600 research outputs found
Field-dependent heat transport in the Kondo insulator SmB6 : phonons scattered by magnetic impurities
The thermal conductivity of the Kondo insulator SmB was measured
at low temperature, down to 70 mK, in magnetic fields up to 15 T, on single
crystals grown using both the floating-zone and the flux methods. The residual
linear term at is found to be zero in all samples, for
all magnetic fields, in agreement with previous studies. There is therefore no
clear evidence of fermionic heat carriers. In contrast to some prior data, we
observe a large enhancement of with increasing field. The effect of
field is anisotropic, depending on the relative orientation of field and heat
current (parallel or perpendicular), and with respect to the cubic crystal
structure. We interpret our data in terms of heat transport predominantly by
phonons, which are scattered by magnetic impurities.Comment: publish versio
Lifshitz critical point in the cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy from high-field Hall effect measurements
The Hall coefficient R_H of the cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy was measured
in magnetic fields up to 60 T for a hole concentration p from 0.078 to 0.152,
in the underdoped regime. In fields large enough to suppress superconductivity,
R_H(T) is seen to go from positive at high temperature to negative at low
temperature, for p > 0.08. This change of sign is attributed to the emergence
of an electron pocket in the Fermi surface at low temperature. At p < 0.08, the
normal-state R_H(T) remains positive at all temperatures, increasing
monotonically as T \to 0. We attribute the change of behaviour across p = 0.08
to a Lifshitz transition, namely a change in Fermi-surface topology occurring
at a critical concentration p_L = 0.08, where the electron pocket vanishes. The
loss of the high-mobility electron pocket across p_L coincides with a ten-fold
drop in the conductivity at low temperature, revealed in measurements of the
electrical resistivity at high fields, showing that the so-called
metal-insulator crossover of cuprates is in fact driven by a Lifshitz
transition. It also coincides with a jump in the in-plane anisotropy of ,
showing that without its electron pocket the Fermi surface must have strong
two-fold in-plane anisotropy. These findings are consistent with a
Fermi-surface reconstruction caused by a unidirectional spin-density wave or
stripe order.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, see associated Viewpoint: M. Vojta, Physics 4,
12 (2011
Functional diversity metrics using kernel density n-dimensional hypervolumes
The use ofn-dimensional hypervolumes in trait-based ecology is rapidly increasing. By representing the functional space of a species or community as a Hutchinsonian niche, the abstract Euclidean space defined by a set of independent axes corresponding to individuals or species traits, these multidimensional techniques show great potential for the advance of functional ecology theory. In the panorama of existing methods for delineating multidimensional spaces, therpackagehypervolume(Global Ecology and Biogeography, 23, 2014, 595-609) is currently the most used. However, functions for calculating the standard set of functional diversity (FD) indices-richness, divergence and regularity-have not been developed within thehypervolumeframework yet. This gap is delaying its full exploitation in functional ecology, meanwhile preventing the possibility to compare its performance with that of other methods. We develop a set of functions to calculate FD indices based onn-dimensional hypervolumes, including alpha (richness), beta (and respective components), dispersion, evenness, contribution and originality. Altogether, these indices provide a coherent framework to explore the primary mathematical components of FD within a multidimensional setting. These new functions can work either with hypervolume objects or with raw data (species presence or abundance and their traits) as input data, and are versatile in terms of input parameters and options. These functions are implemented withinbat(Biodiversity Assessment Tools), anrpackage for biodiversity assessments. As a coherent corpus of functional indices based on a common algorithm, it opens the possibility to fully explore the strengths of the Hutchinsonian niche concept in community ecology research.Peer reviewe
Nernst and Seebeck Coefficients of the Cuprate SuperconductorYBaCuO: A Study of Fermi Surface Reconstruction
The Seebeck and Nernst coefficients and of the cuprate
superconductor YBaCuO (YBCO) were measured in a single crystal with
doping in magnetic fields up to H = 28 T. Down to T=9 K,
becomes independent of field by T, showing that superconducting
fluctuations have become negligible. In this field-induced normal state,
and are both large and negative in the limit, with the
magnitude and sign of consistent with the small electron-like Fermi
surface pocket detected previously by quantum oscillations and the Hall effect.
