Large magnetothermal conductivity of HoMnO_3 single crystals and its relation to the magnetic-field induced transitions of magnetic structure

We study the low-temperature heat transport of HoMnO_3 single crystals to probe the magnetic structures and their transitions induced by magnetic field. It is found that the low-T thermal conductivity (\kappa) shows very strong magnetic-field dependence, with the strongest suppression of nearly 90% and the biggest increase of 20 times of \kappa compared to its zero-field value. In particular, some ``dip"-like features show up in \kappa(H) isotherms for field along both the ab plane and the c axis. These behaviors are found to shed new light on the complex H-T phase diagram and the field-induced re-orientations of Mn^{3+} and Ho^{3+} spin structures. The results also demonstrate a significant spin-phonon coupling in this multiferroic compound.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Intrinsic electron-doping in nominal "non-doped" superconducting (La,Y)2_2CuO4_4 thin films grown by dc magnetron sputtering

The superconducting nominal "non-doped" $La_{1.85}Y_{0.15}CuO_4$ (LYCO) thin films are successfully prepared by dc magnetron-sputtering and in situ post-annealing in vacuum. The best $T_{C0}$ more than 13K is achieved in the optimal LYCO films with highly pure c-axis oriented T'-type structure. In the normal state, the quasi-quadratic temperature dependence of resistivity, the negative Hall coefficient and effect of oxygen content in the films are quite similar to the typical Ce-doped T'-214 cuprates, suggesting that T'-LYCO shows the electron-doping nature like known n-type cuprates, and is not a band superconductor as proposed previously. The charge carriers are considered to be induced by oxygen deficiency.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Large magnetothermal conductivity in GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} single crystals

To study the effects of paramagnetic spins on phonons, both the in-plane and the c-axis heat transport of GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} (GBCO) single crystals are measured at low temperature down to 0.36 K and in magnetic field up to 16 T. It is found that the phonon heat transport is very strongly affected by the magnetic field and nearly 5 times increase of the thermal conductivity in several Tesla field is observed at 0.36 K. It appears that phonons are resonantly scattered by paramagnetic spins in zero field and the application of magnetic field removes such strong scattering, but the detailed mechanism is to be elucidated.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Assessing the landscape ecological risk of road construction: The case of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Cambodia

Extensive development of expressway infrastructure alters the layout of terrain resulting and results in major ecological concerns. Therefore, it has become necessary to investigate how to assess the effects of land use changes on the landscape pattern and explore pertinent environmental concerns related to road construction. This study develops a numerical mothed to assess the ecological risk of road construction in terms of landscape pattern by combining the landscape disturbance index and the vulnerability index. The model is used to assess the landscape ecological risk of a particular portion of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Cambodia. The empirical study found that the rise in the amount of construction land was transferred from the area of grassland to cultivated land. It is identified through calculating the landscape pattern index that the integrity of the landscape decreases due to the expressway construction; ecological landscape tends to be complicated and fragmented; and the gravity center of the land use landscape pattern transitions in the same direction as the expressway construction. The ecological risk was assessed and it was found that the expressway construction led to a transition to poorer ecological quality along the road as a whole, and that areas of high ecological risk and higher ecological risk were gradually concentrated from the two ends to the central area. The study develops the landscape ecological risk assessment model and extends the landscape ecological risk assessment index to the ecological assessment of expressway construction. It can also effectively guide the ecological risk assessment of major international road projects

Optimization of cool roof and night ventilation in office buildings: A case study in Xiamen, China

Increasing roof albedo (using a “cool” roof) and night ventilation are passive cooling technologies that can reduce the cooling loads in buildings, but existing studies have not comprehensively explored the potential benefits of integrating these two technologies. This study combines an experiment in the summer and transition seasons with an annual simulation so as to evaluate the thermal performance, energy savings and thermal comfort improvement that could be obtained by coupling a cool roof with night ventilation. A holistic approach integrating sensitivity analysis and multi-objective optimization is developed to explore key design parameters (roof albedo, night ventilation air change rate, roof insulation level and internal thermal mass level) and optimal design options for the combined application of the cool roof and night ventilation. The proposed approach is validated and demonstrated through studies on a six-storey office building in Xiamen, a cooling-dominated city in southeast China. Simulations show that combining a cool roof with night ventilation can significantly decrease the annual cooling energy consumption by 27% compared to using a black roof without night ventilation and by 13% compared to using a cool roof without night ventilation. Roof albedo is the most influential parameter for both building energy performance and indoor thermal comfort. Optimal use of the cool roof and night ventilation can reduce the annual cooling energy use by 28% during occupied hours when air-conditioners are on and reduce the uncomfortable time slightly during occupied hours when air-conditioners are off