Geometrical frustration versus Kitaev interactions in BaCo(AsO).

Recently, Co-based honeycomb magnets have been proposed as promising candidate materials to host the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) state. One of the front-runners is BaCo(AsO) (BCAO), where it was suggested that the exchange processes between Co ions via the surrounding edge-sharing oxygen octahedra could give rise to bond-dependent Kitaev interactions. In this work, we present and analyze a comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering (INS) study of BCAO with fields in the honeycomb plane.

Sign Structure of Thermal Hall Conductivity and Topological Magnons for In-Plane Field Polarized Kitaev Magnets.

The appearance of half-quantized thermal Hall conductivity in α-RuCl_{3} in the presence of in-plane magnetic fields has been taken as a strong evidence for the Kitaev spin liquid. Apart from the quantization, the observed sign structure of the thermal Hall conductivity is also consistent with predictions from the exact solution of the Kitaev honeycomb model. Namely, the thermal Hall conductivity changes sign when the field direction is reversed with respect to the heat current, which is perpendicular to one of the three nearest neighbor bonds on the honeycomb lattice.

Magnetic field induced quantum phases in a tensor network study of Kitaev magnets.

Recent discovery of the half quantized thermal Hall conductivity in [Formula: see text]-RuCl[Formula: see text], a candidate material for the Kitaev spin liquid, suggests the presence of a highly entangled quantum state in external magnetic fields. This field induced phase appears between the low field zig-zag magnetic order and the high field polarized state. Motivated by this experiment, we study possible field induced quantum phases in theoretical models of the Kitaev magnets, using the two dimensional tensor network approach or infinite tensor product states.

Magnetic Order with Fractionalized Excitations in Pyrochlore Magnets with Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling.

A recent inelastic neutron scattering experiment on the pyrochlore magnet YbTiO uncovers an unusual scattering continuum in the spin excitation spectrum despite the splayed ferromagnetic order in the ground state. While there exist well defined spin wave excitations at high magnetic fields, the one magnon modes and the two magnon continuum start to strongly overlap upon decreasing the field, and eventually they become the scattering continuum at zero field. Motivated by these observations, we investigate the possible emergence of a magnetically ordered ground state with fractionalized excitations in the spin model with the exchange parameters determined from two previous experiments.

An uncommon mediastinal cyst with a rare neurologic consequence.

Enteric cysts are uncommon posterior mediastinal cysts, usually presenting with respiratory symptoms in infancy. We present a rare case of posterior mediastinal enteric cyst extending from below the diaphragm and perforating into the left atrium, causing a thromboembolic cerebral infarct in a 5-year-old boy.

Inhibitory Effects of Chinese Medicinal Herbs on Plant-Pathogenic Bacteria and Identification of the Active Components from Gallnuts of Chinese Sumac.

The aqueous extracts of 30 out of 67 Chinese medicinal herbs were shown to have inhibitory effects on growth of Xanthomonas euvesicatoria by a paper disc diffusion assay. The inhibitory substances with the strongest antibacterial activity were extracted from Chinese sumac gallnut and black myrobalan. The aqueous extract of gallnut inhibited the growth of eight of the tested plant-pathogenic bacteria, and that of black myrobalan inhibited five.

First Report of Leaf Blight on Calathea picturata Caused by Exserohilum rostratum in Taiwan.

Many Calathea species in the family Marantaceae are beautiful ornamental plants with variegated foliage. Among them, C. picturata 'Argentea', an evergreen perennial that has pale green leaves with dark green margins and a red underside, is a popular houseplant in Taiwan.

C1q regulation of dendritic cell development from monocytes with distinct cytokine production and T cell stimulation.

The causative association of complement C1q deficiency with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which inevitably involves the breakdown of tolerance, remains poorly explained. Its non-hepatic, macrophage and dendritic cell (DC) origin may be highly relevant. In tissues, C1q is produced by DCs and macrophages which deposits around these cells and we ask whether this pericellular form of C1q regulates DC development from monocytes.

First Report of Root and Basal Rot of Angelica acutiloba Caused by Fusarium solani in Taiwan.

