ARPES insights on the metallic states of YbB6(001): E(k) dispersion, temporal changes and spatial variation

We report high resolution Angle Resolved PhotoElectron Spectroscopy (ARPES) results on the (001) cleavage surface of YbB$_{6}$, a rare-earth compound which has been recently predicted to host surface electronic states with topological character. We observe two types of well-resolved metallic states, whose Fermi contours encircle the time-reversal invariant momenta of the YbB$_{6}$(001) surface Brillouin zone, and whose full (E,$k$)-dispersion relation can be measured wholly unmasked by states from the rest of the electronic structure. Although the two-dimensional character of these metallic states is confirmed by their lack of out-of-plane dispersion, two new aspects are revealed in these experiments. Firstly, these states do not resemble two branches of opposite, linear velocity that cross at a Dirac point, but rather straightforward parabolas which terminate to high binding energy with a clear band bottom. Secondly, these states are sensitive to time-dependent changes of the YbB$_{6}$ surface under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. Adding the fact that these data from cleaved YbB$_{6}$ surfaces also display spatial variations in the electronic structure, it appears there is little in common between the theoretical expectations for an idealized YbB$_{6}$(001) crystal truncation on the one hand, and these ARPES data from real cleavage surfaces on the other.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures (accepted in Physical Review B

Origin and tuning of the magnetocaloric effect for the magnetic refrigerant MnFe(P1-xGex)

Neutron diffraction and magnetization measurements of the magneto refrigerant Mn1+yFe1-yP1-xGex reveal that the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases correspond to two very distinct crystal structures, with the magnetic entropy change as a function of magnetic field or temperature being directly controlled by the phase fraction of this first-order transition. By tuning the physical properties of this system we have achieved a maximum magnetic entropy change exceeding 74 J/Kg K for both increasing and decreasing field, more than twice the value of the previous record.Comment: 6 Figures. One tabl

Genome-wide DNA polymorphisms in two cultivars of mei (Prunus mume sieb. et zucc.)

BACKGROUND: Mei (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc.) is a famous ornamental plant and fruit crop grown in East Asian countries. Limited genetic resources, especially molecular markers, have hindered the progress of mei breeding projects. Here, we performed low-depth whole-genome sequencing of Prunus mume ‘Fenban’ and Prunus mume ‘Kouzi Yudie’ to identify high-quality polymorphic markers between the two cultivars on a large scale. RESULTS: A total of 1464.1 Mb and 1422.1 Mb of ‘Fenban’ and ‘Kouzi Yudie’ sequencing data were uniquely mapped to the mei reference genome with about 6-fold coverage, respectively. We detected a large number of putative polymorphic markers from the 196.9 Mb of sequencing data shared by the two cultivars, which together contained 200,627 SNPs, 4,900 InDels, and 7,063 SSRs. Among these markers, 38,773 SNPs, 174 InDels, and 418 SSRs were distributed in the 22.4 Mb CDS region, and 63.0% of these marker-containing CDS sequences were assigned to GO terms. Subsequently, 670 selected SNPs were validated using an Agilent’s SureSelect solution phase hybridization assay. A subset of 599 SNPs was used to assess the genetic similarity of a panel of mei germplasm samples and a plum (P. salicina) cultivar, producing a set of informative diversity data. We also analyzed the frequency and distribution of detected InDels and SSRs in mei genome and validated their usefulness as DNA markers. These markers were successfully amplified in the cultivars and in their segregating progeny. CONCLUSIONS: A large set of high-quality polymorphic SNPs, InDels, and SSRs were identified in parallel between ‘Fenban’ and ‘Kouzi Yudie’ using low-depth whole-genome sequencing. The study presents extensive data on these polymorphic markers, which can be useful for constructing high-resolution genetic maps, performing genome-wide association studies, and designing genomic selection strategies in mei

Identification, Characterization and Application of a G-Quadruplex Structured DNA Aptamer against Cancer Biomarker Protein Anterior Gradient Homolog 2

Background: Anterior gradient homolog 2 (AGR2) is a functional protein with critical roles in a diverse range of biological systems, including vertebrate tissue development, inflammatory tissue injury responses, and cancer progression. Clinical studies have shown that the AGR2 protein is overexpressed in a wide range of human cancers, including carcinomas of the esophagus, pancreas, breast, prostate, and lung, making the protein as a potential cancer biomarker. However, the general biochemical functions of AGR2 in human cells remain undefined, and the signaling mechanisms that drive AGR2 to inhibit p53 are still not clearly illustrated. Therefore, it is of great interest to develop molecular probes specifically recognizing AGR2 for its detection and for the elucidation of AGR2-associated molecular mechanism. Methodology/Principal Findings: Through a bead-based and flow cytometry monitored SELEX technology, we have identified a group of DNA aptamers that can specifically bind to AGR2 with K-d values in the nanomolar range after 14 rounds of selections. Aptamer C14B was chosen to further study, due to its high binding affinity and specificity. The optimized and shortened C14B1 has special G-rich characteristics, and the G-rich region of this binding motif was further characterized to reveal an intramolecular parallel G-quadruplex by CD spectroscopy and UV spectroscopy. Our experiments confirmed that the stability of the G-quadruplex structure was strongly dependent on the nature of the monovalent ions and the formation of G-quadruplex structure was also important for the binding capacity of C14B1 to the target. Furthermore, we have designed a kind of allosteric molecule beacon (aMB) probe for selective and sensitive detection of AGR2. Conclusion/Significance: In this work, we have developed new aptamer probes for specific recognition of the AGR2. Structural study have identified that the binding motif of aptamer is an intramolecular parallel G-quadruplex structure and its structure and binding affinity are strongly dependent on the nature of the monovalent ion. Furthermore, with our design of AGR2-aMB, AGR2 could be sensitively and selectively detected. This aptamer probe has great potential to serve as a useful tool for early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer and for fundamental research to elucidate the biochemical functions of AGR2.National Basic Research Program of China [2010CB732402]; National Instrumentation Program [2011YQ03012412]; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province for Distinguished Young Scholars [2010 J06004]; National Found for Fostering Talents of Basic Science [J1030415

