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Noise spectroscopy is a key technique to investigate the nature and dynamics of charge carriers in superconductors. The recently discovered superconducting hybrids with Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces exhibit a particularly intriguing and rich charge dynamics, as their charge carriers consist of both Cooper pairs and an extensive number of Bogoliubov quasiparticles. Motivated by this, we compute the noise spectra of Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces and identify their key signatures in the differential conductance and the Fano factor. Specifically, we consider a semiconductor/superconductor hybrid device with an in-plane magnetic field, which exhibits several Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces. The number and orientation of the Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces in this device can be readily controlled by the applied magnetic field, which in turn alters the noise signal. In particular, we find that the Fano factor exhibits a reduced value, substantially lower than two, whenever the charge dynamics is governed by a large number of Bogoliubov quasiparticles. Using experimentally relevant parameters, we make a number of specific predictions for the noise spectra, that can be used as direct evidence of Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces. In particular, we find that the Fano factor as a function of magnetic field and spin-orbit coupling exhibits characteristic discontinuities at the transition lines that separate phases with different numbers of Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces.

The fragility of the chiral surface current of the (d_{zx}+id_{yz})-wave superconductor, a potential candidate for Sr_{2}RuO_{4} against surface roughness is demonstrated utilizing the quasiclassical Eilenberger theory. Comparing the chiral surface currents of (d_{zx}+id_{yz})-wave and (p_{x}+ip_{y})-wave pairings, we conclude the chiral current for (d_{zx}+id_{yz})-wave SC is much more fragile than that for the (p_{x}+ip_{y})-wave one. The difference can be understood in terms of the orbital symmetry of the odd-frequency Cooper pairs arising at the surface. Our results show the (d_{zx}+id_{yz})-wave scenario can explain the null spontaneous magnetization in Sr_{2}RuO_{4} experiments.

Nodal topological superconductors characterized by p_{x}-wave pairing symmetry host flat-band Majorana bound states causing drastic anomalies in low-energy electromagnetic responses. Nevertheless, the study of flat-band Majorana bound states has been at a standstill owing to a serious lack of candidate materials for p_{x}-wave superconductors. In this paper, by expanding a scheme of planar topological Josephson junctions, we propose a promising device realizing an effective p_{x}-wave superconductor. Specifically, we consider a three-dimensional Josephson junction consisting of a thin-film semiconductor hosting a persistent spin-helix state and two conventional s-wave superconductors. We analytically obtain a topological phase diagram and numerically demonstrate the emergence of flat-band Majorana bound states by calculating the local density of states.

After more than 25 years of research, three even-parity superconducting states—the d+id-wave, d+ig-wave, and s+id-wave states—have emerged as leading candidates for the superconducting states of Sr_{2}RuO_{4}. In the present work, we propose a tunneling spectroscopy experiment for distinguishing among these three superconducting states. The key component of our proposal is that we examine the conductance spectra of normal-metal/Sr_{2}RuO_{4} junctions with various angles between the junction interface and the crystal axis of the Sr_{2}RuO_{4}. The angle dependence of the conductance spectra shows a unique pattern in each superconducting state, which can function as a fingerprint for verifying the pairing symmetry of Sr_{2}RuO_{4}.