Angelica (Angelica acutiloba (Siebold. & Zucc.) Kitag.

Activity and characterization of secondary metabolites produced by a new microorganism for control of plant diseases.

Microorganisms capable of utilizing vegetable tissues for growth in soils were isolated and their vegetable broth cultures were individually sprayed directly on leaves to test their ability to control Phytophthora blight of bell pepper caused by Phytophthora capsici. Liquid culture of Streptomyces strain TKA-5, a previously undescribed species obtained in this study, displayed several desirable disease control characteristics in nature, including high potency, long lasting and ability to control also black leaf spot of spoon cabbage caused by Alternaria brassicicolca. The extract was fungicidal to P.

Paenibacillus taichungensis sp. nov., from soil in Taiwan.

Among a large collection of Taiwanese soil isolates, a novel Gram-variable, rod-shaped, motile, endospore-forming bacterial strain, strain V10537(T), was subjected to a polyphasic study including 16S rRNA and gyrB gene sequence analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments, cell wall peptidoglycan type, cellular fatty acid composition analysis and comparative phenotypic characterization. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the organism belonged to the genus Paenibacillus. Strain V10537(T) possessed meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid of the peptidoglycan.

Evaluation of restriction enzymes for standardizing pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocol for rapid subtyping of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the restriction enzymes with rare-cutting sites in the genome of Vibrio parahaemolyticus RIMD 2210633 for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis. The evaluation indicated that PFGE with both NotI and SfiI was discriminatory, but NotI was more cost-effective. Based on the results of this study, we suggest using NotI and SfiI as the 1st and the 2nd restriction enzyme for standardizing the PulseNet PFGE protocol for molecular subtyping and global surveillance of V.

Foodborne disease outbreaks caused by sucrose-nonfermenting and beta-galactosidase-deficient variants of Vibrio cholerae.

We reported four foodborne disease outbreaks in Taiwan caused by sucrose-nonfermenting and by beta-galactosidase-deficient variants of non-O1, non-O139 Vibrio cholerae. The sucrose-nonfermenting vibrios collected from three outbreaks were biochemically identified to be V. mimicus and the beta-galactosidase-deficient vibrios from an outbreak to be V.

Alternatively spliced human genes by exon skipping--a database (ASHESdb).

Unlabelled: Alternative splicing of mRNA allows many gene products with different functions to be produced from a single coding sequence. Exon skipping is the most commonly known alternative splicing mechanism. A comprehensive database of alternative splicing by exon skipping is made available for the human genome data.

Chitinibacter tainanensis gen. nov., sp. nov., a chitin-degrading aerobe from soil in Taiwan.

Five strains with strong chitinolytic activity were isolated from a soil sample collected from southern Taiwan. The strains shared more than 92% DNA-DNA similarity, indicating membership of the same genospecies. This close relationship was supported by high similarities in fatty acid composition and biochemical characteristics.

Alterations in the conjunctival bacterial flora following a single dose of azithromycin in a trachoma endemic area.

Background/aims: The World Health Organisation has recommended repeated mass treatment of children in trachoma endemic areas with oral azithromycin. While chlamydia, the causative agent of trachoma, remains universally sensitive to azithromycin, there is concern that large scale programmes may alter the bacterial flora and induce resistance in streptococcal species. In this study the effect of a single dose of azithromcyin on the prevalence, species distribution, and resistance of conjunctival bacterial flora was determined.

Root and Foot Rot of Loquat in Taiwan Caused by Phytophthora.

Loquat trees growing in central Taiwan were inflicted with a disease causing wilting and death of plants due to severe foot and root rot. The vascular tissues of all infected plants turned brown. Typical as well as atypical isolates of Phytophthora parasitica were isolated from the diseased basal stem and root tissues but not from the discolored vascular tissues.

Cutaneous chylous reflux.

Two cases of cutaneous chylous reflux are described. Both patients had many translucent white vesicles from which milk-like fluid wept intermittently. Lymphangiogram revealed dilated, tortuous lymphatic vessels and dermal backflow.