Anomalous Tail Effect on Resistivity Transition and Weak-link Behavior of Iron Based Superconductor

Temperature dependent resistivity of the iron-based superconductor NdFeAsO0.88F0.12 was measured under different applied fields and excitation currents. Arrhenius plot shows an anomalous tail effect, which contains obvious two resistivity dropping stages. The first is caused by the normal superconducting transition, and the second is supposed to be related to the weak-link between the grains. A model for the resistivity dropping related to the weak-link behavior is proposed, which is based on the Josephson junctions formed by the impurities in grain boundaries like FeAs, Sm2O3 and cracks together with the adjacent grains. These Josephson junctions can be easily broken by the applied fields and the excitations currents, leading to the anomalous resistivity tail in many polycrystalline iron-based superconductors. The calculated resistivity dropping agrees well with the experimental data, which manifests the correctness of the explanation of the obtained anomalous tail effect.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

The 7-channel FIR HCN Interferometer on J-TEXT Tokamak

A seven-channel far-infrared hydrogen cyanide (HCN) laser interferometer has been established aiming to provide the line integrated plasma density for the J-TEXT experimental scenarios. A continuous wave glow discharge HCN laser designed with a cavity length 3.4 m is used as the laser source with a wavelength of 337 {\mu}m and an output power up to 100 mW. The system is configured as a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer. Phase modulation is achieved by a rotating grating, with a modulation frequency of 10 kHz which corresponds to the temporal resolution of 0.1 ms. The beat signal is detected by TGS detector. The phase shift induced by the plasma is derived by the comparator with a phase sensitivity of 0.06 fringe. The experimental results measured by the J-TEXT interferometer are presented in details. In addition, the inversed electron density profile done by a conventional approach is also given. The kinematic viscosity of dimethyl silicone and vibration control is key issues for the system performance. The laser power stability under different kinematic viscosity of silicone oil is presented. A visible improvement of measured result on vibration reduction is shown in the paper.Comment: conference (15th-International Symposium on Laser-Aided Plasma Diagnostics

Liquid Crystal-Solid Interface Structure at the Antiferroelectric-Ferroelectric Phase Transition

Total Internal Reflection (TIR) is used to probe the molecular organization at the surface of a tilted chiral smectic liquid crystal at temperatures in the vicinity of the bulk antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition. Data are interpreted using an exact analytical solution of a real model for ferroelectric order at the surface. In the mixture T3, ferroelectric surface order is expelled with the bulk ferroelectric-antiferroelectric transition. The conditions for ferroelectric order at the surface of an antiferroelectric bulk are presented

Acute infection of chinese macaques by a CCR5-tropic SHIV carrying a primary HIV-1 subtype B' envelope

The increasing prevalence of HIV-1 subtype B' in China and Southeast Asia calls for efforts to develop a relevant animal model to study viral transmission and pathogenesis. Because there are significant differences between subtype B' HIV-1 and other chimeric simian/human immunodeficiency viru (SHIVs) in the env gene, a novel SHIV, designated SHIV B'WHU, was generated by replacing counterparts of SHIVSF33 with tat/rev/vpu/env genes derived from a primary, CCR5-tropic, subtype B' HIV-1 strain of a Chinese patient. SHIV B'WHU was able to replicate in rhesus peripheral blood mononuclear cells and used CCR5 as its major coreceptor. Moreover, after serial passages in Chinese macaques, the in vivo infectivity of SHIV B' WHU was enhanced, yet no significant sequence changes were found in viral envelopes, and the virus did not change its CCR5-tropism. CD4 T-cell loss, however, was found in the intraepithelial lymphocytes of small intestines of infected macaques. Our findings have implications in understanding the early pathogenesis of SHIV B' WHU in Chinese macaques. Copyright © 2010 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.postprin

Density Effect on Hadronization of a Quark Plasma

The hadronization cross section in a quark plasma at finite temperature and density is calculated in the framework of Nambu--Jona-lasinio model with explicit chiral symmetry breaking. In apposition to the familiar temperature effect, the quark plasma at high density begins to hadronize suddenly. It leads to a sudden and strong increase of final state pions in relativistic heavy ion collisions which may be considered as a clear signature of chiral symmetry restoration.Comment: Latex2e, 11 pages, 7 Postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Enhancement of Transition Temperature in FexSe0.5Te0.5 Film via Iron Vacancies

The effects of iron deficiency in FexSe0.5Te0.5 thin films (0.8<x<1) on superconductivity and electronic properties have been studied. A significant enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature (TC) up to 21K was observed in the most Fe deficient film (x=0.8). Based on the observed and simulated structural variation results, there is a high possibility that Fe vacancies can be formed in the FexSe0.5Te0.5 films. The enhancement of TC shows a strong relationship with the lattice strain effect induced by Fe vacancies. Importantly, the presence of Fe vacancies alters the charge carrier population by introducing electron charge carriers, with the Fe deficient film showing more metallic behavior than the defect-free film. Our study provides a means to enhance the superconductivity and tune the charge carriers via Fe vacancy, with no reliance on chemical doping.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Rapid crack propagation in loosely fitted PE liner pipe

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