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Scoring is a common method to evaluate eggshell translucency, and it mainly depends on the area and the density of translucent spots in eggshells. However, the lack of common scoring criteria and the difficulty of quantitatively measuring spots in eggshells impede effective comparisons between research papers and greatly hinder the progress of research on translucent eggshell. To make measurement of translucent eggshells more objective, we optimized the scoring method and compared it with 2 new methods: grayscale recognition and the colorimeter method. Briefly, a total of 354 eggs from 600, 395-day-old dwarf brown laying hens were collected and classified into 4 score groups according to their degree of translucency. This subjective process was repeated 5 times. Then, we captured the profile side of each egg using a camera and measured spot characteristics using grayscale recognition, which involved measuring the quantity of spots (QS), diameter of each spot (DS), average area of each spot (AAES), sum of spot areas (SUSA), sum of shell area (SUSHA), and ratio of SUSA to SUSHA (RSS) on the eggshell. Furthermore, the L, A, and B values of each egg at the sharp, middle, and blunt ends were separately measured using a colorimeter. As a result, average values of 31.31, 29.78, 29.81, and 9.08% of all eggs were divided into score levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 (from opaque to translucent), which correspond with RSS values of 1.34, 3.23, 6.21, and 11.89%, respectively. By grayscale recognition, QS, DS, AAES, SUSA, SUSHA, and RSS all increased along with increased translucency scores (P < 0.05). Using scoring, an egg with a specific RSS value was more easily assigned to a specific score level (50%) or adjacent score levels (50%). The L, A, and B values of eggshells in score level 1 were significantly different from those of eggshells in levels 3 or 4; however, there were no significant differences between any adjacent score levels. In summary, the present study explored objective reference metrics to measure eggshell translucency.

The temperature dependent thermopower of Bi x TiS 2 ( x = 0 , 0.05, 0.15, 0.25) was investigated in the temperature range from 7 to 300 K. The thermopower of all samples show a metallic behavior with diffusion thermopower dominating at high temperatures and a peak of phonon-drag contribution at low temperatures. They could be scaled to S = S ∗ × S ( T / T ∗ ) , indicating that the Bi intercalation does not change the scattering mechanism. The thermopower should be attributed to the special lens-shaped Fermi pockets. With increasing Bi intercalation, the Fermi pockets expand, and each Bi atom transfers five electrons to the host layers.

The resistivity and thermopower of the misfit-layered (Bi, Pb)–Sr–Co–O system with different Pb concentration were investigated. The thermopower is surprisingly large and T -independent with metallic resistivity at high temperatures, suggesting a narrow band contribution. The resistivity starts to increase below about 90 K, while no change can be seen in the thermopower, which is evidence of Anderson localization in a disordered structure.

The temperature dependent thermopower S a ( T ) of the Bechgaard salt (TMTSF)2PF6 was measured along the highly conducting a axis. Surprisingly, an abrupt change of gap value was found at 8 K. The gap values revealed by the thermopower measurements within the SDW phase are much smaller than that revealed in the resistivity measurement, implying the existence of magnetic-polaron hopping below T SDW .

The transport properties, thermopower (TEP), thermal conductivity (κ) and resistivity (ρ) are investigated for the optimally doped (x = 0.15) Nd1−xCexCuO4 (NCCO) single crystal, after annealing in flowing nitrogen at 900 °C for different times. Both TEP and ρ are interpreted in a two-band model with an electron broad band and a hole-like narrow band. After suitable annealing, the bandwidth (Γ) of the narrow band decreases abruptly, resulting in an anomalous change of TEP at 300 K. At the same time, κ increases considerably because of the increasing thermal conductivity of charge carriers, and a peak emerges around 75 K, due to the interaction between carriers and phonons.