We discuss the stability of zero-energy states appearing in a dirty normal metal attached to a superconducting thin film with Dresselhaus [110] spin-orbit coupling under an in-plane Zeeman field. The Dresselhaus superconductor preserves an additional chiral symmetry and traps more than one zero-energy state at its edges. All the zero-energy states at an edge belong to the same chirality in large Zeeman fields due to the effective p-wave pairing symmetry. The pure chiral nature of the wave function enables the zero-energy states to penetrate the dirty normal metal while retaining their high degree of degeneracy. We prove the perfect Andreev reflection into the dirty normal metal at zero energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the dosage and duration of rasburicase administration were retrospectively evaluated for the ability to control the serum uric acid (S-UA) level in 13 patients diagnosed with hematological malignancies and tumor lysis syndrome (TLS), or those at risk of developing TLS, at the University of Fukui Hospital. At the time of diagnosis, seven patients already exhibited laboratory TLS, and three demonstrated clinical TLS. All patients received rasburicase in addition to chemotherapy agents. The median dose was 0.19 mg/kg (range, 0.13-0.25 mg/kg), and the median duration was four days (range, 1-7 days). Six patients sequentially received a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, allopurinol or febuxostat. The primary estimate was the normalization of the S-UA level at the end of rasburicase treatment and on treatment day seven. The average S-UA level prior to treatment was 10.4±4.5 mg/dl (mean ±standard deviation), and 11 out of 13 patients demonstrated a S-UA level >7 mg/dl. The S-UA level at the end of rasburicase administration was 0.5±1.5 mg/dl and the S-UA level at day seven was 1.4±1.5 mg/dl. All the patients achieved normalization of the S-UA level. On day seven subsequent to the initiation of treatment, the patients receiving rasburicase for a maximum of three days exhibited an S-UA level of 1.9±1.8 mg/dl, while the patients receiving rasburicase for longer than three days demonstrated an S-UA level of 1.0±1.3 mg/dl (P=0.20; Mann-Whitney test). The administration of 0.13 mg/kg and 0.22 mg/kg resulted in comparable UA level reductions. The administration of allopurinol or febuxostat following rasburicase administration suppressed the re-increase in S-UA level. Therefore, it was concluded that reduced administration of rasburicase successfully controlled the S-UA level in TLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of the present study was to correlate blood cell counts (lymphocyte, monocyte and platelet counts) with early disease relapse following the attainment of complete remission (CR) by the rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone (R-CHOP)-like regimen in patients with advanced diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). In total, 30 patients were evaluated, with a median follow-up period of 43 months. All the participating patients attained CR. In total, eight patients experienced relapse within two years of the diagnosis, and the three-year overall survival rate was recorded as 77%. The peripheral counts for lymphocytes, monocytes and platelets, and the lymphocyte-monocyte ratio, all of which have been reported to be prognostic in DLBCL, were assessed. None of these parameters were correlated with the incidence of early relapse or with the prognosis. The lymphocyte count was higher in the patients with durable remission than in those who relapsed, however, no significant differences were identified. Thus, the present study concluded that early disease relapse was not predicted by peripheral blood cell counts in advanced DLBCL that reached CR using the R-CHOP-like regimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the successful treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) that developed in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). A 63-year-old Japanese man with MDS was admitted to our hospital because of a large skin ulcer on his neck in November 2001. The initial diagnosis was infectious dermatitis, and antimicrobial therapy was performed, using imipenem/cilastatin, isepamicin, and amphotericin B. However, this therapy was not effective, and the lesion worsened. Cultures of blood, throat swab, and ulcer pus yielded no microorganisms. A biopsy of the skin lesion revealed a severe infiltration of neutrophils in the dermis, without any evidence of infection. The lesion was finally diagnosed as PG, and systemic administration of corticosteroid hormone was started in December 2001. The patient was initially pulsed with 1?g methylprednisolone daily for 3 days. The dose was immediately reduced, and the treatment was maintained with 30?mg prednisolone daily. The skin lesion responded markedly to the therapy, and C-reactive protein became negative. The patient was discharged in February 2002 because the lesion was almost cured. Prednisolone administration was tapered after 6-month maintenance therapy. No recurrence of PG was seen, although his MDS transformed into leukemia in April 2003. Only 31 cases of MDS developing PG have been reported in the past 20 years in Japan. This report describes one such rare patient who was successfully treated with the use of high-dose pulse methylprednisolone and long-term maintenance therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically study the Josephson current in a superconductor/quantum anomalous Hall insulator/superconductor junction by using the lattice Green function technique. When an in-plane external Zeeman field is applied to the quantum anomalous Hall insulator, the Josephson current J flows without a phase difference across the junction θ. The phase shift φ appearing in the current-phase relationship J∝sin(θ-φ) is proportional to the amplitude of Zeeman fields and depends on the direction of Zeeman fields. A phenomenological analysis of the Andreev reflection processes explains the physical origin of φ. In a quantum anomalous Hall insulator, time-reversal symmetry and mirror-reflection symmetry are broken simultaneously. However, magnetic mirror-reflection symmetry is preserved. Such characteristic symmetry properties enable us to have a tunable φ junction with a quantum Hall insulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the stability of highly degenerate zero-energy states that appear at the surface of a nodal superconductor preserving time-reversal symmetry. The existence of such surface states is a direct consequence of the nontrivial topological numbers defined in the restricted Brillouin zones in the clean limit. In experiments, however, potential disorder is inevitable near the surface of a real superconductor, which may lift the high degeneracy at zero energy. We show that an index defined in terms of the chiral eigenvalues of the zero-energy states can be used to measure the degree of degeneracy at zero energy in the presence of potential disorder. We also discuss the relationship between the index and the topological numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the minimum value of the zero-bias differential conductance Gmin in a junction consisting of a normal metal and a nodal superconductor preserving time-reversal symmetry. Using the quasiclassical Green function method, we show that Gmin is quantized at (4e²/h)NZES in the limit of strong impurity scatterings in the normal metal at the zero temperature. The integer NZES represents the number of perfect transmission channels through the junction. An analysis of the chiral symmetry of the Hamiltonian indicates that NZES corresponds to the Atiyah-Singer index in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]