Structural and magnetic properties of bulk nanocrystalline Erbium metal

Bulk nanocrystalline Erbium metals were prepared via Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) and subsequent annealing process. The nanocrystalline Er metals have the same hexagonal close packed structure as that of coarse-grained sample. Decrease in grain size results in remarkable changes in the three magnetic ordering temperatures of the nanocrystalline Er metal. At 5 K, the magnetization drops by 10.9%, while the coercivity increases by 4 times for nanocrystalline Er compared with those of coarse-grained sample. These results indicate the remarkable influence of the nanostructure on the magnetism of Er due to finite size effect

Thermoelectric properties of Ag-doped compound: Mg3-xAgxSb2

Mg3Sb2-based thermoelectric materials have poor electrical conductivity which is the key to limit thermoelectric performance that need to be solved. Herein we tuned the carrier concentration of Mg3Sb2-based materials via Ag doping at the Mg sites (at two distinct crystallographic sites) to enhance the electrical performance. Mg3-xAgxSb2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) has been prepared successfully by vacuum suspension smelting plus Spark Plasma Sintering technique. Using the vacuum suspension smelting plus Spark Plasma Sintering method, we proved that Ag doping can precisely tune the electrical transport properties and accordingly enhance the power factor. Moreover, the Ag doping leads to a low lattice thermal conductivity due to phonons scattering, and the maximal thermoelectric figure of merit ZT for Mg2.96Ag0.04Sb2 reaches 0.66 at 773 K

Electronic structure of the antiferromagnetic topological insulator candidate GdBiPt

We studied the electronic structures of antiferromagnetic (AFM) GdBiPt with propagating vectors Q1⃗ =(0,0,π) (A-type) and Q2⃗ =(π,π,π) (G-type) by performing first-principles calculation based on density-functional theory with modified Becke and Johnson local-density approximation potentials plus Hubbard U (MBJLDA+U). With the total energy calculation, the G-type AFM spin-ordered state is relatively more stable than the A-type AFM spin-ordered state, although the difference in total energy is minute. Our band-structure calculation predicts that the A-type AFM state is topologically nontrivial due to a single s-character band inversion at the Γ point, which is similar to the band inversions in half-Heusler topological insulator candidates and bulk HgTe semiconductors, while the G-type AFM state is topologically trivial due to the absence of s/p band inversion. With a realistic tight-binding model calculation with 20 bands coupled to an AFM Zeeman field, GdBiPt with A-type AFM spin order presents a metallic surface state on the terminations with AFM aligned Gd ions, and this surface state is independent of the strength of the AFM Zeeman field, i.e., this surface state will be preserved in a nonmagnetic case. Upon terminating the ferromagnetic spin-aligned Gd ions, the surface state is dependent on the strength of the Zeeman field, and the metallic surface can recover when the Zeeman field approaches zero.Published versio

Full-Space Wavefront Shaping of Broadband Vortex Beam with Switchable Terahertz Metasurface Based on Vanadium Dioxide

Currently, vortex beams are extensively utilized in the information transmission and storage of communication systems due to their additional degree of freedom. However, traditional terahertz metasurfaces only focus on the generation of narrowband vortex beams in reflection or transmission mode, which is unbeneficial for practical applications. Here, we propose and design terahertz metasurface unit cells composed of anisotropic Z-shaped metal structures, two dielectric layers, and a VO2 film layer. By utilizing the Pancharatnam–Berry phase theory, independent control of a full 2π phase over a wide frequency range can be achieved by rotating the unit cell. Moreover, the full-space mode (transmission and reflection) can also be implemented by utilizing the phase transition of VO2 film. Based on the convolution operation, three different terahertz metasurfaces are created to generate vortex beams with different wavefronts in full-space, such as deflected vortex beams, focused vortex beams, and non-diffraction vortex beams. Additionally, the divergences of these vortex beams are also analyzed. Therefore, our designed metasurfaces are capable of efficiently shaping the wavefronts of broadband vortex beams in full-space, making them promising applications for long-distance transmission, high integration, and large capacity in 6G terahertz communications