The change of sign in at K is remarkably similar to that
observed in LaBaCuO, LaNdSrCuO and
LaEuSrCuO, where it is clearly associated with the onset
of stripe order. We propose that a similar density-wave mechanism causes the
Fermi surface reconstruction in YBCO.Comment: Final version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. New title,
shorter abstract, minor revision of text and added reference
Quantifying the importance of functional traits for primary production in aquatic plant communities
1. Aquatic plant meadows are important coastal habitats that sustain many ecosystem functions such as primary production and carbon sequestration. Currently, there is a knowledge gap in understanding which plant functional traits, for example, leaf size or plant height underlie primary production in aquatic plant communities. 2. To study how plant traits are related to primary production, we conducted a field survey in the Baltic Sea, Finland, which is characterized by high plant species and functional diversity. Thirty sites along an exposure gradient were sampled (150 plots), and nine plant morphological and chemical traits measured. The aim was to discern how community-weighted mean traits affect community production and whether this relationship changes along an environmental gradient using structural equation modelling (SEM). 3. Plant height had a direct positive effect on production along an exposure gradient (r = 0.33) and indirect effects through two leaf chemical traits, leaf ÎŽ15N and leaf ÎŽ13C (r = 0.24 and 0.18, respectively) resulting in a total effect of 0.28. In plant communities experiencing varying exposure, traits such as root N concentration and leaf ÎŽ15N had positive and negative effects on production, respectively. 4. Synthesis. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between aquatic plant functional traits and community production is variable and changes over environmental gradients. Plant height generally has a positive effect on community production along an exposure gradient, while the link between other traits and production changes in plant communities experiencing varying degrees of exposure. Thus, the underlying biological mechanisms influencing production differ in plant communities, emphasizing the need to resolve variability and its drivers in real-world communities. Importantly, functionally diverse plant communities sustain ecosystem functioning differently andPeer reviewe
In vitro PKA phosphorylation-mediated human PDE4A4 activation
AbstractThe PDE4 catalytic machinery comprises, in part, two divalent cations in a binuclear motif. Here we report that PDE4A4 expressed in Sf9 cells exhibits a biphasic Mg2+ doseâresponse (EC50 of âŒ0.15 and >10 mM) in catalyzing cAMP hydrolysis. In vitro phosphorylation of PDE4A4 by the PKA-catalytic subunit increases the enzymeâs sensitivity to Mg2+, leading to 4-fold increased cAMP hydrolysis without affecting its Km. The phosphorylation also increases the potencies of (R)- and (S)-rolipram without affecting CDP-840 and SB-207499. The results support that modulating the cofactor binding affinity of PDE4 represents a mechanism for regulating its activity
Field-angle dependence of sound velocity in the Weyl semimetal TaAs
The elastic modulus of a single crystal of the Weyl semimetal TaAs
was investigated by measuring relative changes in the sound velocity under
application of a magnetic field up to 10 T. Using an ultrasonic pulsed-echo
technique, we studied the shear response of the crystal when the angle between
the sound wave propagation and the magnetic field is changed. We observe a
broken tetragonal symmetry at fields above 6 T, an anisotropy that is likely
related to a longitudinal negative magnetoresistance and therefore might
provide evidence of the chiral anomaly, one of the main topological signatures
of this class of materials. We also observe quantum oscillations in the sound
velocity whose frequencies vary with magnetic field orientation. A fan diagram
of Landau level indices reveals topological and trivial Berry phases, depending
on the field orientation, indicating a sensitivity to different Fermi surface
pockets that do or do not enclose Weyl nodes respectively
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