serum (FBS), and CMRL supplemented with 10% FBS. Following three months of cryopreservation, the islets were thawed and analyzed for viability, glucose-sensitive insulin secretion, proinsulin gene expression profile, and in vivo engraftment. The islets were also subjected to monolayer formation with 804G-cell-line-derived extracellular matrix (ECM), followed by Lt-NLS/LacZ transduction. The viability, morphology, glucose-sensitive insulin secretion, proinsulin gene expression, and monolayer formation efficiency of the thawed cryopreserved islets are significantly better maintained by the use of UW solution. When AA2G (100 mug/mL) is combined with UW, such parameters are further improved. The adequate engraftment of UW + AA2G-cryopreserved human islets is achieved in the liver of nude mice. Efficient Lt-NLS/LacZ transduction is identified in monolayered islets cryopreserved with UW solution with AA2G. The present work demonstrates that the combination of UW solution with AA2G (100 mug/mL) would be a useful cryopreservation means for human islets. Human islets monolayer-cultured with 804G-derived ECM are efficiently transduced with a lentiviral vector Lt-NLS/LacZ

Simple Real-Space Picture of Nodeless and Nodal s-wave Gap Functions in Iron Pnictide Superconductors

We propose a simple way to parameterize the gap function in iron pnictides. The key idea is to use orbital representation, not band representation, and to assume real-space short-range pairing. Our parameterization reproduces fairly well the structure of gap function obtained in microscopic calculation. At the same time the present parameterization is simple enough to obtain an intuitive picture and to develop a phenomenological theory. We also discuss simplification of the treatment of the superconducting state.Comment: 4 page

Filling Control of the Mott Insulator Ca2RuO4

We have grown single crystals of electron doping system Ca2-xLaxRuO4 (0.00 <= x <= 0.20) by a floating zone method. The first order metal/non-metal transition and canted antiferromagnetic ordering occur for 0.00 < x < 0.15, similar to those in the bandwidth controlled system Ca2-xSrxRuO4 (CSRO). However, comparing with CSRO, we found a rather different metallic ground state adjacent to the non-metallic ground state with canted antiferromagnetic order. Instead of short-range antiferromagnetic correlation found in CSRO (0.20 <= x < 0.50), the metallic ground state of the present system is characterized by strong ferromagnetic correlation.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures (eps), submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Strong-coupling Spin-singlet Superconductivity with Multiple Full Gaps in Hole-doped Ba0.6_{0.6}K0.4_{0.4}Fe2_2As2_2 Probed by Fe-NMR

We present $^{57}$Fe-NMR measurements of the novel normal and superconducting-state characteristics of the iron-arsenide superconductor Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ ($T_c$ = 38 K). In the normal state, the measured Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $(1/T_1)$ demonstrate the development of wave-number ($q$)-dependent spin fluctuations, except at $q$ = 0, which may originate from the nesting across the disconnected Fermi surfaces. In the superconducting state, the spin component in the $^{57}$Fe-Knight shift decreases to almost zero at low temperatures, evidencing a spin-singlet superconducting state. The $^{57}$Fe-$1/T_1$ results are totally consistent with a $s^\pm$-wave model with multiple full gaps, regardless of doping with either electrons or holes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Chandra High Energy Grating Observations of the Fe Ka Line Core in Type 2 Seyfert Galaxies: A Comparison with Type 1 Nuclei

We present a study of the core of the Fe Ka emission line at ~6.4 keV in a sample of type II Seyfert galaxies observed by the Chandra High Energy Grating (HEG). The sample consists of 29 observations of 10 unique sources. We present measurements of the Fe Ka line parameters with the highest spectral resolution currently available. In particular, we derive the most robust intrinsic line widths for some of the sources in the sample to date. We obtained a weighted mean FWHM of 2000 \pm 160 km/s for 8 out of 10 sources (the remaining sources had insufficient signal-to-noise). From a comparison with the optical emission-line widths obtained from spectropolarimetric observations, we found that the location of Fe Ka line-emitting material is a factor of ~0.7-11 times the size of the optical BLR. Furthermore, compared to 13 type I AGNs for which the best Fe Ka line FWHM constraints were obtained, we found no difference in the FWHM distribution or the mean FWHM, and this conclusion is independent of the central black hole mass. This result suggests that the bulk of the Fe Ka line emission may originate from a universal region at the same radius with respect to the gravitational radius, ~30,000 Rg on average. By examining the correlation between the Fe Ka luminosity and the [O IV] line luminosity, we found a marginal difference in the Fe K line flux between type I and type II AGNs, but the spread in the ratio of L(Fe) to L([O IV]) is about two orders of magnitude. Our results confirm the theoretical expectation that the Fe Ka emission-line luminosity cannot trivially be used as a proxy of the intrinsic AGN luminosity, unless a detailed comparison of the data with proper models is applied.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, and 2 tables, accepted for publication in Ap

Possible Pairing Symmetry of Three-dimensional Superconductor UPt3_3 -- Analysis Based on a Microscopic Calculation --

Stimulated by the anomalous superconducting properties of UPt$_3$, we investigate the pairing symmetry and the transition temperature in the two-dimensional(2D) and three-dimensional(3D) hexagonal Hubbard model. We solve the Eliashberg equation using the third order perturbation theory with respect to the on-site repulsion $U$. As results of the 2D calculation, we obtain distinct two types of stable spin-triplet pairing states. One is the $f$-wave(B$_1$) pairing around $n = 1.2$ and in a small $U$ region, which is caused by the ferromagnetic fluctuation. Then, the other is the $p_x$(or $p_y$)-wave(E$_1$) pairing in large $U$ region far from the half-filling ($n = 1$) which is caused by the vertex corrections only. However, we find that the former $f$-wave pairing is destroyed by introduced 3D dispersion. This is because the 3D dispersion breaks the favorable structures for the $f$-wave pairing such as the van Hove singularities and the small pocket structures. Thus, we conclude that the ferromagnetic fluctuation mediated spin-triplet state can not explain the superconductivity of UPt$_3$. We also study the case of the pairing symmetry with a polar gap. This $p_z$-wave(A$_1$) is stabilized by the large hopping integral along c-axis $t_z$. It is nearly degenerate with the suppressed $p_x$(or $p_y$)-wave(E$_1$) in the best fitting parameter region to UPt$_3$ ($1.3 \le t_z \le 1.5$). These two p-wave pairing states exist in the region far from the half-filling, in which the vertex correction terms play crucial roles like the case in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

Antiferromagnetic Order and Superconductivity in Sr4(Mg0.5-xTi0.5+x)2O6Fe2As2 with Electron Doping: 75As-NMR Study

We report an 75As-NMR study on iron (Fe)-based superconductors with thick perovskitetype blocking layers Sr4(Mg0.5-xTi0.5+x)2O6Fe2As2 with x=0 and 0.2. We have found that antiferromagnetic (AFM) order takes place when x=0, and superconductivity (SC) emerges below Tc=36 K when x=0.2. These results reveal that the Fe-pnictides with thick perovskitetype blocks also undergo an evolution from the AFM order to the SC by doping electron carriers into FeAs planes through the chemical substitution of Ti+4 ions for Mg+2 ions, analogous to the F-substitution in LaFeAsO compound. The reason why the Tc=36 K when x=0.2 being higher than the optimally electron-doped LaFeAsO with Tc=27 K relates to the fact that the local tetrahedron structure of FeAs4 is optimized for the onset of SC.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl