Spatial localization of nanoparticle growth in photoinduced nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnov, Anton A.; Pikulin, Alexander; Bityurin, Nikita

2018-02-01

Photoinduced nanocomposites are the polymer materials where the nanoparticles can be generated by the light irradiation. The single atoms of metal are formed due to the photoreduction of the metal-containing precursor added to the polymer matrix. Then the atoms precipitate into the nanoparticles (NPs). Similarly, semiconductor NPs are assembled from the monomer species such as CdS, which can be released due to the photodestruction of the appropriate precursor. We analyze theoretically the possibility of spatial confinement of growing nanoparticles in a domain where the elementary species are generated by a three-dimensionally localized source. It is shown that the effective confinement can be achieved only if the size of the generation domain exceeds some critical spatial scale determined by the parameters of the system. The confinement is provided by the trapping of the diffusing elementary species by the growing nanoparticles. The proposed model considers the irreversible particle growth, typical for the noble metals. Both the nucleation and the particle growth processes are suggested to be diffusion controlled.

[Analysis of Cr in soil by LIBS based on conical spatial confinement of plasma].

PubMed

Lin, Yong-Zeng; Yao, Ming-Yin; Chen, Tian-Bing; Li, Wen-Bing; Zheng, Mei-Lan; Xu, Xue-Hong; Tu, Jian-Ping; Liu, Mu-Hua

2013-11-01

The present study is to improve the sensitivity of detection and reduce the limit of detection in detecting heavy metal of soil by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The Cr element of national standard soil was regarded as the research object. In the experiment, a conical cavity with small diameter end of 20 mm and large diameter end of 45 mm respectively was installed below the focusing lens near the experiment sample to mainly confine the signal transmitted by plasma and to some extent to confine the plasma itself in the LIBS setup. In detecting Cr I 425.44 nm, the beast delay time gained from experiment is 1.3 micros, and the relative standard deviation is below 10%. Compared with the setup of non-spatial confinement, the spectral intensity of Cr in the soil sample was enhanced more than 7%. Calibration curve was established in the Cr concentration range from 60 to 400 microg x g(-1). Under the condition of spatial confinement, the liner regression coefficient and the limit of detection were 0.997 71 and 18.85 microg x g(-1) respectively, however, the regression coefficient and the limit of detection were 0.991 22 and 36.99 microg x g(-1) without spatial confinement. So, this shows that conical spatial confinement can/improve the sensitivity of detection and enhance the spectral intensity. And it is a good auxiliary function in detecting Cr in the soil by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy.

Self-organizing human cardiac microchambers mediated by geometric confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Zhen; Wang, Jason; Loskill, Peter; Huebsch, Nathaniel; Koo, Sangmo; Svedlund, Felicia L.; Marks, Natalie C.; Hua, Ethan W.; Grigoropoulos, Costas P.; Conklin, Bruce R.; Healy, Kevin E.

2015-07-01

Tissue morphogenesis and organ formation are the consequences of biochemical and biophysical cues that lead to cellular spatial patterning in development. To model such events in vitro, we use PEG-patterned substrates to geometrically confine human pluripotent stem cell colonies and spatially present mechanical stress. Modulation of the WNT/β-catenin pathway promotes spatial patterning via geometric confinement of the cell condensation process during epithelial-mesenchymal transition, forcing cells at the perimeter to express an OCT4+ annulus, which is coincident with a region of higher cell density and E-cadherin expression. The biochemical and biophysical cues synergistically induce self-organizing lineage specification and creation of a beating human cardiac microchamber confined by the pattern geometry. These highly defined human cardiac microchambers can be used to study aspects of embryonic spatial patterning, early cardiac development and drug-induced developmental toxicity.

Effects of lateral confinement in natural and leveed reaches of a gravel-bed river: Snake River, Wyoming, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leonard, Christina M.; Legleiter, Carl; Overstreet, Brandon T.

2017-01-01

This study examined the effects of natural and anthropogenic changes in confining margin width by applying remote sensing techniques – fusing LiDAR topography with image-derived bathymetry – over a large spatial extent: 58 km of the Snake River, Wyoming, USA. Fused digital elevation models from 2007 and 2012 were differenced to quantify changes in the volume of stored sediment, develop morphological sediment budgets, and infer spatial gradients in bed material transport. Our study spanned two similar reaches that were subject to different controls on confining margin width: natural terraces versus artificial levees. Channel planform in reaches with similar slope and confining margin width differed depending on whether the margins were natural or anthropogenic. The effects of tributaries also differed between the two reaches. Generally, the natural reach featured greater confining margin widths and was depositional, whereas artificial lateral constriction in the leveed reach produced a sediment budget that was closer to balanced. Although our remote sensing methods provided topographic data over a large area, net volumetric changes were not statistically significant due to the uncertainty associated with bed elevation estimates. We therefore focused on along-channel spatial differences in bed material transport rather than absolute volumes of sediment. To complement indirect estimates of sediment transport derived by morphological sediment budgeting, we collected field data on bed mobility through a tracer study. Surface and subsurface grain size measurements were combined with bed mobility observations to calculate armoring and dimensionless sediment transport ratios, which indicated that sediment supply exceeded transport capacity in the natural reach and vice versa in the leveed reach. We hypothesize that constriction by levees induced an initial phase of incision and bed armoring. Because levees prevented bank erosion, the channel excavated sediment by migrating rapidly across the restricted braidplain and eroding bars and islands. 

Multiplexed immunosensing and kinetics monitoring in nanofluidic devices with highly enhanced target capture efficiency

PubMed Central

Lin, Yii-Lih; Huang, Yen-Jun; Teerapanich, Pattamon; Leïchlé, Thierry

2016-01-01

Nanofluidic devices promise high reaction efficiency and fast kinetic responses due to the spatial constriction of transported biomolecules with confined molecular diffusion. However, parallel detection of multiple biomolecules, particularly proteins, in highly confined space remains challenging. This study integrates extended nanofluidics with embedded protein microarray to achieve multiplexed real-time biosensing and kinetics monitoring. Implementation of embedded standard-sized antibody microarray is attained by epoxy-silane surface modification and a room-temperature low-aspect-ratio bonding technique. An effective sample transport is achieved by electrokinetic pumping via electroosmotic flow. Through the nanoslit-based spatial confinement, the antigen-antibody binding reaction is enhanced with ∼100% efficiency and may be directly observed with fluorescence microscopy without the requirement of intermediate washing steps. The image-based data provide numerous spatially distributed reaction kinetic curves and are collectively modeled using a simple one-dimensional convection-reaction model. This study represents an integrated nanofluidic solution for real-time multiplexed immunosensing and kinetics monitoring, starting from device fabrication, protein immobilization, device bonding, sample transport, to data analysis at Péclet number less than 1. PMID:27375819

Spatially confined polymer chains: implications of chromatin fibre flexibility and peripheral anchoring on telomere telomere interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gehlen, L. R.; Rosa, A.; Klenin, K.; Langowski, J.; Gasser, S. M.; Bystricky, K.

2006-04-01

We simulate the extension of spatially confined chromatin fibres modelled as polymer chains and examine the effect of the flexibility of the fibre and its degree of freedom. The developed formalism was used to analyse experimental data of telomere-telomere distances in living yeast cells in the absence of confining factors as identified by the proteins Sir4 and yKu70. Our analysis indicates that intrinsic properties of the chromatin fibre, in particular its elastic properties and flexibility, can influence the juxtaposition of the telomeric ends of chromosomes. However, measurements in intact yeast cells showed that the telomeres of chromosomes 3 and 6 come even closer together than the parameters of constraint imposed on the simulations would predict. This juxtaposition was specific to telomeres on one contiguous chromosome and overrode a tendency for separation that is imposed by anchoring.

Microfluidic device and method for focusing, segmenting, and dispensing of a fluid stream

DOEpatents

Jacobson, Stephen C [Knoxville, TN; Ramsey, J Michael [Knoxville, TN

2008-09-09

A microfluidic device and method for forming and dispensing minute volume segments of a material are described. In accordance with the present invention, a microfluidic device and method are provided for spatially confining the material in a focusing element. The device is also adapted for segmenting the confined material into minute volume segments, and dispensing a volume segment to a waste or collection channel. The device further includes means for driving the respective streams of sample and focusing fluids through respective channels into a chamber, such that the focusing fluid streams spatially confine the sample material. The device may also include additional means for driving a minute volume segment of the spatially confined sample material into a collection channel in fluid communication with the waste reservoir.

Microfluidic device and method for focusing, segmenting, and dispensing of a fluid stream

DOEpatents

Jacobson, Stephen C.; Ramsey, J. Michael

2004-09-14

A microfluidic device for forming and/or dispensing minute volume segments of a material is described. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a microfluidic device and method is provided for spatially confining the material in a focusing element. The device is also capable of segmenting the confined material into minute volume segments, and dispensing a volume segment to a waste or collection channel. The device further includes means for driving the respective streams of sample and focusing fluids through respective channels into a chamber, such that the focusing fluid streams spatially confine the sample material. The device may also include additional means for driving a minute volume segment of the spatially confined sample material into a collection channel in fluid communication with the waste reservoir.

Photoluminescence Spectra From The Direct Energy Gap of a-SiQDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul-Ameer, Nidhal M.; Abdulrida, Moafak C.; Abdul-Hakeem, Shatha M.

2018-05-01

A theoretical model for radiative recombination in amorphous silicon quantum dots (a-SiQDs) was developed. In this model, for the first time, the coexistence of both spatial and quantum confinements were considered. Also, it is found that the photoluminescence exhibits significant size dependence in the range (1-4) nm of the quantum dots. a-SiQDs show visible light emission peak energies and high radiative quantum efficiency at room temperature,in contrast to bulk a-Si structures. The quantum efficiency is sensitive to any change in defect density (the volume nonradiative centers density and/or the surface nonradiative centers density) but, with small dots sizes, the quantum efficiency is insensitive to such defects. Our analysis shows that the photoluminescence intensity increases or decreases by the effect of radiative quantum efficiency. By controlling the size of a-SiQDs, we note that the energy of emission can be tuned. The blue shift is attributed to quantum confinement effect. Meanwhile, the spatial confinement effect is clearly observed in red shift in emission spectra. we found a good agreement with the experimental published data. Therefore, we assert that a-SiQDs material is a promising candidate for visible, tunable, and high performance devices of light emitting.

Effect of spatial confinement on magnetic hyperthermia via dipolar interactions in Fe3O4 nanoparticles for biomedical applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sadat, M E; Patel, Ronak; Sookoor, Jason

2014-09-01

In this work, the effect of nanoparticle confinement on the magnetic relaxation of iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NP) was investigated by measuring the hyperthermia heating behavior in high frequency alternating magnetic field. Three different Fe3O4 nanoparticle systems having distinct nanoparticle configurations were studied in terms of magnetic hyperthermia heating rate and DC magnetization. All magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) systems were constructed using equivalent ~10nm diameter NP that were structured differently in terms of configuration, physical confinement, and interparticle spacing. The spatial confinement was achieved by embedding the Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the matrices of the polystyrene spheres of 100 nm, while themore » unconfined was the free Fe3O4 nanoparticles well-dispersed in the liquid via PAA surface coating. Assuming the identical core MNPs in each system, the heating behavior was analyzed in terms of particle freedom (or confinement), interparticle spacing, and magnetic coupling (or dipole-dipole interaction). DC magnetization data were correlated to the heating behavior with different material properties. Analysis of DC magnetization measurements showed deviation from classical Langevin behavior near saturation due to dipole interaction modification of the MNPs resulting in a high magnetic anisotropy. It was found that the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of the unconfined nanoparticle systems were significantly higher than those of confined (the MNPs embedded in the polystyrene matrix). This increase of SAR was found to be attributable to high Néel relaxation rate and hysteresis loss of the unconfined MNPs. It was also found that the dipole-dipole interactions can significantly reduce the global magnetic response of the MNPs and thereby decrease the SAR of the nanoparticle systems.« less

Mixing Regimes in a Spatially Confined, Two-Dimensional, Supersonic Shear Layer

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-31

MODEL ................................... 3 THE MODEL PROBLEMS .............................................. 6 THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL PROBLEM...the effects of the numerical diffusion on the spectrum. Guirguis et al.ś and Farouk et al."’ have studied spatially evolving mixing layers for equal...approximations. Physical and Numerical Model General Formulation We solve the time-dependent, two-dimensional, compressible, Navier-Stokes equations for a

Cell motility and ECM proteolysis regulate tumor growth and tumor relapse by altering the fraction of cancer stem cells and their spatial scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Sandeep; Kulkarni, Rahul; Sen, Shamik

2016-06-01

Tumors consist of multiple cell sub-populations including cancer stem cells (CSCs), transiently amplifying cells and terminally differentiated cells (TDCs), with the CSC fraction dictating the aggressiveness of the tumor and drug sensitivity. In epithelial cancers, tumor growth is influenced greatly by properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM), with cancer progression associated with an increase in ECM density. However, the extent to which increased ECM confinement induced by an increase in ECM density influences tumor growth and post treatment relapse dynamics remains incompletely understood. In this study, we use a cellular automata-based discrete modeling approach to study the collective influence of ECM density, cell motility and ECM proteolysis on tumor growth, tumor heterogeneity, and tumor relapse after drug treatment. We show that while increased confinement suppresses tumor growth and the spatial scattering of CSCs, this effect can be reversed when cells become more motile and proteolytically active. Our results further suggest that, in addition to the absolute number of CSCs, their spatial positioning also plays an important role in driving tumor growth. In a nutshell, our study suggests that, in confined environments, cell motility and ECM proteolysis are two key factors that regulate tumor growth and tumor relapse dynamics by altering the number and spatial distribution of CSCs.

Localization of massless Dirac particles via spatial modulations of the Fermi velocity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downing, C. A.; Portnoi, M. E.

2017-08-01

The electrons found in Dirac materials are notorious for being difficult to manipulate due to the Klein phenomenon and absence of backscattering. Here we investigate how spatial modulations of the Fermi velocity in two-dimensional Dirac materials can give rise to localization effects, with either full (zero-dimensional) confinement or partial (one-dimensional) confinement possible depending on the geometry of the velocity modulation. We present several exactly solvable models illustrating the nature of the bound states which arise, revealing how the gradient of the Fermi velocity is crucial for determining fundamental properties of the bound states such as the zero-point energy. We discuss the implications for guiding electronic waves in few-mode waveguides formed by Fermi velocity modulation.

Two-fluid model for locomotion under self-confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reigh, Shang Yik; Lauga, Eric

2017-09-01

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes ulcers in the stomach of humans by invading mucus layers protecting epithelial cells. It does so by chemically changing the rheological properties of the mucus from a high-viscosity gel to a low-viscosity solution in which it may self-propel. We develop a two-fluid model for this process of swimming under self-generated confinement. We solve exactly for the flow and the locomotion speed of a spherical swimmer located in a spherically symmetric system of two Newtonian fluids whose boundary moves with the swimmer. We also treat separately the special case of an immobile outer fluid. In all cases, we characterize the flow fields, their spatial decay, and the impact of both the viscosity ratio and the degree of confinement on the locomotion speed of the model swimmer. The spatial decay of the flow retains the same power-law decay as for locomotion in a single fluid but with a decreased magnitude. Independent of the assumption chosen to characterize the impact of confinement on the actuation applied by the swimmer, its locomotion speed always decreases with an increase in the degree of confinement. Our modeling results suggest that a low-viscosity region of at least six times the effective swimmer size is required to lead to swimming with speeds similar to locomotion in an infinite fluid, corresponding to a region of size above ≈25 μ m for Helicobacter pylori.

Molecular dynamics modeling of periodic nanostructuring of metals with a short UV laser pulse under spatial confinement by a water layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, D. S.; Blumenstein, A.; Ihlemann, J.; Simon, P.; Garcia, M. E.; Rethfeld, B.

2017-12-01

The possibility of material surfaces restructuring on the nanoscale due to ultrashort laser pulses has recently found a number of practical applications. It was found experimentally that under spatial confinement due to a liquid layer atop the surface, one can achieve even finer and cleaner structures as compared to that in air or in vacuum. The mechanism of the materials restructuring under the liquid confinement, however, is not clear and its experimental study is limited by the extreme conditions realized during the intense and localized laser energy deposition that takes place on nanometer spatial and picosecond time-scales. In this theoretical work, we suggest a molecular dynamics-based approach that is capable of simulating the processes of periodic nanostructuring with ultrashort UV laser pulse on metals. The theoretical results of the simulations are directly compared with the experimental data on the same spatial and temporal scales.

The Impact of Entropy on the Spatial Organization of Synaptonemal Complexes within the Cell Nucleus

PubMed Central

Fritsche, Miriam; Reinholdt, Laura G.; Lessard, Mark; Handel, Mary Ann; Bewersdorf, Jörg; Heermann, Dieter W.

2012-01-01

We employ 4Pi-microscopy to study SC organization in mouse spermatocyte nuclei allowing for the three-dimensional reconstruction of the SC's backbone arrangement. Additionally, we model the SCs in the cell nucleus by confined, self-avoiding polymers, whose chain ends are attached to the envelope of the confining cavity and diffuse along it. This work helps to elucidate the role of entropy in shaping pachytene SC organization. The framework provided by the complex interplay between SC polymer rigidity, tethering and confinement is able to qualitatively explain features of SC organization, such as mean squared end-to-end distances, mean squared center-of-mass distances, or SC density distributions. However, it fails in correctly assessing SC entanglement within the nucleus. In fact, our analysis of the 4Pi-microscopy images reveals a higher ordering of SCs within the nuclear volume than what is expected by our numerical model. This suggests that while effects of entropy impact SC organization, the dedicated action of proteins or actin cables is required to fine-tune the spatial ordering of SCs within the cell nucleus. PMID:22574147

Confinement effect of cylindrical-separatrix-type magnetic field on the plume of magnetic focusing type Hall thruster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Daren; Meng, Tianhang; Ning, Zhongxi; Liu, Hui

2017-04-01

A magnetic focusing type Hall thruster was designed with a cylindrical magnetic seperatrix. During the process of a hollow cathode crossing the separatrix, the variance of plume parameter distribution was monitored. Results show that the ion flux on the large spatial angle is significantly lower when the hollow cathode is located in the inner magnetic field. This convergence effect is preserved even in a distant area. A mechanism was proposed for plume divergence from the perspective of cathode-to-plume potential difference, through which the confinement effect of cylindrical-separatrix-type magnetic field on thruster plume was confirmed and proposed as a means of plume protection for plasma propulsion devices.

Resonant inelastic light scattering and photoluminescence in isolated nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bairamov, F. B., E-mail: Bairamov@mail.ioffe.ru; Toporov, V. V.; Poloskin, E. D.

2013-05-15

Observation at the room temperature the spectra of the resonant inelastic light scattering by the spatially confined optical phonons as well as the excitonic luminescence caused by confinement effects in the ensemble of isolated quantum dots (QDs) nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} is reported. It is shown that the samples investigated are high purity and high crystalline perfection quality nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} QDs without amorphous phase {alpha}-Si and contaminants. Comparison between the experimental data obtained and phenomenological model of the strong space confinement of optical phonons revealed the need of the more accurate form of the weighted function for the confinement of optical phonons.more » It is shown that simultaneous detection of the inelastic light scattering by the confinement of phonons and the excitonic luminescence spectra by the confined electron-hole pairs in the nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} QDs allows selfconsistently to determine more accurate values of the diameter of the nc-Si/SiO{sub 2} QDs.« less

Long-Range Repulsion Between Spatially Confined van der Waals Dimers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadhukhan, Mainak; Tkatchenko, Alexandre

2017-05-01

It is an undisputed textbook fact that nonretarded van der Waals (vdW) interactions between isotropic dimers are attractive, regardless of the polarizability of the interacting systems or spatial dimensionality. The universality of vdW attraction is attributed to the dipolar coupling between fluctuating electron charge densities. Here, we demonstrate that the long-range interaction between spatially confined vdW dimers becomes repulsive when accounting for the full Coulomb interaction between charge fluctuations. Our analytic results are obtained by using the Coulomb potential as a perturbation over dipole-correlated states for two quantum harmonic oscillators embedded in spaces with reduced dimensionality; however, the long-range repulsion is expected to be a general phenomenon for spatially confined quantum systems. We suggest optical experiments to test our predictions, analyze their relevance in the context of intermolecular interactions in nanoscale environments, and rationalize the recent observation of anomalously strong screening of the lateral vdW interactions between aromatic hydrocarbons adsorbed on metal surfaces.

Characteristic Features of Water Dynamics in Restricted Geometries Investigated with Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering

DOE PAGES

Osti, Naresh C.; Mamontov, Eugene; Ramirez-cuesta, A.; ...

2015-12-10

Understanding the molecular behavior of water in spatially restricted environments is important to better understanding its role in many biological, chemical and geological processes. Here we examine the translational diffusion of water confined to a variety of substrates, from flat surfaces to nanoporous media, in the context of a recently proposed universal scaling law (Chiavazzo 2014) [1]. Using over a dozen previous neutron scattering results, we test the validity of this law, evaluating separately the influence of the hydration amount, and the effects of the size and morphology of the confining medium. Additionally, we investigate the effects of changing instrumentmore » resolutions and fitting models on the applicability of this law. Finally, we perform quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements on water confined inside nanoporous silica to further evaluate this predictive law, in the temperature range 250≤T≤290 K.« less

Natural Curvature as Effective Confinement in Elastic Sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albarran, Octavio; Katifori, Eleni; Goehring, Lucas

The wrinkling and folding transitions of thin elastic sheets have been extensively studied in the last decade. The exchange of energy from stretching to bending acts as a paradigm for a wide range of elastic instabilities, including the wrinkling of the gut, and the crinkling of leaves. In two dimensions this type of problem is typically considered by the model of an Euler-elastica in compressive confinement. We show that, even without any external forces, an elastic surface supported by a fluid can bend and wrinkle when it acquires a non-zero natural curvature. Locally, we will demonstrate how a preferential curvature can be related to an effective compression, and hence a confining force that can vary spatially. This suggests a simple experimental setup, where we have characterised a variety of wrinkle patterns that can be generated for different mechanical properties and natural curvatures.

Statistical mechanics of an ideal active fluid confined in a channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Caleb; Baskaran, Aparna; Hagan, Michael

The statistical mechanics of ideal active Brownian particles (ABPs) confined in a channel is studied by obtaining the exact solution of the steady-state Smoluchowski equation for the 1-particle distribution function. The solution is derived using results from the theory of two-way diffusion equations, combined with an iterative procedure that is justified by numerical results. Using this solution, we quantify the effects of confinement on the spatial and orientational order of the ensemble. Moreover, we rigorously show that both the bulk density and the fraction of particles on the channel walls obey simple scaling relations as a function of channel width. By considering a constant-flux steady state, an effective diffusivity for ABPs is derived which shows signatures of the persistent motion that characterizes ABP trajectories. Finally, we discuss how our techniques generalize to other active models, including systems whose activity is modeled in terms of an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process.

Curvature dependence of single-walled carbon nanotubes for SO2 adsorption and oxidation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yanqiu; Yin, Shi; Li, Yueli; Cen, Wanglai; Li, Jianjun; Yin, Huaqiang

2017-05-01

Porous carbon-based catalysts showing high catalytic activity for SO2 oxidation to SO3 is often used in flue gas desulfurization. Their catalytic activity has been ascribed in many publications to the microporous structure and the effect of its spatial confinement. First principles method was used to investigate the adsorption and oxidation of SO2 on the inner and outer surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with different diameters. It is interesting to found that there is a direct correlation: the barrier for the oxidation O_SWCNT + SO2 → SO3 + SWCNT monotonically decreases with the increase of SWCNTs' curvature. The oxygen functional located at the inner wall of SWCNTs with small radius is of higher activity for SO2 oxidation, which is extra enhanced by the spatial confinement effects of SWCNTs. These findings can be useful for the development of carbon-based catalysts and provide clues for the optimization and design of porous carbon catalysts.

Effect of Electric Field Gradient on Sub-nanometer Spatial Resolution of Tip-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Meng, Lingyan; Yang, Zhilin; Chen, Jianing; Sun, Mengtao

2015-01-01

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) with sub-nanometer spatial resolution has been recently demonstrated experimentally. However, the physical mechanism underlying is still under discussion. Here we theoretically investigate the electric field gradient of a coupled tip-substrate system. Our calculations suggest that the ultra-high spatial resolution of TERS can be partially attributed to the electric field gradient effect owning to its tighter spatial confinement and sensitivity to the infrared (IR)-active of molecules. Particularly, in the case of TERS of flat-lying H2TBPP molecules,we find the electric field gradient enhancement is the dominating factor for the high spatial resolution, which qualitatively coincides with previous experimental report. Our theoretical study offers a new paradigm for understanding the mechanisms of the ultra-high spatial resolution demonstrated in tip-enhanced spectroscopy which is of importance but neglected. PMID:25784161

Interband emission energy in a dilute nitride quaternary semiconductor quantum dot for longer wavelength applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mageshwari, P. Uma; Peter, A. John; Lee, Chang Woo; Duque, C. A.

2016-07-01

Excitonic properties are studied in a strained Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y/GaAs cylindrical quantum dot. The optimum condition for the desired band alignment for emitting wavelength 1.55 μm is investigated using band anticrossing model and the model solid theory. The band gap and the band discontinuities of a Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y/GaAs quantum dot on GaAs are computed with the geometrical confinement effect. The binding energy of the exciton, the oscillator strength and its radiative life time for the optimum condition are found taking into account the spatial confinement effect. The effects of geometrical confinement and the nitrogen incorporation on the interband emission energy are brought out. The result shows that the desired band alignment for emitting wavelength 1.55 μm is achieved for the inclusion of alloy contents, y=0.0554% and x=0.339% in Ga1-xInxNyAs1-y/GaAs quantum dot. And the incorporation of nitrogen and indium shows the red-shift and the geometrical confinement shows the blue-shift. And it can be applied for fibre optical communication networks.

Spatial configuration of a plasma bunch formed under gyromagnetic resonance in a magnetic mirror trap

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Andreev, V. V.; Novitskii, A. A.; Umnov, A. M.

2016-06-15

The spatial configuration of a relativistic plasma bunch generated under the gyromagnetic autoresonance and confined in a magnetic mirror trap has been studied experimentally and numerically. The characteristics of bremsstrahlung generated by the plasma bunch from the gas and chamber walls were investigated using X-ray spectroscopy and radiometry, which made it possible to determine the localization of the bunch and analyze the dynamics of its confinement.

Quantum confinement of exciton-polaritons in a structured (Al,Ga)As microcavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, Alexander S.; Helgers, Paul L. J.; Biermann, Klaus; Santos, Paulo V.

2018-05-01

The realization of quantum functionalities with polaritons in an all-semiconductor platform requires the control of the energy and spatial overlap of the wave functions of single polaritons trapped in potentials with precisely controlled shape and size. In this study we reach the confinement of microcavity polaritons in traps with an effective potential width down to 1 µm, produced by patterning the active region of the (Al,Ga)As microcavity between two molecular beam epitaxy growth runs. We correlate spectroscopic and structural data to show that the smooth surface relief of the patterned traps translates into a graded confinement potential characterized by lateral interfaces with a finite lateral width. We show that the structuring method is suitable for the fabrication of arrays of proximal traps, supporting hybridization between adjacent lattice sites.

Theory of activated glassy relaxation, mobility gradients, surface diffusion, and vitrification in free standing thin films

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mirigian, Stephen, E-mail: kschweiz@illinois.edu, E-mail: smirigian@gmail.com; Schweizer, Kenneth S., E-mail: kschweiz@illinois.edu, E-mail: smirigian@gmail.com

2015-12-28

We have constructed a quantitative, force level, statistical mechanical theory for how confinement in free standing thin films introduces a spatial mobility gradient of the alpha relaxation time as a function of temperature, film thickness, and location in the film. The crucial idea is that relaxation speeds up due to the reduction of both near-surface barriers associated with the loss of neighbors in the local cage and the spatial cutoff and dynamical softening near the vapor interface of the spatially longer range collective elasticity cost for large amplitude hopping. These two effects are fundamentally coupled. Quantitative predictions are made formore » how an apparent glass temperature depends on the film thickness and experimental probe technique, the emergence of a two-step decay and mobile layers in time domain measurements, signatures of confinement in frequency-domain dielectric loss experiments, the dependence of film-averaged relaxation times and dynamic fragility on temperature and film thickness, surface diffusion, and the relationship between kinetic experiments and pseudo-thermodynamic measurements such as ellipsometry.« less

Theory of activated glassy relaxation, mobility gradients, surface diffusion, and vitrification in free standing thin films.

PubMed

Mirigian, Stephen; Schweizer, Kenneth S

2015-12-28

We have constructed a quantitative, force level, statistical mechanical theory for how confinement in free standing thin films introduces a spatial mobility gradient of the alpha relaxation time as a function of temperature, film thickness, and location in the film. The crucial idea is that relaxation speeds up due to the reduction of both near-surface barriers associated with the loss of neighbors in the local cage and the spatial cutoff and dynamical softening near the vapor interface of the spatially longer range collective elasticity cost for large amplitude hopping. These two effects are fundamentally coupled. Quantitative predictions are made for how an apparent glass temperature depends on the film thickness and experimental probe technique, the emergence of a two-step decay and mobile layers in time domain measurements, signatures of confinement in frequency-domain dielectric loss experiments, the dependence of film-averaged relaxation times and dynamic fragility on temperature and film thickness, surface diffusion, and the relationship between kinetic experiments and pseudo-thermodynamic measurements such as ellipsometry.

Static and dynamic properties of two-dimensional Coulomb clusters.

PubMed

Ash, Biswarup; Chakrabarti, J; Ghosal, Amit

2017-10-01

We study the temperature dependence of static and dynamic responses of Coulomb interacting particles in two-dimensional confinements across the crossover from solid- to liquid-like behaviors. While static correlations that investigate the translational and bond orientational order in the confinements show the footprints of hexatic-like phase at low temperatures, dynamics of the particles slow down considerably in this phase, reminiscent of a supercooled liquid. Using density correlations, we probe long-lived heterogeneities arising from the interplay of the irregularity in the confinement and long-range Coulomb interactions. The relaxation at multiple time scales show stretched-exponential decay of spatial correlations in irregular traps. Temperature dependence of characteristic time scales, depicting the structural relaxation of the system, show striking similarities with those observed for the glassy systems, indicating that some of the key signatures of supercooled liquids emerge in confinements with lower spatial symmetries.

Single mode, broad-waveguide ARROW-type semiconductor diode lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Muhanna, Abdulrahman Ali

A broad transverse waveguide (low confinement) concept is used to achieve a record-high spatially incoherent cw output power of 11W for InGaAs active devices (λ = 0.97 μm) from 100μm wide-stripe and 2mm-long devices with low internal loss, α1 = 1cm-1, and high characteristic temperatures, T0 = 210K, and T1 = 1800K. A detailed above-threshold analysis reveals that reduction in gain spatial hole burning (GSHB) is possible in ARROW-type structures by using a low transverse confinement factor; consequently, a wider ARROW-core can be utilized. By incorporating both a broad-waveguide concept as well as an asymmetric structure in the transverse direction, and an ARROW-type structure in the lateral direction, a novel single-spatial mode diode laser with improved performance is obtained. Devices with low transverse confinement factor (Γ ~ 1%) and a core-region width of 7.8 μm achieved 510mW single-spatial mode pulsed output power (λ = 0.946 μm) with a full- width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the lateral far-field pattern of 4.7°.

A Microfluidics and Agent-Based Modeling Framework for Investigating Spatial Organization in Bacterial Colonies: The Case of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and H1-Type VI Secretion Interactions.

PubMed

Wilmoth, Jared L; Doak, Peter W; Timm, Andrea; Halsted, Michelle; Anderson, John D; Ginovart, Marta; Prats, Clara; Portell, Xavier; Retterer, Scott T; Fuentes-Cabrera, Miguel

2018-01-01

The factors leading to changes in the organization of microbial assemblages at fine spatial scales are not well characterized or understood. However, they are expected to guide the succession of community development and function toward specific outcomes that could impact human health and the environment. In this study, we put forward a combined experimental and agent-based modeling framework and use it to interpret unique spatial organization patterns of H1-Type VI secretion system (T6SS) mutants of P . aeruginosa under spatial confinement. We find that key parameters, such as T6SS-mediated cell contact and lysis, spatial localization, relative species abundance, cell density and local concentrations of growth substrates and metabolites are influenced by spatial confinement. The model, written in the accessible programming language NetLogo, can be adapted to a variety of biological systems of interest and used to simulate experiments across a broad parameter space. It was implemented and run in a high-throughput mode by deploying it across multiple CPUs, with each simulation representing an individual well within a high-throughput microwell array experimental platform. The microfluidics and agent-based modeling framework we present in this paper provides an effective means by which to connect experimental studies in microbiology to model development. The work demonstrates progress in coupling experimental results to simulation while also highlighting potential sources of discrepancies between real-world experiments and idealized models.

A Microfluidics and Agent-Based Modeling Framework for Investigating Spatial Organization in Bacterial Colonies: The Case of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and H1-Type VI Secretion Interactions

PubMed Central

Wilmoth, Jared L.; Doak, Peter W.; Timm, Andrea; Halsted, Michelle; Anderson, John D.; Ginovart, Marta; Prats, Clara; Portell, Xavier; Retterer, Scott T.; Fuentes-Cabrera, Miguel

2018-01-01

The factors leading to changes in the organization of microbial assemblages at fine spatial scales are not well characterized or understood. However, they are expected to guide the succession of community development and function toward specific outcomes that could impact human health and the environment. In this study, we put forward a combined experimental and agent-based modeling framework and use it to interpret unique spatial organization patterns of H1-Type VI secretion system (T6SS) mutants of P. aeruginosa under spatial confinement. We find that key parameters, such as T6SS-mediated cell contact and lysis, spatial localization, relative species abundance, cell density and local concentrations of growth substrates and metabolites are influenced by spatial confinement. The model, written in the accessible programming language NetLogo, can be adapted to a variety of biological systems of interest and used to simulate experiments across a broad parameter space. It was implemented and run in a high-throughput mode by deploying it across multiple CPUs, with each simulation representing an individual well within a high-throughput microwell array experimental platform. The microfluidics and agent-based modeling framework we present in this paper provides an effective means by which to connect experimental studies in microbiology to model development. The work demonstrates progress in coupling experimental results to simulation while also highlighting potential sources of discrepancies between real-world experiments and idealized models. PMID:29467721

Quantum Chromodynamics and Color Confinement (confinement 2000) - Proceedings of the International Symposium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suganuma, H.; Fukushima, M.; Toki, H.

The Table of Contents for the book is as follows: * Preface * Opening Address * Monopole Condensation and Quark Confinement * Dual QCD, Effective String Theory, and Regge Trajectories * Abelian Dominance and Monopole Condensation * Non-Abelian Stokes Theorem and Quark Confinement in QCD * Infrared Region of QCD and Confining Configurations * BRS Quartet Mechanism for Color Confinement * Color Confinement and Quartet Mechanism * Numerical Tests of the Kugo-Ojima Color Confinement Criterion * Monopoles and Confinement in Lattice QCD * SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory at T > 0 in a Finite Box with Fixed Holonomy * Confining and Dirac Strings in Gluodynamics * Cooling, Monopoles, and Vortices in SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory * Quark Confinement Physics from Lattice QCD * An (Almost) Perfect Lattice Action for SU(2) and SU(3) Gluodynamics * Vortices and Confinement in Lattice QCD * P-Vortices, Nexuses and Effects of Gribov Copies in the Center Gauges * Laplacian Center Vortices * Center Vortices at Strong Couplings and All Couplings * Simulations in SO(3) × Z(2) Lattice Gauge Theory * Exciting a Vortex - the Cost of Confinement * Instantons in QCD * Deformation of Instanton in External Color Fields * Field Strength Correlators in the Instanton Liquid * Instanton and Meron Physics in Lattice QCD * The Dual Ginzburg-Landau Theory for Confinement and the Role of Instantons * Lattice QCD for Quarks, Gluons and Hadrons * Hadronic Spectral Functions in QCD * Universality and Chaos in Quantum Field Theories * Lattice QCD Study of Three Quark Potential * Probing the QCD Vacuum with Flavour Singlet Objects : η' on the Lattice * Lattice Studies of Quarks and Gluons * Quarks and Hadrons in QCD * Supersymmetric Nonlinear Sigma Models * Chiral Transition and Baryon-number Susceptibility * Light Quark Masses in QCD * Chiral Symmetry of Baryons and Baryon Resonances * Confinement and Bound States in QCD * Parallel Session * Off-diagonal Gluon Mass Generation and Strong Randomness of Off-diagonal Gluon Phase in the Maximally Abelian Gauge * On the Colour Confinement and the Minimal Surface * Glueball Mass and String Tension of SU(2) Gluodynamics from Abelian Monopoles and Strings * Application of the Non-Perturbative Renormalization Group to the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model at Finite Temperature and Density * Confining Flux-Tube and Hadrons in QCD * Gauge Symmetry Breakdown due to Dynamical Higgs Scalar * Spatial Structure of Quark Cooper Pairs * New Approach to Axial Coupling Constants in the QCD Sum Rule and Instanton Effects * String Breaking on a Lattice * Bethe-Salpeter Approach for Mesons within the Dual Ginzburg-Landau Theory * Gauge Dependence and Matching Procedure of a Nonrelativistic QCD Boundstate Formalism * A Mathematical Approach to the SU(2)-Quark Confinement * Simulations of Odd Flavors QCD by Hybrid Monte Carlo * Non-Perturbative Renormalization Group Analysis of Dynamical Chiral Symmetry Breaking with Beyond Ladder Contributions * Charmonium Physics in Finite Temperature Lattice QCD * From Meson-Nucleon Scattering to Vector Mesons in Nuclear Matter * Symposium Program * List of Participants

Electronic and optical properties of exciton, trions and biexciton in II-VI parabolic quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sujanah, P.; John Peter, A.; Woo Lee, Chang

2015-08-01

Binding energies of exciton, trions and biexciton and their interband optical transition energies are studied in a CdTe/ZnTe quantum dot nanostructure taking into consideration the geometrical confinement effect. The radial spread of the wavefunctions, binding energies, optical transition energies, oscillator strength, radiative life time and the absorption coefficients of exciton, positively and negatively charged excitons and biexciton are carried out. It is found that the ratio of the radiative life time of exciton with the trions and biexciton enhances with the reduction of geometrical confinement. The results show that (i) the binding energies of exciton, positive and negative trions and the biexciton have strong influence on the reduction of geometrical confinement effect, (ii) the binding energy is found to decrease from the binding energies of exciton to positive trion through biexciton and negative trion binding energies, (iii) the oscillator strength of trions is found to be lesser than exciton and the biexciton and (iv) the electronic and optical properties of exciton, trions and the biexciton are considerably dependent on the spatial confinement, incident photon energy and the radiative life time. The obtained results are in good agreement with the other existing literature.

Structure and dynamics of a silica melt in neutral confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geske, Julian; Drossel, Barbara; Vogel, Michael

2017-04-01

We analyze the effects of spatial confinement on viscous silica using molecular dynamics simulations. For this purpose, we prepare a silica melt in a cylindrical pore, which is produced by pinning appropriate fractions of silicon and oxygen atoms in a bulk system after an equilibration period. In this way, the structure of the confined silica melt remains unaffected, while the confinement has a strong impact on the dynamics. We find that the structural relaxation of viscous silica is slowed down according to a double exponential law when approaching the pore wall. Moreover, we observe that static density correlations exist in the vicinity of the pore wall. Based on these effects, we determine dynamical and structural length scales of the silica melt. Both length scales show a similar increase upon cooling, with values on the order of the next-neighbor distances in the studied temperature range. Interestingly, we find no evidence that the growth of the length scales is affected by a fragile-to-strong transition of the silica melt. This observation casts serious doubts on the relevance of these length scales for the structural relaxation, at least for the studied glass former.

Structure and dynamics of a silica melt in neutral confinement.

PubMed

Geske, Julian; Drossel, Barbara; Vogel, Michael

2017-04-07

We analyze the effects of spatial confinement on viscous silica using molecular dynamics simulations. For this purpose, we prepare a silica melt in a cylindrical pore, which is produced by pinning appropriate fractions of silicon and oxygen atoms in a bulk system after an equilibration period. In this way, the structure of the confined silica melt remains unaffected, while the confinement has a strong impact on the dynamics. We find that the structural relaxation of viscous silica is slowed down according to a double exponential law when approaching the pore wall. Moreover, we observe that static density correlations exist in the vicinity of the pore wall. Based on these effects, we determine dynamical and structural length scales of the silica melt. Both length scales show a similar increase upon cooling, with values on the order of the next-neighbor distances in the studied temperature range. Interestingly, we find no evidence that the growth of the length scales is affected by a fragile-to-strong transition of the silica melt. This observation casts serious doubts on the relevance of these length scales for the structural relaxation, at least for the studied glass former.

Influence of the distance between target surface and focal point on the expansion dynamics of a laser-induced silicon plasma with spatial confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Dan; Chen, Anmin; Wang, Xiaowei; Wang, Ying; Sui, Laizhi; Ke, Da; Li, Suyu; Jiang, Yuanfei; Jin, Mingxing

2018-05-01

Expansion dynamics of a laser-induced plasma plume, with spatial confinement, for various distances between the target surface and focal point were studied by the fast photography technique. A silicon wafer was ablated to induce the plasma with a Nd:YAG laser in an atmospheric environment. The expansion dynamics of the plasma plume depended on the distance between the target surface and focal point. In addition, spatially confined time-resolved images showed the different structures of the plasma plumes at different distances between the target surface and focal point. By analyzing the plume images, the optimal distance for emission enhancement was found to be approximately 6 mm away from the geometrical focus using a 10 cm focal length lens. This optimized distance resulted in the strongest compression ratio of the plasma plume by the reflected shock wave. Furthermore, the duration of the interaction between the reflected shock wave and the plasma plume was also prolonged.

Evolution and sign control of square-wave-like anisotropic magneto-resistance in spatially confined La{sub 0.3}Pr{sub 0.4}Ca{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3}/LaAlO{sub 3}(001) manganite thin films

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alagoz, H. S., E-mail: alagoz@ualberta.ca; Jeon, J.; Keating, S.

2016-04-14

We investigated magneto-transport properties of a compressively strained spatially confined La{sub 0.3}Pr{sub 0.4}Ca{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} (LPCMO) thin film micro-bridge deposited on LaAlO{sub 3}. Angular dependence of the magneto-resistance R(θ) of this bridge, where θ is the angle between the magnetic field and the current directions in the film plane, exhibits sharp positive and negative percolation jumps near T{sub MIT}. The sign and the magnitude of these jumps can be tuned using the magnetic field. Such behavior has not been observed in LPCMO micro-bridges subjected to tensile strain, indicating a correlation between the type of the lattice strain, the distribution ofmore » electronic domains, and the anisotropic magneto-resistance in spatially confined manganite systems.« less

Application of spatially resolved high resolution crystal spectrometry to inertial confinement fusion plasmas.

PubMed

Hill, K W; Bitter, M; Delgado-Aparacio, L; Pablant, N A; Beiersdorfer, P; Schneider, M; Widmann, K; Sanchez del Rio, M; Zhang, L

2012-10-01

High resolution (λ∕Δλ ∼ 10 000) 1D imaging x-ray spectroscopy using a spherically bent crystal and a 2D hybrid pixel array detector is used world wide for Doppler measurements of ion-temperature and plasma flow-velocity profiles in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. Meter sized plasmas are diagnosed with cm spatial resolution and 10 ms time resolution. This concept can also be used as a diagnostic of small sources, such as inertial confinement fusion plasmas and targets on x-ray light source beam lines, with spatial resolution of micrometers, as demonstrated by laboratory experiments using a 250-μm (55)Fe source, and by ray-tracing calculations. Throughput calculations agree with measurements, and predict detector counts in the range 10(-8)-10(-6) times source x-rays, depending on crystal reflectivity and spectrometer geometry. Results of the lab demonstrations, application of the technique to the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and predictions of performance on NIF will be presented.

The role of the interface in germanium quantum dots: when not only size matters for quantum confinement effects.

PubMed

Cosentino, S; Mio, A M; Barbagiovanni, E G; Raciti, R; Bahariqushchi, R; Miritello, M; Nicotra, G; Aydinli, A; Spinella, C; Terrasi, A; Mirabella, S

2015-07-14

Quantum confinement (QC) typically assumes a sharp interface between a nanostructure and its environment, leading to an abrupt change in the potential for confined electrons and holes. When the interface is not ideally sharp and clean, significant deviations from the QC rule appear and other parameters beyond the nanostructure size play a considerable role. In this work we elucidate the role of the interface on QC in Ge quantum dots (QDs) synthesized by rf-magnetron sputtering or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Through a detailed electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) analysis we investigated the structural and chemical properties of QD interfaces. PECVD QDs exhibit a sharper interface compared to sputter ones, which also evidences a larger contribution of mixed Ge-oxide states. Such a difference strongly modifies the QC strength, as experimentally verified by light absorption spectroscopy. A large size-tuning of the optical bandgap and an increase in the oscillator strength occur when the interface is sharp. A spatially dependent effective mass (SPDEM) model is employed to account for the interface difference between Ge QDs, pointing out a larger reduction in the exciton effective mass in the sharper interface case. These results add new insights into the role of interfaces on confined systems, and open the route for reliable exploitation of QC effects.

Improvement of axial excitation confinement in temporal focusing-based multiphoton microscopy via spatially modulated illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Chia-Yuan; Chen, Shean-Jen

2017-02-01

Conventional temporal focusing-based multiphoton excitation microscopy (TFMPEM) can offer widefield optical sectioning with an axial excitation confinement (AEC) of a few microns. Herein, a developed TFMPEM with a digital micromirror device (DMD), acting as the blazed grating for light spatial dispersion and simultaneous patterned illumination, has been extended to implement spatially modulated illumination at structured frequency and orientation. By implementing the spatially modulated illumination, the beam coverage at the back-focal aperture of the objective lens can be increased. As a result, the AEC can be condensed from 3.0 μm to 1.5 μm in full width at half maximum for a 2-fold enhancement. Furthermore, by using HiLo microscopy with two structured illuminations at the same spatial frequency but different orientation, biotissue images according to the structured illumination with condensed AEC is obviously superior in contrast and scattering suppression.

Effects of Interaction Imbalance in a Strongly Repulsive One-Dimensional Bose Gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barfknecht, R. E.; Foerster, A.; Zinner, N. T.

2018-05-01

We calculate the spatial distributions and the dynamics of a few-body two-component strongly interacting Bose gas confined to an effectively one-dimensional trapping potential. We describe the densities for each component in the trap for different interaction and population imbalances. We calculate the time evolution of the system and show that, for a certain ratio of interactions, the minority population travels through the system as an effective wave packet.

Electron confinement at diffuse ZnMgO/ZnO interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coke, Maddison L.; Kennedy, Oscar W.; Sagar, James T.; Warburton, Paul A.

2017-01-01

Abrupt interfaces between ZnMgO and ZnO are strained due to lattice mismatch. This strain is relaxed if there is a gradual incorporation of Mg during growth, resulting in a diffuse interface. This strain relaxation is however accompanied by reduced confinement and enhanced Mg-ion scattering of the confined electrons at the interface. Here we experimentally study the electronic transport properties of the diffuse heteroepitaxial interface between single-crystal ZnO and ZnMgO films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. The spatial extent of the interface region is controlled during growth by varying the zinc flux. We show that, as the spatial extent of the graded interface is reduced, the enhancement of electron mobility due to electron confinement more than compensates for any suppression of mobility due to increased strain. Furthermore, we determine the extent to which scattering of impurities in the ZnO substrate limits the electron mobility in diffuse ZnMgO-ZnO interfaces.

Role of Thickness Confinement on Relaxations of the Fast Component in a Miscible A/B Blend

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Green, Peter; Sharma, Ravi P.; Dong, Ban Xuan

Spatial compositional heterogeneity strongly influences the dynamics of the A and B components of bulk miscible blends. Its effects are especially apparent in mixtures, such as poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME)/polystyrene (PS), where there exist significant disparities between the component glass transition temperatures (Tgs) and relaxation times. The relaxation processes characterized by distinct temperature dependencies and relaxation rates manifest different local compositional environments for temperatures above and below the glass transition temperature of the miscible blend. This same behavior is shown to exist in miscible PS/PVME films as thin as 100 nm. Moreover, in thin films, the characteristic segmental relaxation timesmore » t of the PVME component of miscible PVME/PS blends confined between aluminum (Al) substrates decrease with increasing molecular weight M of the PS component. These relaxation rates are film thickness dependent, in films up to a few hundred nanometers in thickness. This is in remarkable contrast to homopolymer films, where thickness confinement effects are apparent only on length scales on the order of nanometers. These surprisingly large length scales and M dependence are associated with the preferential interfacial enrichment - wetting layer formation - of the PVME component at the external Al interfaces, which alters the local spatial blend composition within the interior of the film. The implications are that the dynamics of miscible thin film blends are dictated in part by component Tg differences, disparities in component relaxation rates, component-substrate interactions, and chain lengths (entropy of mixing).« less

Simulation of ground-water flow in the Prairie du Chien-Jordan and overlying aquifers near the Mississippi River, Fridley, Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindgren, R.J.

1990-01-01

Spatially variable leakage to the confined-drift and St. Peter aquifers in the steady-state simulation for 1885-1930 ranged from 1.0 to 2.3 inches per year. Leakage to the confined-drift and St. Peter aquifers in the steady-state simulation for 1970-79 increased 0 to 3.0 inches per year above the initial steady-state results. This increase represents additional leakage caused by the lowering of hydraulic heads due to ground-water withdrawals. Simulated leakage to the confined-drift and St. Peter aquifers for the transient simulation for 1987 varied both seasonally (0.4 to 2.1 inches per stress period) and spatially (2.6 to 5.7 inches per year). 

Topology of polymer chains under nanoscale confinement.

PubMed

Satarifard, Vahid; Heidari, Maziar; Mashaghi, Samaneh; Tans, Sander J; Ejtehadi, Mohammad Reza; Mashaghi, Alireza

2017-08-24

Spatial confinement limits the conformational space accessible to biomolecules but the implications for bimolecular topology are not yet known. Folded linear biopolymers can be seen as molecular circuits formed by intramolecular contacts. The pairwise arrangement of intra-chain contacts can be categorized as parallel, series or cross, and has been identified as a topological property. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we determine the contact order distributions and topological circuits of short semi-flexible linear and ring polymer chains with a persistence length of l p under a spherical confinement of radius R c . At low values of l p /R c , the entropy of the linear chain leads to the formation of independent contacts along the chain and accordingly, increases the fraction of series topology with respect to other topologies. However, at high l p /R c , the fraction of cross and parallel topologies are enhanced in the chain topological circuits with cross becoming predominant. At an intermediate confining regime, we identify a critical value of l p /R c , at which all topological states have equal probability. Confinement thus equalizes the probability of more complex cross and parallel topologies to the level of the more simple, non-cooperative series topology. Moreover, our topology analysis reveals distinct behaviours for ring- and linear polymers under weak confinement; however, we find no difference between ring- and linear polymers under strong confinement. Under weak confinement, ring polymers adopt parallel and series topologies with equal likelihood, while linear polymers show a higher tendency for series arrangement. The radial distribution analysis of the topology reveals a non-uniform effect of confinement on the topology of polymer chains, thereby imposing more pronounced effects on the core region than on the confinement surface. Additionally, our results reveal that over a wide range of confining radii, loops arranged in parallel and cross topologies have nearly the same contact orders. Such degeneracy implies that the kinetics and transition rates between the topological states cannot be solely explained by contact order. We expect these findings to be of general importance in understanding chaperone assisted protein folding, chromosome architecture, and the evolution of molecular folds.

Anomalous Debye-like dielectric relaxation of water in micro-sized confined polymeric systems.

PubMed

Colosi, C; Costantini, M; Barbetta, A; Cametti, C; Dentini, M

2013-12-14

While it is well known that spatial confinement on a nm scale affects the molecular dynamics of water resulting in a hindered dipolar reorientation, question of whether these effects could result at length scales larger than these, i.e., in confined regions of the order of μm or more, is still under debate. Here we use dielectric relaxation spectroscopy techniques to study the relaxation orientation dynamics of water entrapped in different polymeric matrices with pore sizes of the order of 100 μm, analyzing the frequency relaxation behaviour of the dielectric response. Our results show that, contrary to what has been generally thought, even in confinements which are not particularly high such as those realized here, regions typically hundred micrometers in size can affect the water structure, inducing a water phase with properties different from those of bulk water. In particular, we observe a dielectric dispersion centered in the range 10(5)-10(7) Hz, in between the one characteristic of ice (8.3 kHz at T = 0 °C) and the one of bulk water (19.2 GHz at T = 25 °C). The analysis of the dependence on temperature of the relaxation time of this unexpected contribution rules out the possibility that it can be attributed to an interfacial polarization (Maxwell-Wagner effect) and suggests a dipolar Debye-like origin due to a slow-down of the hydrogen-bonded network orientational polarization. Also at these scales, the confinement alters the structure of water, leading to a hindered reorientation. These properties imply that water confined within these polymeric porous matrices is more ordered than bulk water. These findings may be important in order to understand biological processes in cells and in different biological compartments, where water is physiologically confined.

Effect of molecular shape on rotation under severe confinement

DOE PAGES

Dhiman, Indu; Bhowmik, Debsindhu; Shrestha, Utsab R.; ...

2018-01-31

Orientational structure and dynamics of molecules is known to be affected by confinement in space comparable in size to the molecule itself. ZSM-5 with porous channels of ≈0.55 nm is such a porous medium, which offers a strict spatial confinement on low molecular weight hydrocarbons. An important factor that determines these properties is the shape of the confined molecules. In this work, we employed molecular dynamics simulation to study the orientational structure and dynamics of four molecules that differ in shape but have similar kinetic diameters and moments of inertia, confined in ZSM-5. The effect of molecular shape on themore » orientational structure and dynamics of propane, acetonitrile, acetaldehyde and acetone in ZSM-5 is studied by means of probing the differences in the orientational distribution of molecules in the ZSM-5 channels, and extracting time scales of the decay of correlation functions related to rotational motion. Orientational correlation functions of all the four molecules exhibit two regimes of rotational motion. While the short time regime represents free rotation of the molecules before they collide with the pore walls, the long time orientational jumps driven by inter-channel migrations give rise to a very slow varying second regime. Of the molecules studied, orientational structure and dynamics of propane is found to be least affected by confinement under ZSM-5, whereas charge and shape asymmetry of other molecules makes their interchannel migration-driven rotation slow. The time scales involved in the rotational motion for the molecules studied are compared with similar studies reported in literature. Lastly, this study reveals the important role that molecular shape plays in the behavior of confined molecules.« less

Effect of molecular shape on rotation under severe confinement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dhiman, Indu; Bhowmik, Debsindhu; Shrestha, Utsab R.

Orientational structure and dynamics of molecules is known to be affected by confinement in space comparable in size to the molecule itself. ZSM-5 with porous channels of ≈0.55 nm is such a porous medium, which offers a strict spatial confinement on low molecular weight hydrocarbons. An important factor that determines these properties is the shape of the confined molecules. In this work, we employed molecular dynamics simulation to study the orientational structure and dynamics of four molecules that differ in shape but have similar kinetic diameters and moments of inertia, confined in ZSM-5. The effect of molecular shape on themore » orientational structure and dynamics of propane, acetonitrile, acetaldehyde and acetone in ZSM-5 is studied by means of probing the differences in the orientational distribution of molecules in the ZSM-5 channels, and extracting time scales of the decay of correlation functions related to rotational motion. Orientational correlation functions of all the four molecules exhibit two regimes of rotational motion. While the short time regime represents free rotation of the molecules before they collide with the pore walls, the long time orientational jumps driven by inter-channel migrations give rise to a very slow varying second regime. Of the molecules studied, orientational structure and dynamics of propane is found to be least affected by confinement under ZSM-5, whereas charge and shape asymmetry of other molecules makes their interchannel migration-driven rotation slow. The time scales involved in the rotational motion for the molecules studied are compared with similar studies reported in literature. Lastly, this study reveals the important role that molecular shape plays in the behavior of confined molecules.« less

Quantum confined Stark effects of single dopant in polarized hemispherical quantum dot: Two-dimensional finite difference approach and Ritz-Hassé variation method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El Harouny, El Hassan; Nakra Mohajer, Soukaina; Ibral, Asmaa; El Khamkhami, Jamal; Assaid, El Mahdi

2018-05-01

Eigenvalues equation of hydrogen-like off-center single donor impurity confined in polarized homogeneous hemispherical quantum dot deposited on a wetting layer, capped by insulated matrix and submitted to external uniform electric field is solved in the framework of the effective mass approximation. An infinitely deep potential is used to describe effects of quantum confinement due to conduction band offsets at surfaces where quantum dot and surrounding materials meet. Single donor ground state total and binding energies in presence of electric field are determined via two-dimensional finite difference approach and Ritz-Hassé variation principle. For the latter method, attractive coulomb correlation between electron and ionized single donor is taken into account in the expression of trial wave function. It appears that off-center single dopant binding energy, spatial extension and radial probability density are strongly dependent on hemisphere radius and single dopant position inside quantum dot. Influence of a uniform electric field is also investigated. It shows that Stark effect appears even for very small size dots and that single dopant energy shift is more significant when the single donor is near hemispherical surface.

High quality factor GaAs microcavity with buried bullseye defects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkler, K.; Gregersen, N.; Häyrynen, T.; Bradel, B.; Schade, A.; Emmerling, M.; Kamp, M.; Höfling, S.; Schneider, C.

2018-05-01

The development of high quality factor solid-state microcavities with low mode volumes has paved the way towards on-chip cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments and the development of high-performance nanophotonic devices. Here, we report on the implementation of a new kind of solid-state vertical microcavity, which allows for confinement of the electromagnetic field in the lateral direction without deep etching. The confinement originates from a local elongation of the cavity layer imprinted in a shallow etch and epitaxial overgrowth technique. We show that it is possible to improve the quality factor of such microcavities by a specific in-plane bullseye geometry consisting of a set of concentric rings with subwavelength dimensions. This design results in a smooth effective lateral photonic potential and therefore in a reduction of lateral scattering losses, which makes it highly appealing for experiments in the framework of exciton-polariton physics demanding tight spatial confinement.

Simulation of space-based (GRACE) gravity variations caused by storage changes in large confined and unconfined aquifers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pool, D. R.; Scanlon, B. R.

2017-12-01

There is uncertainty of how storage change in confined and unconfined aquifers would register from space-based platforms, such as the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites. To address this concern, superposition groundwater models (MODFLOW) of equivalent storage change in simplified confined and unconfined aquifers of extent, 500 km2 or approximately 5X5 degrees at mid-latitudes, and uniform transmissivity were constructed. Gravity change resulting from the spatial distribution of aquifer storage change for each aquifer type was calculated at the initial GRACE satellite altitude ( 500 km). To approximate real-world conditions, the confined aquifer includes a small region of unconfined conditions at one margin. A uniform storage coefficient (specific yield) was distributed across the unconfined aquifer. For both cases, storage change was produced by 1 year of groundwater withdrawal from identical aquifer-centered well distributions followed by decades of no withdrawal and redistribution of the initial storage loss toward a new steady-state condition. The transient simulated storage loss includes equivalent volumes for both conceptualizations, but spatial distributions differ because of the contrasting aquifer diffusivity (Transmissivity/Storativity). Much higher diffusivity in the confined aquifer results in more rapid storage redistribution across a much larger area than for the unconfined aquifer. After the 1 year of withdrawals, the two simulated storage loss distributions are primarily limited to small regions within the model extent. Gravity change after 1 year observed at the satellite altitude is similar for both aquifers including maximum gravity reductions that are coincident with the aquifer center. With time, the maximum gravity reduction for the confined aquifer case shifts toward the aquifer margin as much as 200 km because of increased storage loss in the unconfined region. Results of the exercise indicate that GRACE observations are largely insensitive to confined or unconfined conditions for most aquifers. Lateral shifts in storage change with time in confined aquifers could be resolved by space-based gravity missions with durations of decades and improved spatial resolution, 1 degree or less ( 100 km), over the GRACE resolution of 3 degrees ( 300 km).

Resonant tunneling structures based on epitaxial graphene on SiC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, V. Hung; Bournel, A.; Dollfus, P.

2011-12-01

Recently some experiments have suggested that graphene epitaxially grown on SiC can exhibit an energy bandgap of 260 meV, which enhances the potential of this material for electronic applications. On this basis, we propose to use spatial doping to generate graphene-on-SiC double-barrier structures. The non-equilibrium Green's function technique for solving the massive Dirac model is applied to highlight typical transport phenomena such as the electron confinement and the resonant tunneling effects. The I-V characteristics of graphene resonant tunneling diodes were then investigated and the effect of different device parameters was discussed. It is finally shown that this kind of double-barrier junction provides an efficient way to confine the charge carriers in graphene and to design graphene resonant tunneling structures.

Linear and nonlinear magneto-optical properties of an off-center single dopant in a spherical core/shell quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feddi, E.; Talbi, A.; Mora-Ramos, M. E.; El Haouari, M.; Dujardin, F.; Duque, C. A.

2017-11-01

Using the effective mass approximation and a variational procedure, we have investigated the nonlinear optical absorption coefficient and the relative refractive index changes associated to a single dopant confined in core/shell quantum dots considering the influences of the core/shell dimensions, externally applied magnetic field, and dielectric mismatch. The results show that the optical absorption coefficient and the coefficients of relative refractive index change depend strongly on the core/shell sizes and they are blue shifted when the spatial confinement increases so this effect is magnified by higher structural dimensions. Additionally, it is obtained that both studied optical properties are sensitive to the dielectric environment in such a way that their amplitudes are very affected by the local field corrections.

Motor-mediated Cortical versus Astral Microtubule Organization in Lipid-monolayered Droplets

PubMed Central

Baumann, Hella; Surrey, Thomas

2014-01-01

The correct spatial organization of microtubules is of crucial importance for determining the internal architecture of eukaryotic cells. Microtubules are arranged in space by a multitude of biochemical activities and by spatial constraints imposed by the cell boundary. The principles underlying the establishment of distinct intracellular architectures are only poorly understood. Here, we studied the effect of spatial confinement on the self-organization of purified motors and microtubules that are encapsulated in lipid-monolayered droplets in oil, varying in diameter from 5–100 μm, which covers the size range of typical cell bodies. We found that droplet size alone had a major organizing influence. The presence of a microtubule-crosslinking motor protein decreased the number of accessible types of microtubule organizations. Depending on the degree of spatial confinement, the presence of the motor caused either the formation of a cortical array of bent microtubule bundles or the generation of single microtubule asters in the droplets. These are two of the most prominent forms of microtubule arrangements in plant and metazoan cells. Our results provide insights into the combined organizing influence of spatial constraints and cross-linking motor activities determining distinct microtubule architectures in a minimal biomimetic system. In the future, this simple lipid-monolayered droplet system characterized here can be expanded readily to include further biochemical activities or used as the starting point for the investigation of motor-mediated microtubule organization inside liposomes surrounded by a deformable lipid bilayer. PMID:24966327

A Microfluidics and Agent-Based Modeling Framework for Investigating Spatial Organization in Bacterial Colonies: The Case of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and H1-Type VI Secretion Interactions

DOE PAGES

Wilmoth, Jared L.; Doak, Peter W.; Timm, Andrea; ...

2018-02-06

The factors leading to changes in the organization of microbial assemblages at fine spatial scales are not well characterized or understood. However, they are expected to guide the succession of community development and function toward specific outcomes that could impact human health and the environment. In this study, we put forward a combined experimental and agent-based modeling framework and use it to interpret unique spatial organization patterns of H1-Type VI secretion system (T6SS) mutants of P. aeruginosa under spatial confinement. We find that key parameters, such as T6SS-mediated cell contact and lysis, spatial localization, relative species abundance, cell density andmore » local concentrations of growth substrates and metabolites are influenced by spatial confinement. The model, written in the accessible programming language NetLogo, can be adapted to a variety of biological systems of interest and used to simulate experiments across a broad parameter space. It was implemented and run in a high-throughput mode by deploying it across multiple CPUs, with each simulation representing an individual well within a high-throughput microwell array experimental platform. The microfluidics and agent-based modeling framework we present in this paper provides an effective means by which to connect experimental studies in microbiology to model development. The work demonstrates progress in coupling experimental results to simulation while also highlighting potential sources of discrepancies between real-world experiments and idealized models.« less

A Microfluidics and Agent-Based Modeling Framework for Investigating Spatial Organization in Bacterial Colonies: The Case of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and H1-Type VI Secretion Interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilmoth, Jared L.; Doak, Peter W.; Timm, Andrea

The factors leading to changes in the organization of microbial assemblages at fine spatial scales are not well characterized or understood. However, they are expected to guide the succession of community development and function toward specific outcomes that could impact human health and the environment. In this study, we put forward a combined experimental and agent-based modeling framework and use it to interpret unique spatial organization patterns of H1-Type VI secretion system (T6SS) mutants of P. aeruginosa under spatial confinement. We find that key parameters, such as T6SS-mediated cell contact and lysis, spatial localization, relative species abundance, cell density andmore » local concentrations of growth substrates and metabolites are influenced by spatial confinement. The model, written in the accessible programming language NetLogo, can be adapted to a variety of biological systems of interest and used to simulate experiments across a broad parameter space. It was implemented and run in a high-throughput mode by deploying it across multiple CPUs, with each simulation representing an individual well within a high-throughput microwell array experimental platform. The microfluidics and agent-based modeling framework we present in this paper provides an effective means by which to connect experimental studies in microbiology to model development. The work demonstrates progress in coupling experimental results to simulation while also highlighting potential sources of discrepancies between real-world experiments and idealized models.« less

Time resolved interferometric study of the plasma plume induced shock wave in confined geometry: Two-dimensional mapping of the ambient and plasma density

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choudhury, Kaushik; Singh, R. K.; Kumar, Ajai, E-mail: ajai@ipr.res.in

2016-04-15

An experimental investigation of the laser produced plasma induced shock wave in the presence of confining walls placed along the axial as well as the lateral direction has been performed. A time resolved Mach Zehnder interferometer is set up to track the primary as well as the reflected shock waves and its effect on the evolving plasma plume has been studied. An attempt has been made to discriminate the electronic and medium density contributions towards the changes in the refractive index of the medium. Two dimensional spatial distributions for both ambient medium density and plasma density (electron density) have beenmore » obtained by employing customised inversion technique and algorithm on the recorded interferograms. The observed density pattern of the surrounding medium in the presence of confining walls is correlated with the reflected shock wave propagation in the medium. Further, the shock wave plasma interaction and the subsequent changes in the shape and density of the plasma plume in confined geometry are briefly described.« less

An open access microfluidic device for the study of the physical limits of cancer cell deformation during migration in confined environments.

PubMed

Malboubi, Majid; Jayo, Asier; Parsons, Maddy; Charras, Guillaume

2015-08-16

During metastasis, cancerous cells leave the primary tumour, pass into the circulatory system, and invade into new tissues. To migrate through the wide variety of environments they encounter, the cells must be able to remodel their cell shape efficiently to squeeze through small gaps in the extracellular matrix or extravasate into the blood stream or lymphatic system. Several studies have shown that the nucleus is the main limiting factor to migration through small gaps (Wolf et al., 2013; Harada et al., 2014; Mak et al., 2013). To understand the physical limits of cancer cell translocation in confined environments, we have fabricated a microfluidic device to study their ability to adapt their nuclear and cellular shape when passing through small gaps. The device is open access for ease of use and enables examination of the effect of different levels of spatial confinement on cell behaviour and morphology simultaneously. The results show that increasing cell confinement decreases the ability of cells to translocate into small gaps and that cells cannot penetrate into the microchannels below a threshold cross-section.

Propagating confined states in phase dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brand, Helmut R.; Deissler, Robert J.

1992-01-01

Theoretical treatment is given to the possibility of the existence of propagating confined states in the nonlinear phase equation by generalizing stationary confined states. The nonlinear phase equation is set forth for the case of propagating patterns with long wavelengths and low-frequency modulation. A large range of parameter values is shown to exist for propagating confined states which have spatially localized regions which travel on a background with unique wavelengths. The theoretical phenomena are shown to correspond to such physical systems as spirals in Taylor instabilities, traveling waves in convective systems, and slot-convection phenomena for binary fluid mixtures.

PLASMA DEVICE

DOEpatents

Gow, J.D.; Wilcox, J.M.

1961-12-26

A device is designed for producing and confining highenergy plasma from which neutrons are generated in copious quantities. A rotating sheath of electrons is established in a radial electric field and axial magnetic field produced within the device. The electron sheath serves as a strong ionizing medium to gas introdueed thereto and also functions as an extremely effective heating mechanism to the resulting plasma. In addition, improved confinement of the plasma is obtained by ring magnetic mirror fields produced at the ends of the device. Such ring mirror fields are defined by the magnetic field lines at the ends of the device diverging radially outward from the axis of the device and thereafter converging at spatial annular surfaces disposed concentrically thereabout. (AFC)

Micro/nanofabricated environments for synthetic biology.

PubMed

Collier, C Patrick; Simpson, Michael L

2011-08-01

A better understanding of how confinement, crowding and reduced dimensionality modulate reactivity and reaction dynamics will aid in the rational and systematic discovery of functionality in complex biological systems. Artificial microfabricated and nanofabricated structures have helped elucidate the effects of nanoscale spatial confinement and segregation on biological behavior, particularly when integrated with microfluidics, through precise control in both space and time of diffusible signals and binding interactions. Examples of nanostructured interfaces for synthetic biology include the development of cell-like compartments for encapsulating biochemical reactions, nanostructured environments for fundamental studies of diffusion, molecular transport and biochemical reaction kinetics, and regulation of biomolecular interactions as functions of microfabricated and nanofabricated topological constraints. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mitotic cells contract actomyosin cortex and generate pressure to round against or escape epithelial confinement

PubMed Central

Sorce, Barbara; Escobedo, Carlos; Toyoda, Yusuke; Stewart, Martin P.; Cattin, Cedric J.; Newton, Richard; Banerjee, Indranil; Stettler, Alexander; Roska, Botond; Eaton, Suzanne; Hyman, Anthony A.; Hierlemann, Andreas; Müller, Daniel J.

2015-01-01

Little is known about how mitotic cells round against epithelial confinement. Here, we engineer micropillar arrays that subject cells to lateral mechanical confinement similar to that experienced in epithelia. If generating sufficient force to deform the pillars, rounding epithelial (MDCK) cells can create space to divide. However, if mitotic cells cannot create sufficient space, their rounding force, which is generated by actomyosin contraction and hydrostatic pressure, pushes the cell out of confinement. After conducting mitosis in an unperturbed manner, both daughter cells return to the confinement of the pillars. Cells that cannot round against nor escape confinement cannot orient their mitotic spindles and more likely undergo apoptosis. The results highlight how spatially constrained epithelial cells prepare for mitosis: either they are strong enough to round up or they must escape. The ability to escape from confinement and reintegrate after mitosis appears to be a basic property of epithelial cells. PMID:26602832

Mitotic cells contract actomyosin cortex and generate pressure to round against or escape epithelial confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorce, Barbara; Escobedo, Carlos; Toyoda, Yusuke; Stewart, Martin P.; Cattin, Cedric J.; Newton, Richard; Banerjee, Indranil; Stettler, Alexander; Roska, Botond; Eaton, Suzanne; Hyman, Anthony A.; Hierlemann, Andreas; Müller, Daniel J.

2015-11-01

Little is known about how mitotic cells round against epithelial confinement. Here, we engineer micropillar arrays that subject cells to lateral mechanical confinement similar to that experienced in epithelia. If generating sufficient force to deform the pillars, rounding epithelial (MDCK) cells can create space to divide. However, if mitotic cells cannot create sufficient space, their rounding force, which is generated by actomyosin contraction and hydrostatic pressure, pushes the cell out of confinement. After conducting mitosis in an unperturbed manner, both daughter cells return to the confinement of the pillars. Cells that cannot round against nor escape confinement cannot orient their mitotic spindles and more likely undergo apoptosis. The results highlight how spatially constrained epithelial cells prepare for mitosis: either they are strong enough to round up or they must escape. The ability to escape from confinement and reintegrate after mitosis appears to be a basic property of epithelial cells.

Demonstration of Confined Electron Gas and Steep-Slope Behavior in Delta-Doped GaAs-AlGaAs Core-Shell Nanowire Transistors.

PubMed

Morkötter, S; Jeon, N; Rudolph, D; Loitsch, B; Spirkoska, D; Hoffmann, E; Döblinger, M; Matich, S; Finley, J J; Lauhon, L J; Abstreiter, G; Koblmüller, G

2015-05-13

Strong surface and impurity scattering in III-V semiconductor-based nanowires (NW) degrade the performance of electronic devices, requiring refined concepts for controlling charge carrier conductivity. Here, we demonstrate remote Si delta (δ)-doping of radial GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell NWs that unambiguously exhibit a strongly confined electron gas with enhanced low-temperature field-effect mobilities up to 5 × 10(3) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). The spatial separation between the high-mobility free electron gas at the NW core-shell interface and the Si dopants in the shell is directly verified by atom probe tomographic (APT) analysis, band-profile calculations, and transport characterization in advanced field-effect transistor (FET) geometries, demonstrating powerful control over the free electron gas density and conductivity. Multigated NW-FETs allow us to spatially resolve channel width- and crystal phase-dependent variations in electron gas density and mobility along single NW-FETs. Notably, dc output and transfer characteristics of these n-type depletion mode NW-FETs reveal excellent drain current saturation and record low subthreshold slopes of 70 mV/dec at on/off ratios >10(4)-10(5) at room temperature.

Photonic spin Hall effect in hyperbolic metamaterials for polarization-controlled routing of subwavelength modes.

PubMed

Kapitanova, Polina V; Ginzburg, Pavel; Rodríguez-Fortuño, Francisco J; Filonov, Dmitry S; Voroshilov, Pavel M; Belov, Pavel A; Poddubny, Alexander N; Kivshar, Yuri S; Wurtz, Gregory A; Zayats, Anatoly V

2014-01-01

The routing of light in a deep subwavelength regime enables a variety of important applications in photonics, quantum information technologies, imaging and biosensing. Here we describe and experimentally demonstrate the selective excitation of spatially confined, subwavelength electromagnetic modes in anisotropic metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion. A localized, circularly polarized emitter placed at the boundary of a hyperbolic metamaterial is shown to excite extraordinary waves propagating in a prescribed direction controlled by the polarization handedness. Thus, a metamaterial slab acts as an extremely broadband, nearly ideal polarization beam splitter for circularly polarized light. We perform a proof of concept experiment with a uniaxial hyperbolic metamaterial at radio-frequencies revealing the directional routing effect and strong subwavelength λ/300 confinement. The proposed concept of metamaterial-based subwavelength interconnection and polarization-controlled signal routing is based on the photonic spin Hall effect and may serve as an ultimate platform for either conventional or quantum electromagnetic signal processing.

Population dynamics, information transfer, and spatial organization in a chemical reaction network under spatial confinement and crowding conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellesia, Giovanni; Bales, Benjamin B.

2016-10-01

We investigate, via Brownian dynamics simulations, the reaction dynamics of a generic, nonlinear chemical network under spatial confinement and crowding conditions. In detail, the Willamowski-Rossler chemical reaction system has been "extended" and considered as a prototype reaction-diffusion system. Our results are potentially relevant to a number of open problems in biophysics and biochemistry, such as the synthesis of primitive cellular units (protocells) and the definition of their role in the chemical origin of life and the characterization of vesicle-mediated drug delivery processes. More generally, the computational approach presented in this work makes the case for the use of spatial stochastic simulation methods for the study of biochemical networks in vivo where the "well-mixed" approximation is invalid and both thermal and intrinsic fluctuations linked to the possible presence of molecular species in low number copies cannot be averaged out.

Measurements of Turbulent Transport of Fast Ions in the LAPD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Boehmer, H.; Heidbrink, W. W.; McWilliams, R.; Zhao, L.; Carter, T.; Leneman, D.; Vincena, S.

2004-11-01

Understanding the spatial transport induced by fluctuations is important to the confinement of magnetized plasmas. The paradox of fast ions being much better confined than thermal ions, i.e. the effective diffusion coefficient of fast ions being much smaller than that of thermal ions, has been observed experimentally [1], explained theoretically [2], and analyzed by simulations [3]. Gyroradius averaging and drift averaging are two predicted effects that are responsible for reduced fast-ion transport. Our goal is to quantitatively confirm these effects and make further exploration by measuring fast-ion transport as a function of gyroradius in the LArge Plasma Device (LAPD) plasma with well-characterized background fluctuations. A 3D gridded analyzer is used to measure the spatial profile of the beam produced by an ion gun launching 500 eV Argon ions [4]. Strong drift wave fluctuations are generated by inserting a disk into the center of the plasma. First results will be presented. [1] W. Heidbrink, G. Sadler, Nucl. Fusion, Vol. 34, p. 535 (1994); [2] P. C. Efthimion et al., Plasma Phys. and Cont. Nucl. Fusion Res., Vol. 1, p. 307 (1988); [3] G. Manfredi, R. Dendy, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, p. 4360 (1996); [4] H. Boehmer et al. , Rev. Sci. Instrum. , Vol. 75, p. 1013 (2002)

Polarization Shaping for Control of Nonlinear Propagation.

PubMed

Bouchard, Frédéric; Larocque, Hugo; Yao, Alison M; Travis, Christopher; De Leon, Israel; Rubano, Andrea; Karimi, Ebrahim; Oppo, Gian-Luca; Boyd, Robert W

2016-12-02

We study the nonlinear optical propagation of two different classes of light beams with space-varying polarization-radially symmetric vector beams and Poincaré beams with lemon and star topologies-in a rubidium vapor cell. Unlike Laguerre-Gauss and other types of beams that quickly experience instabilities, we observe that their propagation is not marked by beam breakup while still exhibiting traits such as nonlinear confinement and self-focusing. Our results suggest that, by tailoring the spatial structure of the polarization, the effects of nonlinear propagation can be effectively controlled. These findings provide a novel approach to transport high-power light beams in nonlinear media with controllable distortions to their spatial structure and polarization properties.

Constraint Embedding for Multibody System Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jain, Abhinandan

2009-01-01

This paper describes a constraint embedding approach for the handling of local closure constraints in multibody system dynamics. The approach uses spatial operator techniques to eliminate local-loop constraints from the system and effectively convert the system into tree-topology systems. This approach allows the direct derivation of recursive O(N) techniques for solving the system dynamics and avoiding the expensive steps that would otherwise be required for handling the closedchain dynamics. The approach is very effective for systems where the constraints are confined to small-subgraphs within the system topology. The paper provides background on the spatial operator O(N) algorithms, the extensions for handling embedded constraints, and concludes with some examples of such constraints.

Rolled-up Functionalized Nanomembranes as Three-Dimensional Cavities for Single Cell Studies

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

We use micropatterning and strain engineering to encapsulate single living mammalian cells into transparent tubular architectures consisting of three-dimensional (3D) rolled-up nanomembranes. By using optical microscopy, we demonstrate that these structures are suitable for the scrutiny of cellular dynamics within confined 3D-microenvironments. We show that spatial confinement of mitotic mammalian cells inside tubular architectures can perturb metaphase plate formation, delay mitotic progression, and cause chromosomal instability in both a transformed and nontransformed human cell line. These findings could provide important clues into how spatial constraints dictate cellular behavior and function. PMID:24598026

Local regulation of interchange turbulence in a dipole-confined plasma torus using current-collection feedback

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberts, T. M., E-mail: tmr2122@columbia.edu; Mauel, M. E., E-mail: mauel@columbia.edu; Worstell, M. W.

2015-05-15

Turbulence in plasma confined by a magnetic dipole is dominated by interchange fluctuations with complex dynamics and short spatial coherence. We report the first use of local current-collection feedback to modify, amplify, and suppress these fluctuations. The spatial extent of turbulence regulation is limited to a correlation length near the collector. Changing the gain and phase of collection results in power either extracted from or injected into the turbulence. The measured plasma response shows some agreement with calculations of the linear response of global interchange-like MHD and entropy modes to current-collection feedback.

Efficient Optical Energy Harvesting in Self-Accelerating Beams

PubMed Central

Bongiovanni, Domenico; Hu, Yi; Wetzel, Benjamin; Robles, Raul A.; Mendoza González, Gregorio; Marti-Panameño, Erwin A.; Chen, Zhigang; Morandotti, Roberto

2015-01-01

We report the experimental observation of energetically confined self-accelerating optical beams propagating along various convex trajectories. We show that, under an appropriate transverse compression of their spatial spectra, these self-accelerating beams can exhibit a dramatic enhancement of their peak intensity and a significant decrease of their transverse expansion, yet retaining both the expected acceleration profile and the intrinsic self-healing properties. We found our experimental results to be in excellent agreement with the numerical simulations. We expect further applications in such contexts where power budget and optimal spatial confinement can be important limiting factors. PMID:26299360

One-dimensional Tamm plasmons: Spatial confinement, propagation, and polarization properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chestnov, I. Yu.; Sedov, E. S.; Kutrovskaya, S. V.; Kucherik, A. O.; Arakelian, S. M.; Kavokin, A. V.

2017-12-01

Tamm plasmons are confined optical states at the interface of a metal and a dielectric Bragg mirror. Unlike conventional surface plasmons, Tamm plasmons may be directly excited by an external light source in both TE and TM polarizations. Here we consider the one-dimensional propagation of Tamm plasmons under long and narrow metallic stripes deposited on top of a semiconductor Bragg mirror. The spatial confinement of the field imposed by the stripe and its impact on the structure and energy of Tamm modes are investigated. We show that the Tamm modes are coupled to surface plasmons arising at the stripe edges. These plasmons form an interference pattern close to the bottom surface of the stripe that involves modification of both the energy and loss rate for the Tamm mode. This phenomenon is pronounced only in the case of TE polarization of the Tamm mode. These findings pave the way to application of laterally confined Tamm plasmons in optical integrated circuits as well as to engineering potential traps for both Tamm modes and hybrid modes of Tamm plasmons and exciton polaritons with meV depth.

Targeted Recovery as an Effective Strategy against Epidemic Spreading.

PubMed

Böttcher, L; Andrade, J S; Herrmann, H J

2017-10-30

We propose a targeted intervention protocol where recovery is restricted to individuals that have the least number of infected neighbours. Our recovery strategy is highly efficient on any kind of network, since epidemic outbreaks are minimal when compared to the baseline scenario of spontaneous recovery. In the case of spatially embedded networks, we find that an epidemic stays strongly spatially confined with a characteristic length scale undergoing a random walk. We demonstrate numerically and analytically that this dynamics leads to an epidemic spot with a flat surface structure and a radius that grows linearly with the spreading rate.

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics and the transport phenomena in magnetically confined plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balescu, R.

1987-09-01

The neoclassical theory of transport in magnetically confined plasmas is reviewed. The emphasis is laid on a set of relationships existing among the banana transport coefficients. The surface-averaged entropy production in such plasmas is evaluated. It is shown that neoclassical effects emerge from the entropy production due to parallel transport processes. The Pfirsch-Schlueter effect can be clearly interpreted as due to spatial fluctuations of parallel fluxes on a magnetic surface: the corresponding entropy production is the measure of these fluctuations. The banana fluxes can be formulated in a quasithermodynamic form in which the average entropy production is a bilinear formmore » in the parallel fluxes and the conjugate generalized stresses. A formulation as a quadratic form in the thermodynamic forces is also possible, but leads to anomalies, which are discussed in some detail.« less

Effect of Hydration and Confinement on Micro-Structure of Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate Gels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gadde, Harish Kumar

Calcium-silicate-hydrate(C-S-H) gel is a primary nano-crystalline phase present in hydrated Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) responsible for its strength and creep behavior. Our reliance on cement for infrastructure is global, and there is a need to improve infrastructure life-times. A way forward is to engineer the cement with more durability and long-term strength. The main purpose of this research is to quantify the micro-structure of C-S-H to see if cement can be engineered at various length scales to improve long-term behavior by spatial arrangement. We investigate the micro-structure evolution of C-S-H in cement as a function of hydration time and confinement. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) were used to quantify the material and spatial properties of C-S-H as a function of hydration time. The data obtained from these experiments was used to identify C-S-H phases in cement sample. Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis of HD C-S-H phase with different hydration times was done at Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, beamline 11-ID-B. Only nonlinear trends in the atomic ordering of C-S-H gel as a function of hydration time were observed. Solid state 29Si Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was used to quantify the effect of confinement on two types of C-S-H: white cement C-S-H and synthetic C-S-H. NMR spectra revealed that there is no significant difference in the structure of C-S-H due to confinement when compared with unconfined C-S-H. It is also found that there is significant difference in the Si environments of these two types of C-S-H. Though it does seem possible to engineer the cement on atomic scales, all these studies reveal that engineering cement on such a scale requires a more statistically accurate understanding of intricate structure of C-S-H than is currently available.

Soft matter in hard confinement: phase transition thermodynamics, structure, texture, diffusion and flow in nanoporous media.

PubMed

Huber, Patrick

2015-03-18

Spatial confinement in nanoporous media affects the structure, thermodynamics and mobility of molecular soft matter often markedly. This article reviews thermodynamic equilibrium phenomena, such as physisorption, capillary condensation, crystallisation, self-diffusion, and structural phase transitions as well as selected aspects of the emerging field of spatially confined, non-equilibrium physics, i.e. the rheology of liquids, capillarity-driven flow phenomena, and imbibition front broadening in nanoporous materials. The observations in the nanoscale systems are related to the corresponding bulk phenomenologies. The complexity of the confined molecular species is varied from simple building blocks, like noble gas atoms, normal alkanes and alcohols to liquid crystals, polymers, ionic liquids, proteins and water. Mostly, experiments with mesoporous solids of alumina, gold, carbon, silica, and silicon with pore diameters ranging from a few up to 50 nm are presented. The observed peculiarities of nanopore-confined condensed matter are also discussed with regard to applications. A particular emphasis is put on texture formation upon crystallisation in nanoporous media, a topic both of high fundamental interest and of increasing nanotechnological importance, e.g. for the synthesis of organic/inorganic hybrid materials by melt infiltration, the usage of nanoporous solids in crystal nucleation or in template-assisted electrochemical deposition of nano structures.

Soft matter in hard confinement: phase transition thermodynamics, structure, texture, diffusion and flow in nanoporous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huber, Patrick

2015-03-01

Spatial confinement in nanoporous media affects the structure, thermodynamics and mobility of molecular soft matter often markedly. This article reviews thermodynamic equilibrium phenomena, such as physisorption, capillary condensation, crystallisation, self-diffusion, and structural phase transitions as well as selected aspects of the emerging field of spatially confined, non-equilibrium physics, i.e. the rheology of liquids, capillarity-driven flow phenomena, and imbibition front broadening in nanoporous materials. The observations in the nanoscale systems are related to the corresponding bulk phenomenologies. The complexity of the confined molecular species is varied from simple building blocks, like noble gas atoms, normal alkanes and alcohols to liquid crystals, polymers, ionic liquids, proteins and water. Mostly, experiments with mesoporous solids of alumina, gold, carbon, silica, and silicon with pore diameters ranging from a few up to 50 nm are presented. The observed peculiarities of nanopore-confined condensed matter are also discussed with regard to applications. A particular emphasis is put on texture formation upon crystallisation in nanoporous media, a topic both of high fundamental interest and of increasing nanotechnological importance, e.g. for the synthesis of organic/inorganic hybrid materials by melt infiltration, the usage of nanoporous solids in crystal nucleation or in template-assisted electrochemical deposition of nano structures.

Simultaneous observation of the quantization and the interference pattern of a plasmonic near-field

DOE PAGES

Piazza, L.; Lummen, T. T. A.; Quiñonez, E.; ...

2015-03-02

Surface plasmon polaritons can confine electromagnetic fields in subwavelength spaces and are of interest for photonics, optical data storage devices and biosensing applications. In analogy to photons, they exhibit wave–particle duality, whose different aspects have recently been observed in separate tailored experiments. Here we demonstrate the ability of ultrafast transmission electron microscopy to simultaneously image both the spatial interference and the quantization of such confined plasmonic fields. Our experiments are accomplished by spatiotemporally overlapping electron and light pulses on a single nanowire suspended on a graphene film. The resulting energy exchange between single electrons and the quanta of the photoinducedmore » near-field is imaged synchronously with its spatial interference pattern. In conclusion, this methodology enables the control and visualization of plasmonic fields at the nanoscale, providing a promising tool for understanding the fundamental properties of confined electromagnetic fields and the development of advanced photonic circuits.« less

Simultaneous observation of the quantization and the interference pattern of a plasmonic near-field

PubMed Central

Piazza, L; Lummen, T.T.A.; Quiñonez, E; Murooka, Y; Reed, B.W.; Barwick, B; Carbone, F

2015-01-01

Surface plasmon polaritons can confine electromagnetic fields in subwavelength spaces and are of interest for photonics, optical data storage devices and biosensing applications. In analogy to photons, they exhibit wave–particle duality, whose different aspects have recently been observed in separate tailored experiments. Here we demonstrate the ability of ultrafast transmission electron microscopy to simultaneously image both the spatial interference and the quantization of such confined plasmonic fields. Our experiments are accomplished by spatiotemporally overlapping electron and light pulses on a single nanowire suspended on a graphene film. The resulting energy exchange between single electrons and the quanta of the photoinduced near-field is imaged synchronously with its spatial interference pattern. This methodology enables the control and visualization of plasmonic fields at the nanoscale, providing a promising tool for understanding the fundamental properties of confined electromagnetic fields and the development of advanced photonic circuits. PMID:25728197

Interaction between confined phonons and photons in periodic silicon resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iskandar, A.; Gwiazda, A.; Younes, J.; Kazan, M.; Bruyant, A.; Tabbal, M.; Lerondel, G.

2018-03-01

In this paper, we demonstrate that phonons and photons of different momenta can be confined and interact with each other within the same nanostructure. The interaction between confined phonons and confined photons in silicon resonator arrays is observed by means of Raman scattering. The Raman spectra from large arrays of dielectric silicon resonators exhibited Raman enhancement accompanied with a downshift and broadening. The analysis of the Raman intensity and line shape using finite-difference time-domain simulations and a spatial correlation model demonstrated an interaction between photons confined in the resonators and phonons confined in highly defective regions prompted by the structuring process. It was shown that the Raman enhancement is due to collective lattice resonance inducing field confinement in the resonators, while the spectra downshift and broadening are signatures of the relaxation of the phonon wave vector due to phonon confinement in defective regions located in the surface layer of the Si resonators. We found that as the resonators increase in height and their shape becomes cylindrical, the amplitude of their coherent oscillation increases and hence their ability to confine the incoming electric field increases.

Thickness of the Mississippi River Valley confining unit, eastern Arkansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gonthier, Gerard; Mahon, Gary L.

1993-01-01

Concern arose in the late 1980s over the vulnerability of the Mississippi Valley alluvial aquifer to contamination from potential surface sources related to pesticide or fertilizer use, industrial activity, landfills, or livestock operations. In 1990 a study was begun to locate areas in Arkansas where the groundwater flow system is susceptible to contamination by surface contaminants. As a part of that effort, the thickness of the clay confining unit overlying the alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas was mapped. The study area included all or parts of 27 counties in eastern Arkansas that are underlain by the alluvial aquifer and its overlying confining unit. A database of well attributes was compiled based on data from driller's logs and from published data and stored in computer files. A confining-unit thickness map was created from the driller's-log database using geographic information systems technology. A computer program was then used to contour the data. Where the confining unit is present, it ranges in thickness from 0 feet in many locations in the study area to 140 feet in northeastern Greene County and can vary substantially over short distances. Although general trends in the thickness of the confining unit are apparent, the thickness has great spatial variability. An apparent relation exists between thickness of the confining unit and spatial variability in thickness. In areas where the thickness of the confining unit is 40 feet or less, such as in Clay, eastern Craighead, northwestern Mississippi, and Woodruff Counties, thickness of the unit tends robe more uniform than in areas where the thickness of the unit generally exceeds 40 feet, such as in Arkansas, Lonoke, and Prairie Counties. At some sites the confining unit is very thick compared to its thickness in the immediate surrounding area. Locations of abandoned Mississippi River meander channels generally coincide with location of locally thick confining unit. Deposition of the confining unit onto the coarser alluvial aquifer deposits has reduced the relief of the land surface. Hence, the altitude of the top of the alluvial aquifer varies more than the altitude of the land surface and is indicative of a depositional setting.

Lack of visual field asymmetries for spatial cueing in reading parafoveal Chinese characters.

PubMed

Luo, Chunming; Dell'Acqua, Roberto; Proctor, Robert W; Li, Xingshan

2015-12-01

In two experiments, we investigated whether visual field (VF) asymmetries of spatial cueing are involved in reading parafoveal Chinese characters. These characters are different from linearly arranged alphabetic words in that they are logograms that are confined to a constant, square-shaped area and are composed of only a few radicals. We observed a cueing effect, but it did not vary with the VF in which the Chinese character was presented, regardless of whether the cue validity (the ratio of validly to invalidly cued targets) was 1:1 or 7:3. These results suggest that VF asymmetries of spatial cueing do not affect the reading of parafoveal Chinese characters, contrary to the reading of alphabetic words. The mechanisms of spatial attention in reading parafoveal English-like words and Chinese characters are discussed.

Spatial filter with volume gratings for high-peak-power multistage laser amplifiers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Yi-zhou; Yang, Yi-sheng; Zheng, Guang-wei; Shen, Ben-jian; Pan, Heng-yue; Liu, Li

2010-08-01

The regular spatial filters comprised of lens and pinhole are essential component in high power laser systems, such as lasers for inertial confinement fusion, nonlinear optical technology and directed-energy weapon. On the other hand the pinhole is treated as a bottleneck of high power laser due to harmful plasma created by the focusing beam. In this paper we present a spatial filter based on angular selectivity of Bragg diffraction grating to avoid the harmful focusing effect in the traditional pinhole filter. A spatial filter consisted of volume phase gratings in two-pass amplifier cavity were reported. Two-dimensional filter was proposed by using single Pi-phase-shifted Bragg grating, numerical simulation results shown that its angular spectrum bandwidth can be less than 160urad. The angular selectivity of photo-thermorefractive glass and RUGATE film filters, construction stability, thermal stability and the effects of misalignments of gratings on the diffraction efficiencies under high-pulse-energy laser operating condition are discussed.

Interactions between space-based and feature-based attention.

PubMed

Leonard, Carly J; Balestreri, Angela; Luck, Steven J

2015-02-01

Although early research suggested that attention to nonspatial features (i.e., red) was confined to stimuli appearing at an attended spatial location, more recent research has emphasized the global nature of feature-based attention. For example, a distractor sharing a target feature may capture attention even if it occurs at a task-irrelevant location. Such findings have been used to argue that feature-based attention operates independently of spatial attention. However, feature-based attention may nonetheless interact with spatial attention, yielding larger feature-based effects at attended locations than at unattended locations. The present study tested this possibility. In 2 experiments, participants viewed a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream and identified a target letter defined by its color. Target-colored distractors were presented at various task-irrelevant locations during the RSVP stream. We found that feature-driven attentional capture effects were largest when the target-colored distractor was closer to the attended location. These results demonstrate that spatial attention modulates the strength of feature-based attention capture, calling into question the prior evidence that feature-based attention operates in a global manner that is independent of spatial attention.

Emergence of chaos in a spatially confined reactive system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voorsluijs, Valérie; De Decker, Yannick

2016-11-01

In spatially restricted media, interactions between particles and local fluctuations of density can lead to important deviations of the dynamics from the unconfined, deterministic picture. In this context, we investigated how molecular crowding can affect the emergence of chaos in small reactive systems. We developed to this end an amended version of the Willamowski-Rössler model, where we account for the impenetrability of the reactive species. We analyzed the deterministic kinetics of this model and studied it with spatially-extended stochastic simulations in which the mobility of particles is included explicitly. We show that homogeneous fluctuations can lead to a destruction of chaos through a fluctuation-induced collision between chaotic trajectories and absorbing states. However, an interplay between the size of the system and the mobility of particles can counterbalance this effect so that chaos can indeed be found when particles diffuse slowly. This unexpected effect can be traced back to the emergence of spatial correlations which strongly affect the dynamics. The mobility of particles effectively acts as a new bifurcation parameter, enabling the system to switch from stationary states to absorbing states, oscillations or chaos.

Plasmon-Exciton Interactions Probed Using Spatial Coentrapment of Nanoparticles by Topological Singularities.

PubMed

Ackerman, Paul J; Mundoor, Haridas; Smalyukh, Ivan I; van de Lagemaat, Jao

2015-12-22

We study plasmon-exciton interaction by using topological singularities to spatially confine, selectively deliver, cotrap and optically probe colloidal semiconductor and plasmonic nanoparticles. The interaction is monitored in a single quantum system in the bulk of a liquid crystal medium where nanoparticles are manipulated and nanoconfined far from dielectric interfaces using laser tweezers and topological configurations containing singularities. When quantum dot-in-a-rod particles are spatially colocated with a plasmonic gold nanoburst particle in a topological singularity core, its fluorescence increases because blinking is significantly suppressed and the radiative decay rate increases by nearly an order of magnitude owing to the Purcell effect. We argue that the blinking suppression is the result of the radiative rate change that mitigates Auger recombination and quantum dot ionization, consequently reducing nonradiative recombination. Our work demonstrates that topological singularities are an effective platform for studying and controlling plasmon-exciton interactions.

Plasmon–Exciton Interactions Probed Using Spatial Coentrapment of Nanoparticles by Topological Singularities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ackerman, Paul J.; Mundoor, Haridas; Smalyukh, Ivan I.

2015-12-22

We study plasmon-exciton interaction by using topological singularities to spatially confine, selectively deliver, cotrap and optically probe colloidal semiconductor and plasmonic nanoparticles. The interaction is monitored in a single quantum system in the bulk of a liquid crystal medium where nanoparticles are manipulated and nanoconfined far from dielectric interfaces using laser tweezers and topological configurations containing singularities. When quantum dot-in-a-rod particles are spatially colocated with a plasmonic gold nanoburst particle in a topological singularity core, its fluorescence increases because blinking is significantly suppressed and the radiative decay rate increases by nearly an order of magnitude owing to the Purcell effect.more » We argue that the blinking suppression is the result of the radiative rate change that mitigates Auger recombination and quantum dot ionization, consequently reducing nonradiative recombination. Our work demonstrates that topological singularities are an effective platform for studying and controlling plasmon-exciton interactions.« less

Path-integral formalism for stochastic resetting: Exactly solved examples and shortcuts to confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roldán, Édgar; Gupta, Shamik

2017-08-01

We study the dynamics of overdamped Brownian particles diffusing in conservative force fields and undergoing stochastic resetting to a given location at a generic space-dependent rate of resetting. We present a systematic approach involving path integrals and elements of renewal theory that allows us to derive analytical expressions for a variety of statistics of the dynamics such as (i) the propagator prior to first reset, (ii) the distribution of the first-reset time, and (iii) the spatial distribution of the particle at long times. We apply our approach to several representative and hitherto unexplored examples of resetting dynamics. A particularly interesting example for which we find analytical expressions for the statistics of resetting is that of a Brownian particle trapped in a harmonic potential with a rate of resetting that depends on the instantaneous energy of the particle. We find that using energy-dependent resetting processes is more effective in achieving spatial confinement of Brownian particles on a faster time scale than performing quenches of parameters of the harmonic potential.

Effects of spatially engineered Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in ferromagnetic films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulkers, Jeroen; Van Waeyenberge, Bartel; Milošević, Milorad V.

2017-04-01

The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is a chiral interaction that favors formation of domain walls. Recent experiments and ab initio calculations show that there are multiple ways to modify the strength of the interfacially induced DMI in thin ferromagnetic films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. In this paper we reveal theoretically the effects of spatially varied DMI on the magnetic state in thin films. In such heterochiral 2D structures we report several emergent phenomena, ranging from the equilibrium spin canting at the interface between regions with different DMI, over particularly strong confinement of domain walls and skyrmions within high-DMI tracks, to advanced applications such as domain tailoring nearly at will, design of magnonic waveguides, and much improved skyrmion racetrack memory.

Crossover between two- and three-dimensional turbulence in spatial mixing layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biancofiore, Luca

2016-11-01

We investigate how the domain depth affects the turbulent behaviour in spatially developing mixing layers by means of large-eddy simulations (LES) based on a spectral vanishing viscosity technique. Analyses of spectra of the vertical velocity, of Lumley's diagrams, of the turbulent kinetic energy and of the vortex stretching show that a two-dimensional behaviour of the turbulence is promoted in spatial mixing layers by constricting the fluid motion in one direction. This finding is in agreement with previous works on turbulent systems constrained by a geometric anisotropy, pioneered by Smith, Chasnov & Waleffe. We observe that the growth of the momentum thickness along the streamwise direction is damped in a confined domain. A full two-dimensional turbulent behaviour is observed when the momentum thickness is of the same order of magnitude as the confining scale.

Modification of turbulence and turbulent transport associated with a confinement transition in LAPD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, Troy

2009-11-01

Azimuthal flow is driven in the edge of the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) through biasing a section of the vacuum vessel relative to the plasma source cathode. As the applied bias exceeds a threshold, a transition in radial particle confinement is observed, evidenced by a dramatic steepening in the density profile, similar to the L- to H-mode transition in toroidal confinement devices. The threshold behavior and dynamic behavior of radial transport is related to flow penetration and the degree of spatial overlap between the flow shear and density gradient profiles. An investigation of the changes in turbulence and turbulent particle transport associated with the confinement transition is presented. Two-dimensional cross-correlation measurements show that the spatial coherence of edge turbulence in LAPD changes significantly with biasing. The azimuthal correlation in the turbulence increases dramatically, while the radial correlation length is little altered. Turbulent amplitude is reduced at the transition, particularly in electric field fluctuations, but the dominant change observed is in the cross-phase between density and electric field fluctuations. The changes in cross-phase lead to a suppression and then apparent reversal of turbulent particle flux as the threshold is exceeded.

Thermal behaviour of nanofluids confined in nanochannels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Frank, Michael, E-mail: d.drikakis@cranfield.ac.uk; Drikakis, Dimitris, E-mail: d.drikakis@cranfield.ac.uk; Asproulis, Nikolaos, E-mail: d.drikakis@cranfield.ac.uk

2015-02-17

This work investigates the effect of spatial restriction on the thermal properties of nanofluids. Using Molecular Dynamics simulations, a Copper-Argon nanofluid is restricted within idealized walls. The thermal conductivity of the suspension is calculated using the Green-Kubo relations and is correlated with the volume fraction of the copper particles within the system as well as the channel width. The thermal conductivity is further broken down into its individual components in the three dimensions, revealing anisotropy between the directions parallel and normal to the channel walls. The observed thermodynamic patterns are justified by considering how the spatial restriction affects the liquidmore » structure around the nanoparticle.« less

Investigation of the spatial distribution of second-order nonlinearity in thermally poled optical fibers.

PubMed

An, Honglin; Fleming, Simon

2005-05-02

The spatial distribution of second-order nonlinearity in thermally poled optical fibers was characterized by second-harmonic microscopy. The second-order nonlinearity was found to be confined to a thin layer close to the anode surface and progressed further into the silica as the poling time increased. Position uncertainty of the anode metal wire was observed to have an effect, as the nonlinear layers were found not always symmetrically located around the nearest points between the anode and cathode. Optical microscopy results were obtained on etched poled fiber cross-sections and compared with those from second-harmonic microscopy.

Catalytic conversion in nanoporous materials: Concentration oscillations and spatial correlations due to inhibited transport and intermolecular interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garcia, Andres; Evans, James W.

2016-11-03

We show that steady-state catalytic conversion in nanoporous materials can occur in a quasi-counter-diffusion mode with the reactant (product) concentration strongly decaying (growing) into the pore, but also with oscillations in the total concentration. These oscillations reflect the response of the fluid to the transition from an extended to a confined environment near the pore opening. We focus on the regime of strongly inhibited transport in narrow pores corresponding to single-file diffusion. Here, limited penetration of the reactant into the pores and the associated low reaction yield is impacted by strong spatial correlations induced by both reaction (non-equilibrium correlations) andmore » also by intermolecular interactions (thermodynamic correlations). We develop a generalized hydrodynamic formulation to effectively describe inhibited transport accounting for the effect of these correlations, and incorporate this description of transport into appropriate reaction-diffusion equations. These equations accurately describe both shorter-range concentration oscillations near the pore opening and the longer-range mesoscale variation of concentration profiles in the pore (and thus also describe reaction yield). Success of the analytic theory is validated by comparison with a precise kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of an appropriate molecular-level stochastic reaction-diffusion model. As a result, this work elucidates unconventional chemical kinetics in interacting confined systems.« less

Refraction-enhanced backlit imaging of axially symmetric inertial confinement fusion plasmas.

PubMed

Koch, Jeffrey A; Landen, Otto L; Suter, Laurence J; Masse, Laurent P; Clark, Daniel S; Ross, James S; Mackinnon, Andrew J; Meezan, Nathan B; Thomas, Cliff A; Ping, Yuan

2013-05-20

X-ray backlit radiographs of dense plasma shells can be significantly altered by refraction of x rays that would otherwise travel straight-ray paths, and this effect can be a powerful tool for diagnosing the spatial structure of the plasma being radiographed. We explore the conditions under which refraction effects may be observed, and we use analytical and numerical approaches to quantify these effects for one-dimensional radial opacity and density profiles characteristic of inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) implosions. We also show how analytical and numerical approaches allow approximate radial plasma opacity and density profiles to be inferred from point-projection refraction-enhanced radiography data. This imaging technique can provide unique data on electron density profiles in ICF plasmas that cannot be obtained using other techniques, and the uniform illumination provided by point-like x-ray backlighters eliminates a significant source of uncertainty in inferences of plasma opacity profiles from area-backlit pinhole imaging data when the backlight spatial profile cannot be independently characterized. The technique is particularly suited to in-flight radiography of imploding low-opacity shells surrounding hydrogen ice, because refraction is sensitive to the electron density of the hydrogen plasma even when it is invisible to absorption radiography. It may also provide an alternative approach to timing shockwaves created by the implosion drive, that are currently invisible to absorption radiography.

Modes in light wave propagating in semiconductor laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manko, Margarita A.

1994-01-01

The study of semiconductor laser based on an analogy of the Schrodinger equation and an equation describing light wave propagation in nonhomogeneous medium is developed. The active region of semiconductor laser is considered as optical waveguide confining the electromagnetic field in the cross-section (x,y) and allowing waveguide propagation along the laser resonator (z). The mode structure is investigated taking into account the transversal and what is the important part of the suggested consideration longitudinal nonhomogeneity of the optical waveguide. It is shown that the Gaussian modes in the case correspond to spatial squeezing and correlation. Spatially squeezed two-mode structure of nonhomogeneous optical waveguide is given explicitly. Distribution of light among the laser discrete modes is presented. Properties of the spatially squeezed two-mode field are described. The analog of Franck-Condon principle for finding the maxima of the distribution function and the analog of Ramsauer effect for control of spatial distribution of laser emission are discussed.

The Virginia Coastal Plain Hydrogeologic Framework

USGS Publications Warehouse

McFarland, Randolph E.; Scott, Bruce T.

2006-01-01

A refined descriptive hydrogeologic framework of the Coastal Plain of eastern Virginia provides a new perspective on the regional ground-water system by incorporating recent understanding gained by discovery of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and determination of other geological relations. The seaward-thickening wedge of extensive, eastward-dipping strata of largely unconsolidated sediments is classified into a series of 19 hydrogeologic units, based on interpretations of geophysical logs and allied descriptions and analyses from a regional network of 403 boreholes. Potomac aquifer sediments of Early Cretaceous age form the primary ground-water supply resource. The Potomac aquifer is designated as a single aquifer because the fine-grained interbeds, which are spatially highly variable and inherently discontinuous, are not sufficiently dense across a continuous expanse to act as regional barriers to ground-water flow. Part of the Potomac aquifer in the outer part of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater consists of megablock beds, which are relatively undeformed internally but are bounded by widely separated faults. The Potomac aquifer is entirely truncated across the inner part of the crater. The Potomac confining zone approximates a transition from the Potomac aquifer to overlying hydrogeologic units. New or revised designations of sediments of Late Cretaceous age that are present only south of the James River include the upper Cenomanian confining unit, the Virginia Beach aquifer and confining zone, and the Peedee aquifer and confining zone. The Virginia Beach aquifer is a locally important ground-water supply resource. Sediments of late Paleocene to early Eocene age that compose the Aquia aquifer and overlying Nanjemoy-Marlboro confining unit are truncated along the margin of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater. Sediments of late Eocene age compose three newly designated confining units within the crater, which are from bottom to top, the impact-generated Exmore clast and Exmore matrix confining units, and the Chickahominy confining unit. Piney Point aquifer sediments of early Eocene to middle Miocene age overlie most of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and beyond, but are a locally significant ground-water supply resource only outside of the crater across the middle reaches of the Northern Neck, Middle, and York-James Peninsulas. Sediments of middle Miocene to late Miocene age that compose the Calvert confining unit and overlying Saint Marys confining unit effectively separate the underlying Piney Point aquifer and deeper aquifers from overlying shallow aquifers. Saint Marys aquifer sediments of late Miocene age separate the Calvert and Saint Marys confining units across two limited areas only. Sediments of the Yorktown-Eastover aquifer of late Miocene to late Pliocene age form the second most heavily used ground-water supply resource. The Yorktown confining zone approximates a transition to the overlying late Pliocene to Holocene sediments of the surficial aquifer, which extends across the entire land surface in the Virginia Coastal Plain and is a moderately used supply. The Yorktown-Eastover aquifer and the eastern part of the surficial aquifer are closely associated across complex and extensive hydraulic connections and jointly compose a shallow, generally semiconfined ground-water system that is hydraulically separated from the deeper system. Vertical faults extend from the basement upward through most of the hydrogeologic units but may be more widespread and ubiquitous than recognized herein, because areas of sparse boreholes do not provide adequate spatial control. Hydraulic conductivity probably is decreased locally by disruption of depositional intergranular structure by fault movement in the generally incompetent sediments. Localized fluid flow in open fractures may be unique in the Chickahominy confining unit. Some hydrogeologic units are partly to wholly truncated where displacements are large rela

Frequency domain, time-resolved and spectroscopic investigations of photosensitizers encapsulated in liposomal phantoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mermut, Ozzy; Bouchard, Jean-Pierre; Cormier, Jean-Francois; Diamond, Kevin R.; Noiseux, Isabelle; Vernon, Marcia L.; Patterson, Michael S.

2007-07-01

A broadband frequency domain fluorescence lifetime system (from ns to ms time scale) has been developed to study the photochemical and photodynamic behavior of model, well-controlled photosensitizer-encapsulating liposomes. Liposomes are known to be efficient and selective photosensitizer (PS) drug delivery vesicles, however, their chemical and physical effects on the photochemical properties of the photosensitizer have not been well characterized. The liposomes employed in this study (both blank and photosensitizer-complexed) were characterized to determine their: a) size distribution (dynamic light scattering), b) image (scanning electron microscope, confocal fluorescence microscopy), c) concentration of particles (flow cytometry), d) temperature-dependant phase transition behavior (differential scanning calorimetry, and e) spectrofluorescent spectrophotometric properties, e.g. aggregation, in the confined environment. The fluorescence decay behavior of two families of encapsulated photosensitizers, di-and tetrasulfonated metallophthalocyanines, and 2-(1-hexyloxyethyl)-2-devinyl pyropheophorbide (HPPH), has been examined as a function of the liposome's physical properties (size-scale, distribution and concentration of scatterer) and the impact of the photosensitizer spatial confinement determined. It is found that the achievable size range and distribution of the PS-liposomes is controlled by the chemical nature of the PS for large liposomes (1000 nm), and is PS independent for small PS-liposomes (~140nm). The lifetime decay behavior was studied for all three photosensitizer-liposome systems and compared before and after confinement. We found the nature of the decay to be similar before and after encapsulation for the sulfonated phthalocyanines containing ionic moieties (primarily monoexponential) but not for HPPH. In the latter, the decay transitioned from multi- to monoexponential decay upon localizing lypophilic HPPH to the liposomal membrane. This behavior was confirmed by obtaining a similar change in lifetime response with an independent timedomain system. We also varied the environment in temperature and oxygen content to examine the effects on the fluorescent lifetimes of the liposomal complexes. The fluorescence decay of all three PS-containing liposomes showed that the local spatial confinement of PS (dictated by the PS chemistry) into different domains within the liposome directly controls the temperature-response. Membrane-bound photosensitizers were less sensitive to temperature effects as illustrated by the decay dynamics observed in solu, that is, they developed a unique decay behavior that correlated with the phase transition of the membrane. The fluorescent lifetime of PS-encapsulated liposomes in deoxygenated environments, relevant to oxygen independent type I phototoxicity, was also probed in the frequency-domain revealing that liposome-confined PS display very different trends than those observed in solu.

Quantum Hall signatures of dipolar Mahan excitons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schinner, G. J.; Repp, J.; Kowalik-Seidl, K.; Schubert, E.; Stallhofer, M. P.; Rai, A. K.; Reuter, D.; Wieck, A. D.; Govorov, A. O.; Holleitner, A. W.; Kotthaus, J. P.

2013-01-01

We explore the photoluminescence of spatially indirect, dipolar Mahan excitons in a gated double quantum well diode containing a mesoscopic electrostatic trap for neutral dipolar excitons at low temperatures down to 250 mK and in quantizing magnetic fields. Mahan excitons in the surrounding of the trap, consisting of individual holes interacting with a degenerate two-dimensional electron system confined in one of the quantum wells, exhibit strong quantum Hall signatures at integer filling factors and related anomalies around filling factor ν=(2)/(3),(3)/(5), and (1)/(2), reflecting the formation of composite fermions. Interactions across the trap perimeter are found to influence the energy of the confined neutral dipolar excitons by the presence of the quantum Hall effects in the two-dimensional electron system surrounding the trap.

Laser-launched flyer plate and confined laser ablation for shock wave loading: validation and applications.

PubMed

Paisley, Dennis L; Luo, Sheng-Nian; Greenfield, Scott R; Koskelo, Aaron C

2008-02-01

We present validation and some applications of two laser-driven shock wave loading techniques: laser-launched flyer plate and confined laser ablation. We characterize the flyer plate during flight and the dynamically loaded target with temporally and spatially resolved diagnostics. With transient imaging displacement interferometry, we demonstrate that the planarity (bow and tilt) of the loading induced by a spatially shaped laser pulse is within 2-7 mrad (with an average of 4+/-1 mrad), similar to that in conventional techniques including gas gun loading. Plasma heating of target is negligible, in particular, when a plasma shield is adopted. For flyer plate loading, supported shock waves can be achieved. Temporal shaping of the drive pulse in confined laser ablation allows for flexible loading, e.g., quasi-isentropic, Taylor-wave, and off-Hugoniot loading. These techniques can be utilized to investigate such dynamic responses of materials as Hugoniot elastic limit, plasticity, spall, shock roughness, equation of state, phase transition, and metallurgical characteristics of shock-recovered samples.

Chemical morphogenesis: recent experimental advances in reaction–diffusion system design and control

PubMed Central

Szalai, István; Cuiñas, Daniel; Takács, Nándor; Horváth, Judit; De Kepper, Patrick

2012-01-01

In his seminal 1952 paper, Alan Turing predicted that diffusion could spontaneously drive an initially uniform solution of reacting chemicals to develop stable spatially periodic concentration patterns. It took nearly 40 years before the first two unquestionable experimental demonstrations of such reaction–diffusion patterns could be made in isothermal single phase reaction systems. The number of these examples stagnated for nearly 20 years. We recently proposed a design method that made their number increase to six in less than 3 years. In this report, we formally justify our original semi-empirical method and support the approach with numerical simulations based on a simple but realistic kinetic model. To retain a number of basic properties of real spatial reactors but keep calculations to a minimal complexity, we introduce a new way to collapse the confined spatial direction of these reactors. Contrary to similar reduced descriptions, we take into account the effect of the geometric size in the confinement direction and the influence of the differences in the diffusion coefficient on exchange rates of species with their feed environment. We experimentally support the method by the observation of stationary patterns in red-ox reactions not based on oxihalogen chemistry. Emphasis is also brought on how one of these new systems can process different initial conditions and memorize them in the form of localized patterns of different geometries. PMID:23919126

Calculations of spin-polarized Goos-Hänchen displacement in magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit couplings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Mao-Wang; Chen, Sai-Yan; Zhang, Gui-Lian; Huang, Xin-Hong

2018-04-01

We theoretically investigate Goos-Hänchen (GH) displacement by modelling the spin transport in an archetypal device structure—a magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Both Rashba and Dresselhaus SOCs are taken into account. The degree of spin-polarized GH displacement can be tuned by Rashba or Dresselhaus SOC, i.e. interfacial confining electric field or strain engineering. Based on such a semiconductor nanostructure, a controllable spatial spin splitter can be proposed for spintronics applications.

Calculations of spin-polarized Goos-Hänchen displacement in magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit couplings.

PubMed

Lu, Mao-Wang; Chen, Sai-Yan; Zhang, Gui-Lian; Huang, Xin-Hong

2018-04-11

We theoretically investigate Goos-Hänchen (GH) displacement by modelling the spin transport in an archetypal device structure-a magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga 1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Both Rashba and Dresselhaus SOCs are taken into account. The degree of spin-polarized GH displacement can be tuned by Rashba or Dresselhaus SOC, i.e. interfacial confining electric field or strain engineering. Based on such a semiconductor nanostructure, a controllable spatial spin splitter can be proposed for spintronics applications.

Mott glass from localization and confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, Yang-Zhi; Nandkishore, Rahul M.; Radzihovsky, Leo

2018-05-01

We study a system of fermions in one spatial dimension with linearly confining interactions and short-range disorder. We focus on the zero-temperature properties of this system, which we characterize using bosonization and the Gaussian variational method. We compute the static compressibility and ac conductivity, and thereby demonstrate that the system is incompressible, but exhibits gapless optical conductivity. This corresponds to a "Mott glass" state, distinct from an Anderson and a fully gapped Mott insulator, arising due to the interplay of disorder and charge confinement. We argue that this Mott glass phenomenology should persist to nonzero temperatures.

Characterization of injected aluminum oxide nanoparticle clouds in an rf discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krüger, Harald; Killer, Carsten; Schütt, Stefan; Melzer, André

2018-02-01

An experimental setup to deagglomerate and insert nanoparticles into a radio frequency discharge has been developed to confine defined aluminum oxide nanoparticles in a dusty plasma. For the confined particle clouds we have measured the spatially resolved in situ size and density distributions. Implementing the whole plasma chamber into the sample volume of an FTIR spectrometer the infrared spectrum of the confined aluminum oxide nanoparticles has been obtained. We have investigated the dependency of the absorbance of the nanoparticles in terms of plasma power, pressure and cloud shape. The particles’ infrared phonon resonance has been identified.

Computational micromechanics of dynamic compressive loading of a brittle polycrystalline material using a distribution of grain boundary properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraft, R. H.; Molinari, J. F.; Ramesh, K. T.; Warner, D. H.

A two-dimensional finite element model is used to investigate compressive loading of a brittle ceramic. Intergranular cracking in the microstructure is captured explicitly by using a distribution of cohesive interfaces. The addition of confining stress increases the maximum strength and if high enough, can allow the effective material response to reach large strains before failure. Increasing the friction at the grain boundaries also increases the maximum strength until saturation of the strength is approached. Above a transitional strain rate, increasing the rate-of-deformation also increases the strength and as the strain rate increases, fragment sizes of the damaged specimen decrease. The effects of flaws within the specimen were investigated using a random distribution at various initial flaw densities. The model is able to capture an effective modulus change and degradation of strength as the initial flaw density increases. Effects of confinement, friction, and spatial distribution of flaws seem to depend on the crack coalescence and dilatation of the specimen, while strain-rate effects are result of inertial resistance to motion.

Spatio-temporal Theory of Lasing Action in Optically-Pumped Rotationally Excited Molecular Gases

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-11

17. A. E. Siegman , Lasers (Univ. Science Books, 1986). 18. R. Bansal (ed.), Handbook of Engineering Electromagnetics (Marcel Dekker, Inc., 2004). 19... laser emission from optically-pumped rota- tionally excited molecular gases confined in a metallic cavity. To this end, we have developed a...the operation of this class of lasers . The effect on the main lasing features of the spatial variation of the electric field intensity and the ohmic

Slow light enhanced optical nonlinearity in a silicon photonic crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguide.

PubMed

Matsuda, Nobuyuki; Kato, Takumi; Harada, Ken-Ichi; Takesue, Hiroki; Kuramochi, Eiichi; Taniyama, Hideaki; Notomi, Masaya

2011-10-10

We demonstrate highly enhanced optical nonlinearity in a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW) in a four-wave mixing experiment. Using a CROW consisting of 200 coupled resonators based on width-modulated photonic crystal nanocavities in a line defect, we obtained an effective nonlinear constant exceeding 10,000 /W/m, thanks to slow light propagation combined with a strong spatial confinement of light achieved by the wavelength-sized cavities.

Evolution of Space Dependent Growth in the Teleost Astyanax mexicanus

PubMed Central

Gallo, Natalya D.; Jeffery, William R.

2012-01-01

The relationship between growth rate and environmental space is an unresolved issue in teleosts. While it is known from aquaculture studies that stocking density has a negative relationship to growth, the underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated, primarily because the growth rate of populations rather than individual fish were the subject of all previous studies. Here we investigate this problem in the teleost Astyanax mexicanus, which consists of a sighted surface-dwelling form (surface fish) and several blind cave-dwelling (cavefish) forms. Surface fish and cavefish are distinguished by living in spatially contrasting environments and therefore are excellent models to study the effects of environmental size on growth. Multiple controlled growth experiments with individual fish raised in confined or unconfined spaces showed that environmental size has a major impact on growth rate in surface fish, a trait we have termed space dependent growth (SDG). In contrast, SDG has regressed to different degrees in the Pachón and Tinaja populations of cavefish. Mating experiments between surface and Pachón cavefish show that SDG is inherited as a dominant trait and is controlled by multiple genetic factors. Despite its regression in blind cavefish, SDG is not affected when sighted surface fish are raised in darkness, indicating that vision is not required to perceive and react to environmental space. Analysis of plasma cortisol levels showed that an elevation above basal levels occurred soon after surface fish were exposed to confined space. This initial cortisol peak was absent in Pachón cavefish, suggesting that the effects of confined space on growth may be mediated partly through a stress response. We conclude that Astyanax reacts to confined spaces by exhibiting SDG, which has a genetic component and shows evolutionary regression during adaptation of cavefish to confined environments. PMID:22870223

Stationary solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation modeling three-dimensional spherical Bose-Einstein condensates in general potentials.

PubMed

Mallory, Kristina; Van Gorder, Robert A

2015-07-01

Stationary solutions for the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation modeling Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) confined in three spatial dimensions by general forms of a potential are studied through a perturbation method and also numerically. Note that we study both repulsive and attractive BECs under similar frameworks in order to deduce the effects of the potentials in each case. After outlining the general framework, solutions for a collection of specific confining potentials of physical relevance to experiments on BECs are provided in order to demonstrate the approach. We make several observations regarding the influence of the particular potentials on the behavior of the BECs in these cases, comparing and contrasting the qualitative behavior of the attractive and repulsive BECs for potentials of various strengths and forms. Finally, we consider the nonperturbative where the potential or the amplitude of the solutions is large, obtaining various qualitative results. When the kinetic energy term is small (relative to the nonlinearity and the confining potential), we recover the expected Thomas-Fermi approximation for the stationary solutions. Naturally, this also occurs in the large mass limit. Through all of these results, we are able to understand the qualitative behavior of spherical three-dimensional BECs in weak, intermediate, or strong confining potentials.

NMR investigation of gaseous SF6 confinement into EPDM rubber.

PubMed

Neutzler, Sven; Terekhov, Maxim; Hoepfel, Dieter; Oellrich, Lothar Rainer

2005-02-01

The confinement process of gaseous sulphurhexafluoride (SF6) in ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) rubber was investigated by spectroscopic and spatially resolved NMR techniques. A strong elongation of T1 relaxation time of SF6 and a decrease of the diffusion coefficient were found. A possible explanation may be the strong restriction of molecular mobility due to interactions between SF6 and active centers of the EPDM.

Is attention confined to one word at a time? The spatial distribution of parafoveal preview benefits during reading.

PubMed

Wang, Chin-An; Inhoff, Albrecht W; Radach, Ralph

2009-10-01

Eye movements were recorded while participants read declarative sentences. Each sentence contained a critical three-word sequence with a three-letter target word (n), a spatially adjacent post-target word (n+1), and a subsequent nonadjacent post-target word (n+2). The parafoveal previews of words n and n+2 were manipulated so that they were either fully visible or masked until they were fixated. The results revealed longer word n and word n+1 viewing durations when word n had been masked in the parafovea, and this occurred irrespective of whether the target was skipped or fixated. Furthermore, masking of word n diminished the usefulness of the preview of word n+2. These results indicate that the effect of a parafoveally available target preview was not strictly localized. Instead, it influenced target viewing and the viewing of the two subsequent words in the text. These results are difficult to reconcile with the assumption that attention is confined to one word at a time until that word is recognized and that attention is then shifted from the recognized word to the next.

Surface and finite size effect on fluctuations dynamics in nanoparticles with long-range order

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morozovska, A. N.; Eliseev, E. A.

2010-02-01

The influence of surface and finite size on the dynamics of the order parameter fluctuations and critical phenomena in the three-dimensional (3D)-confined systems with long-range order was not considered theoretically. In this paper, we study the influence of surface and finite size on the dynamics of the order parameter fluctuations in the particles of arbitrary shape. We consider concrete examples of the spherical and cylindrical ferroic nanoparticles within Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenological approach. Allowing for the strong surface energy contribution in micro and nanoparticles, the analytical expressions derived for the Ornstein-Zernike correlator of the long-range order parameter spatial-temporal fluctuations, dynamic generalized susceptibility, relaxation times, and correlation radii discrete spectra are different from those known for bulk systems. Obtained analytical expressions for the correlation function of the order parameter spatial-temporal fluctuations in micro and nanosized systems can be useful for the quantitative analysis of the dynamical structural factors determined from magnetic resonance diffraction and scattering spectra. Besides the practical importance of the correlation function for the analysis of the experimental data, derived expressions for the fluctuations strength determine the fundamental limits of phenomenological theories applicability for 3D-confined systems.

Spatial resolution measurements of the advanced radiographic capability x-ray imaging system at energies relevant to Compton radiography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hall, G. N.; Izumi, N.; Landen, O. L.

2016-08-03

Compton radiography provides a means to measure the integrity, ρR and symmetry of the DT fuel in an inertial confinement fusion implosion near peak compression. Upcoming experiments at the National Ignition Facility will use the ARC (Advanced Radiography Capability) laser to drive backlighter sources for Compton radiography experiments, and will use the newly commissioned AXIS (ARC X-ray Imaging System) instrument as the detector. AXIS uses a dual-MCP (micro channel plate) to provide gating and high DQE at the 40–200keV x-ray range required for Compton radiography, but introduces many effects that contribute to the spatial resolution. Here, experiments were performed atmore » energies relevant to Compton radiography to begin characterization of the spatial resolution of the AXIS diagnostic.« less

Early Life Manipulations Alter Learning and Memory in Rats

PubMed Central

Kosten, Therese A; Kim, Jeansok J; Lee, Hongjoo J.

2012-01-01

Much research shows early life manipulations have enduring behavioral, neural, and hormonal effects. However, findings of learning and memory performance vary widely across studies. We reviewed studies in which pre-weaning rat pups were exposed to stressors and tested on learning and memory tasks in adulthood. Tasks were classified as aversive conditioning, inhibitory learning, or spatial/relational memory. Variables of duration, type, and timing of neonatal manipulation and sex and strain of animals were examined to determine if any predict enhanced or impaired performance. Brief separations enhanced and prolonged separations impaired performance on spatial/relational tasks. Performance was impaired in aversive conditioning and enhanced in inhibitory learning tasks regardless of manipulation duration. Opposing effects on performance for spatial/relational memory also depended upon timing of manipulation. Enhanced performance was likely if the manipulation occurred during postnatal week 3 but performance was impaired if it was confined to the first two postnatal weeks. Thus, the relationship between early life experiences and adulthood learning and memory performance is multifaceted and decidedly task-dependent. PMID:22819985

Wave function for time-dependent harmonically confined electrons in a time-dependent electric field.

PubMed

Li, Yu-Qi; Pan, Xiao-Yin; Sahni, Viraht

2013-09-21

The many-body wave function of a system of interacting particles confined by a time-dependent harmonic potential and perturbed by a time-dependent spatially homogeneous electric field is derived via the Feynman path-integral method. The wave function is comprised of a phase factor times the solution to the unperturbed time-dependent Schrödinger equation with the latter being translated by a time-dependent value that satisfies the classical driven equation of motion. The wave function reduces to that of the Harmonic Potential Theorem wave function for the case of the time-independent harmonic confining potential.

Anomalous Ground State of the Electrons in Nano-confined Water

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-13

confined water system, Nafion, is so different from that of bulk water that the weakly electrostatically interacting molecule model of water is clearly...assume that water is made up molecules weakly interacting(on the scale of the zero point bond energy~.2eV) electrostatically with its neighbors2-3. In an...not possible for a collection of molecules interacting weakly electrostatically . These changes in the spatial distribution of valence electrons in

Surface Plasmon-Mediated Nanoscale Localization of Laser-Driven sub-Terahertz Spin Dynamics in Magnetic Dielectrics.

PubMed

Chekhov, Alexander L; Stognij, Alexander I; Satoh, Takuya; Murzina, Tatiana V; Razdolski, Ilya; Stupakiewicz, Andrzej

2018-05-09

We report spatial localization of the effective magnetic field generated via the inverse Faraday effect employing surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at Au/garnet interface. Analyzing both numerically and analytically the electric field of the SPPs at this interface, we corroborate our study with a proof-of-concept experiment showing efficient SPP-driven excitation of coherent spin precession with 0.41 THz frequency. We argue that the subdiffractional confinement of the SPP electric field enables strong spatial localization of the SPP-mediated excitation of spin dynamics. We demonstrate two orders of magnitude enhancement of the excitation efficiency at the surface plasmon resonance within a 100 nm layer of a dielectric garnet. Our findings broaden the horizons of ultrafast spin-plasmonics and open pathways toward nonthermal opto-magnetic recording on the nanoscale.

Ultrasensitivity by Molecular Titration in Spatially Propagating Enzymatic Reactions

PubMed Central

Semenov, Sergey N.; Markvoort, Albert J.; Gevers, Wouter B.L.; Piruska, Aigars; de Greef, Tom F.A.; Huck, Wilhelm T.S.

2013-01-01

Delineating design principles of biological systems by reconstitution of purified components offers a platform to gauge the influence of critical physicochemical parameters on minimal biological systems of reduced complexity. Here we unravel the effect of strong reversible inhibitors on the spatiotemporal propagation of enzymatic reactions in a confined environment in vitro. We use micropatterned, enzyme-laden agarose gels which are stamped on polyacrylamide films containing immobilized substrates and reversible inhibitors. Quantitative fluorescence imaging combined with detailed numerical simulations of the reaction-diffusion process reveal that a shallow gradient of enzyme is converted into a steep product gradient by addition of strong inhibitors, consistent with a mathematical model of molecular titration. The results confirm that ultrasensitive and threshold effects at the molecular level can convert a graded input signal to a steep spatial response at macroscopic length scales. PMID:23972857

Thermal noise in confined fluids.

PubMed

Sanghi, T; Aluru, N R

2014-11-07

In this work, we discuss a combined memory function equation (MFE) and generalized Langevin equation (GLE) approach (referred to as MFE/GLE formulation) to characterize thermal noise in confined fluids. Our study reveals that for fluids confined inside nanoscale geometries, the correlation time and the time decay of the autocorrelation function of the thermal noise are not significantly different across the confinement. We show that it is the strong cross-correlation of the mean force with the molecular velocity that gives rise to the spatial anisotropy in the velocity-autocorrelation function of the confined fluids. Further, we use the MFE/GLE formulation to extract the thermal force a fluid molecule experiences in a MD simulation. Noise extraction from MD simulation suggests that the frequency distribution of the thermal force is non-Gaussian. Also, the frequency distribution of the thermal force near the confining surface is found to be different in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the confinement. We also use the formulation to compute the noise correlation time of water confined inside a (6,6) carbon-nanotube (CNT). It is observed that inside the (6,6) CNT, in which water arranges itself in a highly concerted single-file arrangement, the correlation time of thermal noise is about an order of magnitude higher than that of bulk water.

Thermal noise in confined fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanghi, T.; Aluru, N. R.

2014-11-01

In this work, we discuss a combined memory function equation (MFE) and generalized Langevin equation (GLE) approach (referred to as MFE/GLE formulation) to characterize thermal noise in confined fluids. Our study reveals that for fluids confined inside nanoscale geometries, the correlation time and the time decay of the autocorrelation function of the thermal noise are not significantly different across the confinement. We show that it is the strong cross-correlation of the mean force with the molecular velocity that gives rise to the spatial anisotropy in the velocity-autocorrelation function of the confined fluids. Further, we use the MFE/GLE formulation to extract the thermal force a fluid molecule experiences in a MD simulation. Noise extraction from MD simulation suggests that the frequency distribution of the thermal force is non-Gaussian. Also, the frequency distribution of the thermal force near the confining surface is found to be different in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the confinement. We also use the formulation to compute the noise correlation time of water confined inside a (6,6) carbon-nanotube (CNT). It is observed that inside the (6,6) CNT, in which water arranges itself in a highly concerted single-file arrangement, the correlation time of thermal noise is about an order of magnitude higher than that of bulk water.

Differences in aquatic habitat quality as an impact of one- and two-dimensional hydrodynamic model simulated flow variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benjankar, R. M.; Sohrabi, M.; Tonina, D.; McKean, J. A.

2013-12-01

Aquatic habitat models utilize flow variables which may be predicted with one-dimensional (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic models to simulate aquatic habitat quality. Studies focusing on the effects of hydrodynamic model dimensionality on predicted aquatic habitat quality are limited. Here we present the analysis of the impact of flow variables predicted with 1D and 2D hydrodynamic models on simulated spatial distribution of habitat quality and Weighted Usable Area (WUA) for fall-spawning Chinook salmon. Our study focuses on three river systems located in central Idaho (USA), which are a straight and pool-riffle reach (South Fork Boise River), small pool-riffle sinuous streams in a large meadow (Bear Valley Creek) and a steep-confined plane-bed stream with occasional deep forced pools (Deadwood River). We consider low and high flows in simple and complex morphologic reaches. Results show that 1D and 2D modeling approaches have effects on both the spatial distribution of the habitat and WUA for both discharge scenarios, but we did not find noticeable differences between complex and simple reaches. In general, the differences in WUA were small, but depended on stream type. Nevertheless, spatially distributed habitat quality difference is considerable in all streams. The steep-confined plane bed stream had larger differences between aquatic habitat quality defined with 1D and 2D flow models compared to results for streams with well defined macro-topographies, such as pool-riffle bed forms. KEY WORDS: one- and two-dimensional hydrodynamic models, habitat modeling, weighted usable area (WUA), hydraulic habitat suitability, high and low discharges, simple and complex reaches

Population dynamics, information transfer, and spatial organization in a chemical reaction network under spatial confinement and crowding conditions

DOE PAGES

Bellesia, Giovanni; Bales, Benjamin B.

2016-10-10

Here, we investigate, via Brownian dynamics simulations, the reaction dynamics of a generic, nonlinear chemical network under spatial confinement and crowding conditions. In detail, the Willamowski-Rossler chemical reaction system has been “extended” and considered as a prototype reaction-diffusion system. These results are potentially relevant to a number of open problems in biophysics and biochemistry, such as the synthesis of primitive cellular units (protocells) and the definition of their role in the chemical origin of life and the characterization of vesicle-mediated drug delivery processes. More generally, the computational approach presented in this work makes the case for the use of spatialmore » stochastic simulation methods for the study of biochemical networks in vivo where the “well-mixed” approximation is invalid and both thermal and intrinsic fluctuations linked to the possible presence of molecular species in low number copies cannot be averaged out.« less

Kif18A and chromokinesins confine centromere movements via microtubule growth suppression and spatial control of kinetochore tension

PubMed Central

Stumpff, Jason; Wagenbach, Michael; Franck, Andrew; Asbury, Charles L.; Wordeman, Linda

2012-01-01

Summary Alignment of chromosomes at the metaphase plate is a signature of cell division in metazoan cells, yet the mechanisms controlling this process remain ambiguous. Here we use a combination of quantitative live cell imaging and reconstituted dynamic microtubule assays to investigate the molecular control of mitotic centromere movements. We establish that Kif18A (kinesin-8) attenuates centromere movement by directly promoting microtubule pausing in a concentration-dependent manner. This activity provides the dominant mechanism for restricting centromere movement to the spindle midzone. Furthermore, polar ejection forces spatially confine chromosomes via position-dependent regulation of kinetochore tension and centromere switch rates. We demonstrate that polar ejection forces are antagonistically modulated by chromokinesins. These pushing forces depend on Kid (kinesin-10) activity and are antagonized by Kif4A (kinesin-4), which functions to directly suppress microtubule growth. These data support a model in which Kif18A and polar ejection forces synergistically promote centromere alignment via spatial control of kinetochore-microtubule dynamics. PMID:22595673

Evaluation of a strain-sensitive transport model in LES of turbulent nonpremixed sooting flames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lew, Jeffry K.; Yang, Suo; Mueller, Michael E.

2017-11-01

Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent nonpremixed jet flames have revealed that Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) are confined to spatially intermittent regions of low scalar dissipation rate due to their slow formation chemistry. The length scales of these regions are on the order of the Kolmogorov scale or smaller, where molecular diffusion effects dominate over turbulent transport effects irrespective of the large-scale turbulent Reynolds number. A strain-sensitive transport model has been developed to identify such species whose slow chemistry, relative to local mixing rates, confines them to these small length scales. In a conventional nonpremixed ``flamelet'' approach, these species are then modeled with their molecular Lewis numbers, while remaining species are modeled with an effective unity Lewis number. A priori analysis indicates that this strain-sensitive transport model significantly affects PAH yield in nonpremixed flames with essentially no impact on temperature and major species. The model is applied with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to a series of turbulent nonpremixed sooting jet flames and validated via comparisons with experimental measurements of soot volume fraction.

Interaction and rheology of vesicle suspensions in confined shear flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Zaiyi; Farutin, Alexander; Thiébaud, Marine; Misbah, Chaouqi

2017-10-01

Dynamics and rheology of a confined suspension of vesicles (a model for red blood cells) are studied numerically in two dimensions by using an immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann method. We pay particular attention to the link between the spatiotemporal organization and the rheology of the suspension. Besides confinement, we analyze the effect of concentration of the suspension, ϕ (defined as the area fraction occupied by the vesicles in the simulation domain), as well as the viscosity contrast λ (defined as the ratio between the viscosity of the fluid inside the vesicles, ηint, and that of the suspending fluid, ηext). The hydrodynamic interaction between two vesicles is shown to play a key role in determining the spatial organization. For λ =1 , the pair of vesicles settles into an equilibrium state with constant interdistance, which is regulated by the confinement. The equilibrium interdistance increases with the gap between walls, following a linear relationship. However, no stable equilibrium interdistance between two tumbling vesicles is observed for λ =10 . A quite ordered suspension is observed concomitant with the existence of an equilibrium interdistance between a vesicle pair. However, a disordered suspension prevails when no pair equilibrium interdistance exists, as occurs for tumbling vesicles. We then analyze the rheology, focusing on the effective viscosity, denoted as η , as well as on normalized viscosity, defined as [η ] =(η -ηext) /(ηextϕ ) . Ordering of the suspension is accompanied by a nonmonotonic behavior of [η ] with ϕ , while η exhibits plateaus. The nonmonotonic behavior of [η ] is suppressed when a disordered pattern prevails.

Diffusive dynamics of nanoparticles in ultra-confined media

DOE PAGES

Jacob, Jack Deodato; Conrad, Jacinta; Krishnamoorti, Ramanan; ...

2015-08-10

Differential dynamic microscopy (DDM) was used to investigate the diffusive dynamics of nanoparticles of diameter 200 400 nm that were strongly confined in a periodic square array of cylindrical nanoposts. The minimum distance between posts was 1.3 5 times the diameter of the nanoparticles. The image structure functions obtained from the DDM analysis were isotropic and could be fit by a stretched exponential function. The relaxation time scaled diffusively across the range of wave vectors studied, and the corresponding scalar diffusivities decreased monotonically with increased confinement. The decrease in diffusivity could be described by models for hindered diffusion that accountedmore » for steric restrictions and hydrodynamic interactions. The stretching exponent decreased linearly as the nanoparticles were increasingly confined by the posts. Altogether, these results are consistent with a picture in which strongly confined nanoparticles experience a heterogeneous spatial environment arising from hydrodynamics and volume exclusion on time scales comparable to cage escape, leading to multiple relaxation processes and Fickian but non-Gaussian diffusive dynamics.« less

The A-B transition in superfluid helium-3 under confinement in a thin slab geometry

PubMed Central

Zhelev, N.; Abhilash, T. S.; Smith, E. N.; Bennett, R. G.; Rojas, X.; Levitin, L.; Saunders, J.; Parpia, J. M.

2017-01-01

The influence of confinement on the phases of superfluid helium-3 is studied using the torsional pendulum method. We focus on the transition between the A and B phases, where the A phase is stabilized by confinement and a spatially modulated stripe phase is predicted at the A–B phase boundary. Here we discuss results from superfluid helium-3 contained in a single 1.08-μm-thick nanofluidic cavity incorporated into a high-precision torsion pendulum, and map the phase diagram between 0.1 and 5.6 bar. We observe only small supercooling of the A phase, in comparison to bulk or when confined in aerogel, with evidence for a non-monotonic pressure dependence. This suggests that an intrinsic B-phase nucleation mechanism operates under confinement. Both the phase diagram and the relative superfluid fraction of the A and B phases, show that strong coupling is present at all pressures, with implications for the stability of the stripe phase. PMID:28671184

Probing the ultimate plasmon confinement limits with a van der Waals heterostructure.

PubMed

Alcaraz Iranzo, David; Nanot, Sébastien; Dias, Eduardo J C; Epstein, Itai; Peng, Cheng; Efetov, Dmitri K; Lundeberg, Mark B; Parret, Romain; Osmond, Johann; Hong, Jin-Yong; Kong, Jing; Englund, Dirk R; Peres, Nuno M R; Koppens, Frank H L

2018-04-20

The ability to confine light into tiny spatial dimensions is important for applications such as microscopy, sensing, and nanoscale lasers. Although plasmons offer an appealing avenue to confine light, Landau damping in metals imposes a trade-off between optical field confinement and losses. We show that a graphene-insulator-metal heterostructure can overcome that trade-off, and demonstrate plasmon confinement down to the ultimate limit of the length scale of one atom. This is achieved through far-field excitation of plasmon modes squeezed into an atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride dielectric spacer between graphene and metal rods. A theoretical model that takes into account the nonlocal optical response of both graphene and metal is used to describe the results. These ultraconfined plasmonic modes, addressed with far-field light excitation, enable a route to new regimes of ultrastrong light-matter interactions. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Non-covalent synthesis of supermicelles with complex architectures using spatially confined hydrogen-bonding interactions

PubMed Central

Li, Xiaoyu; Gao, Yang; Boott, Charlotte E.; Winnik, Mitchell A.; Manners, Ian

2015-01-01

Nature uses orthogonal interactions over different length scales to construct structures with hierarchical levels of order and provides an important source of inspiration for the creation of synthetic functional materials. Here, we report the programmed assembly of monodisperse cylindrical block comicelle building blocks with crystalline cores to create supermicelles using spatially confined hydrogen-bonding interactions. We also demonstrate that it is possible to further program the self-assembly of these synthetic building blocks into structures of increased complexity by combining hydrogen-bonding interactions with segment solvophobicity. The overall approach offers an efficient, non-covalent synthesis method for the solution-phase fabrication of a range of complex and potentially functional supermicelle architectures in which the crystallization, hydrogen-bonding and solvophobic interactions are combined in an orthogonal manner. PMID:26337527

Defect-mediated spatial complexity and chaos in a phase-conjugate resonator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Indebetouw, Guy; Liu, Siuying R.

1992-01-01

We have studied the spatiotemporal dynamics of a phase-conjugate resonator. The cavity Fresnel number is used to vary the degree of transverse confinement of the system. The generation and subsequent motion of the phase defects in the wave front are seen to mediate the system's dynamics. The number of defects and the complexity of their motion increases as the confinement is relaxed, leading the system through a sequence of bifurcations and eventually to chaos.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hall, G. N., E-mail: hall98@llnl.gov; Izumi, N.; Landen, O. L.

Compton radiography provides a means to measure the integrity, ρR and symmetry of the DT fuel in an inertial confinement fusion implosion near peak compression. Upcoming experiments at the National Ignition Facility will use the ARC (Advanced Radiography Capability) laser to drive backlighter sources for Compton radiography experiments and will use the newly commissioned AXIS (ARC X-ray Imaging System) instrument as the detector. AXIS uses a dual-MCP (micro-channel plate) to provide gating and high DQE at the 40–200 keV x-ray range required for Compton radiography, but introduces many effects that contribute to the spatial resolution. Experiments were performed at energiesmore » relevant to Compton radiography to begin characterization of the spatial resolution of the AXIS diagnostic.« less

Spatially indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lai, Chih-Wei Eddy

2004-03-01

Microscopic quantum phenomena such as interference or phase coherence between different quantum states are rarely manifest in macroscopic systems due to a lack of significant correlation between different states. An exciton system is one candidate for observation of possible quantum collective effects. In the dilute limit, excitons in semiconductors behave as bosons and are expected to undergo Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) at a temperature several orders of magnitude higher than for atomic BEC because of their light mass. Furthermore, well-developed modern semiconductor technologies offer flexible manipulations of an exciton system. Realization of BEC in solid-state systems can thus provide new opportunitiesmore » for macroscopic quantum coherence research. In semiconductor coupled quantum wells (CQW) under across-well static electric field, excitons exist as separately confined electron-hole pairs. These spatially indirect excitons exhibit a radiative recombination time much longer than their thermal relaxation time a unique feature in direct band gap semiconductor based structures. Their mutual repulsive dipole interaction further stabilizes the exciton system at low temperature and screens in-plane disorder more effectively. All these features make indirect excitons in CQW a promising system to search for quantum collective effects. Properties of indirect excitons in CQW have been analyzed and investigated extensively. The experimental results based on time-integrated or time-resolved spatially-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and imaging are reported in two categories. (i) Generic indirect exciton systems: general properties of indirect excitons such as the dependence of exciton energy and lifetime on electric fields and densities were examined. (ii) Quasi-two-dimensional confined exciton systems: highly statistically degenerate exciton systems containing more than tens of thousands of excitons within areas as small as (10 micrometer) 2 were observed. The spatial and energy distributions of optically active excitons were used as thermodynamic quantities to construct a phase diagram of the exciton system, demonstrating the existence of distinct phases. Optical and electrical properties of the CQW sample were examined thoroughly to provide deeper understanding of the formation mechanisms of these cold exciton systems. These insights offer new strategies for producing cold exciton systems, which may lead to opportunities for the realization of BEC in solid-state systems.« less

Ground-state energy of an exciton-(LO) phonon system in a parabolic quantum well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerlach, B.; Wüsthoff, J.; Smondyrev, M. A.

1999-12-01

This paper presents a variational study of the ground-state energy of an exciton-(LO) phonon system, which is spatially confined to a quantum well. The exciton-phonon interaction is of Fröhlich type, the confinement potentials are assumed to be parabolic functions of the coordinates. Making use of functional integral techniques, the phonon part of the problem can be eliminated exactly, leading us to an effective two-particle system, which has the same spectral properties as the original one. Subsequently, Jensen's inequality is applied to obtain an upper bound on the ground-state energy. The main intention of this paper is to analyze the influence of the quantum-well-induced localization of the exciton on its ground-state energy (or its binding energy, respectively). To do so, we neglect any mismatch of the masses or the dielectric constants, but admit an arbitrary strength of the confinement potentials. Our approach allows for a smooth interpolation of the ultimate limits of vanishing and infinite confinement, corresponding to the cases of a free three-dimensional and a free two-dimensional exciton-phonon system. The interpolation formula for the ground-state energy bound corresponds to similar formulas for the free polaron or the free exciton-phonon system. These bounds in turn are known to compare favorably with all previous ones, which we are aware of.

Higher winding strings and confined monopoles in N=2 supersymmetric QCD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Auzzi, R.; Bolognesi, S.; Shifman, M.

2010-04-15

We consider composite string solutions in N=2 SQCD with the gauge group U(N), the Fayet-Iliopoulos term {xi}{ne}0 and N (s)quark flavors. These bulk theories support non-Abelian strings and confined monopoles identified with kinks in the two-dimensional world-sheet theory. Similar and more complicated kinks (corresponding to composite confined monopoles) must exist in the world-sheet theories on composite strings. In a bid to detect them we analyze the Hanany-Tong (HT) model, focusing on a particular example of N=2. Unequal quark mass terms in the bulk theory result in the twisted masses in the N=(2,2) HT model. For spatially coinciding 2-strings, we findmore » three distinct minima of potential energy, corresponding to three different 2-strings. Then we find BPS-saturated kinks interpolating between each pair of vacua. Two kinks can be called elementary. They emanate one unit of the magnetic flux and have the same mass as the conventional 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole on the Coulomb branch of the bulk theory ({xi}=0). The third kink represents a composite bimonopole, with twice the minimal magnetic flux. Its mass is twice the mass of the elementary confined monopole. We find instantons in the HT model, and discuss quantum effects in composite strings at strong coupling. In addition, we study the renormalization group flow in this model.« less

Decreasing the electronic confinement in layered perovskites through intercalation.

PubMed

Smith, Matthew D; Pedesseau, Laurent; Kepenekian, Mikaël; Smith, Ian C; Katan, Claudine; Even, Jacky; Karunadasa, Hemamala I

2017-03-01

We show that post-synthetic small-molecule intercalation can significantly reduce the electronic confinement of 2D hybrid perovskites. Using a combined experimental and theoretical approach, we explain structural, optical, and electronic effects of intercalating highly polarizable molecules in layered perovskites designed to stabilize the intercalants. Polarizable molecules in the organic layers substantially alter the optical and electronic properties of the inorganic layers. By calculating the spatially resolved dielectric profiles of the organic and inorganic layers within the hybrid structure, we show that the intercalants afford organic layers that are more polarizable than the inorganic layers. This strategy reduces the confinement of excitons generated in the inorganic layers and affords the lowest exciton binding energy for an n = 1 perovskite of which we are aware. We also demonstrate a method for computationally evaluating the exciton's binding energy by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the exciton, which includes an ab initio determination of the material's dielectric profile across organic and inorganic layers. This new semi-empirical method goes beyond the imprecise phenomenological approximation of abrupt dielectric-constant changes at the organic-inorganic interfaces. This work shows that incorporation of polarizable molecules in the organic layers, through intercalation or covalent attachment, is a viable strategy for tuning 2D perovskites towards mimicking the reduced electronic confinement and isotropic light absorption of 3D perovskites while maintaining the greater synthetic tunability of the layered architecture.

Wave function for harmonically confined electrons in time-dependent electric and magnetostatic fields.

PubMed

Zhu, Hong-Ming; Chen, Jin-Wang; Pan, Xiao-Yin; Sahni, Viraht

2014-01-14

We derive via the interaction "representation" the many-body wave function for harmonically confined electrons in the presence of a magnetostatic field and perturbed by a spatially homogeneous time-dependent electric field-the Generalized Kohn Theorem (GKT) wave function. In the absence of the harmonic confinement - the uniform electron gas - the GKT wave function reduces to the Kohn Theorem wave function. Without the magnetostatic field, the GKT wave function is the Harmonic Potential Theorem wave function. We further prove the validity of the connection between the GKT wave function derived and the system in an accelerated frame of reference. Finally, we provide examples of the application of the GKT wave function.

Cholesterol Modulates CFTR Confinement in the Plasma Membrane of Primary Epithelial Cells

PubMed Central

Abu-Arish, Asmahan; Pandzic, Elvis; Goepp, Julie; Matthes, Elizabeth; Hanrahan, John W.; Wiseman, Paul W.

2015-01-01

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a plasma-membrane anion channel that, when mutated, causes the disease cystic fibrosis. Although CFTR has been detected in a detergent-resistant membrane fraction prepared from airway epithelial cells, suggesting that it may partition into cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains (lipid rafts), its compartmentalization has not been demonstrated in intact cells and the influence of microdomains on CFTR lateral mobility is unknown. We used live-cell imaging, spatial image correlation spectroscopy, and k-space image correlation spectroscopy to examine the aggregation state of CFTR and its dynamics both within and outside microdomains in the plasma membrane of primary human bronchial epithelial cells. These studies were also performed during treatments that augment or deplete membrane cholesterol. We found two populations of CFTR molecules that were distinguishable based on their dynamics at the cell surface. One population showed confinement and had slow dynamics that were highly cholesterol dependent. The other, more abundant population was less confined and diffused more rapidly. Treatments that deplete the membrane of cholesterol caused the confined fraction and average number of CFTR molecules per cluster to decrease. Elevating cholesterol had the opposite effect, increasing channel aggregation and the fraction of channels displaying confinement, consistent with CFTR recruitment into cholesterol-rich microdomains with dimensions below the optical resolution limit. Viral infection caused the nanoscale microdomains to fuse into large platforms and reduced CFTR mobility. To our knowledge, these results provide the first biophysical evidence for multiple CFTR populations and have implications for regulation of their surface expression and channel function. PMID:26153705

Local structural ordering in surface-confined liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Śliwa, I.; Jeżewski, W.; Zakharov, A. V.

2017-06-01

The effect of the interplay between attractive nonlocal surface interactions and attractive pair long-range intermolecular couplings on molecular structures of liquid crystals confined in thin cells with flat solid surfaces has been studied. Extending the McMillan mean field theory to include finite systems, it has been shown that confining surfaces can induce complex orientational and translational ordering of molecules. Typically, local smectic A, nematic, and isotropic phases have been shown to coexist in certain temperature ranges, provided that confining cells are sufficiently thick, albeit finite. Due to the nonlocality of surface interactions, the spatial arrangement of these local phases can display, in general, an unexpected complexity along the surface normal direction. In particular, molecules located in the vicinity of surfaces can still be organized in smectic layers, even though nematic and/or isotropic order can simultaneously appear in the interior of cells. The resulting surface freezing of smectic layers has been confirmed to occur even for rather weak surface interactions. The surface interactions cannot, however, prevent smectic layers from melting relatively close to system boundaries, even when molecules are still arranged in layers within the central region of the system. The internal interfaces, separating individual liquid-crystal phases, are demonstrated here to form fronts of local finite-size transitions that move across cells under temperature changes. Although the complex molecular ordering in surface confined liquid-crystal systems can essentially be controlled by temperature variations, specific thermal properties of these systems, especially the nature of the local transitions, are argued to be strongly conditioned to the degree of molecular packing.

High-resolution Imaging of Deuterium-Tritium Capsule Implosions on the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachmann, Benjamin; Rygg, Ryan; Collins, Gilbert; Patel, Pravesh

2017-10-01

Highly-resolved 3-D simulations of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions predict a hot spot plasma that exhibits complex micron-scale structure originating from a variety of 3-D perturbations. Experimental diagnosis of these conditions requires high spatial resolution imaging techniques. X-ray penumbral imaging can improve the spatial resolution over pinhole imaging while simultaneously increasing the detected photon yield at x-ray energies where the ablator opacity becomes negligible. Here we report on the first time-integrated x-ray penumbral imaging experiments of ICF capsule implosions at the National Ignition Facility that achieved spatial resolution as high as 4 micrometer. 6 to 30 keV hot spot images from layered DT implosions will be presented from a variety of experimental ICF campaigns, revealing previously unseen detail. It will be discussed how these and future results can be used to improve our physics understanding of inertially confined fusion plasmas by enabling spatially resolved measurements of hot spot properties, such as radiation energy, temperature or derived quantities. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

On-line/on-site analysis of heavy metals in water and soils by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Deshuo; Zhao, Nanjing; Wang, Yuanyuan; Ma, Mingjun; Fang, Li; Gu, Yanhong; Jia, Yao; Liu, Jianguo

2017-11-01

The enrichment method of heavy metal in water with graphite and aluminum electrode was studied, and combined with plasma restraint device for improving the sensitivity of detection and reducing the limit of detection (LOD) of elements. For aluminum electrode enrichment, the LODs of Cd, Pb and Ni can be as low as several ppb. For graphite enrichment, the measurement time can be less than 3 min. The results showed that the graphite enrichment and aluminum electrode enrichment method can effectively improve the LIBS detection ability. The graphite enrichment method combined with plasma spatial confinement is more suitable for on-line monitoring of industrial waste water, the aluminum electrode enrichment method can be used for trace heavy metal detection in water. A LIBS method and device for soil heavy metals analysis was also developed, and a mobile LIBS system was tested in outfield. The measurement results deduced from LIBS and ICP-MS had a good consistency. The results provided an important application support for rapid and on-site monitoring of heavy metals in soil. (Left: the mobile LIBS system for analysis of heavy metals in soils. Top right: the spatial confinement device. Bottom right: automatic graphite enrichment device for on0line analysis of heavy metals in water).

Microstructured block copolymer surfaces for control of microbe capture and aggregation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hansen, Ryan R; Shubert, Katherine R; Morrell, Jennifer L.

2014-01-01

The capture and arrangement of surface-associated microbes is influenced by biochemical and physical properties of the substrate. In this report, we develop lectin-functionalized substrates containing patterned, three-dimensional polymeric structures of varied shapes and densities and use these to investigate the effects of topology and spatial confinement on lectin-mediated microbe capture. Films of poly(glycidyl methacrylate)-block-4,4-dimethyl-2-vinylazlactone (PGMA-b-PVDMA) were patterned on silicon surfaces into line or square grid patterns with 5 m wide features and varied edge spacing. The patterned films had three-dimensional geometries with 900 nm film thickness. After surface functionalization with wheat germ agglutinin, the size of Pseudomonas fluorescens aggregates capturedmore » was dependent on the pattern dimensions. Line patterns with edge spacing of 5 m or less led to the capture of individual microbes with minimal formation of aggregates, while grid patterns with the same spacing also captured individual microbes with further reduction in aggregation. Both geometries allowed for increases in aggregate size distribution with increased in edge spacing. These engineered surfaces combine spatial confinement with affinity-based microbe capture based on exopolysaccharide content to control the degree of microbe aggregation, and can also be used as a platform to investigate intercellular interactions and biofilm formation in microbial populations of controlled sizes.« less

Interferometric optical online dosimetry for selective retina treatment (SRT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoehr, Hardo; Ptaszynski, Lars; Fritz, Andreas; Brinkmann, Ralf

2007-07-01

Selective retina treatment (SRT) is a new laser based method to treat retinal diseases associated with disorders of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Applying microsecond laser pulses tissue damage spatially confined to the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is achieved. The RPE cell damage is caused by transient microbubbles emerging at the strongly absorbing melanin granules inside the RPE cells. Due to the spatial confinement to the RPE the photoreceptors can be spared and vision can be maintained in the treated retinal areas. A drawback for effective clinical SRT is that the laser induced lesions are ophthalmoscopically invisible. Therefore, a real-time feedback system for dosimetry is necessary in order to avoid undertreatment or unwanted collateral damage to the adjacent tissue. We develop a dosimetry system which uses optical interferometry for the detection of the transient microbubbles. The system is based on an optical fiber interferometer operated with a laser diode at 830nm. We present current results obtained with a laser slit lamp using porcine RPE explants in vitro and complete porcine eye globes ex vivo. The RPE cell damage is determined by Calcein fluorescence viability assays. With a threshold criterium for RPE cell death derived from the measured interferometric signal transients good agreement with the results of the viability assays is achieved.

The surface-induced spatial-temporal structures in confined binary alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krasnyuk, Igor B.; Taranets, Roman M.; Chugunova, Marina

2014-12-01

This paper examines surface-induced ordering in confined binary alloys. The hyperbolic initial boundary value problem (IBVP) is used to describe a scenario of spatiotemporal ordering in a disordered phase for concentration of one component of binary alloy and order parameter with non-linear dynamic boundary conditions. This hyperbolic model consists of two coupled second order differential equations for order parameter and concentration. It also takes into account effects of the “memory” on the ordering of atoms and their densities in the alloy. The boundary conditions characterize surface velocities of order parameter and concentration changing which is due to surface (super)cooling on walls confining the binary alloy. It is shown that for large times there are three classes of dynamic non-linear boundary conditions which lead to three different types of attractor’s elements for the IBVP. Namely, the elements of attractor are the limit periodic simple shock waves with fronts of “discontinuities” Γ. If Γ is finite, then the attractor contains spatiotemporal functions of relaxation type. If Γ is infinite and countable then we observe the functions of pre-turbulent type. If Γ is infinite and uncountable then we obtain the functions of turbulent type.

Spatial confinement governs orientational order in patchy particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwashita, Yasutaka; Kimura, Yasuyuki

2016-06-01

Orientational order in condensed matter plays a key role in determining material properties such as ferromagnetism, viscoelasticity or birefringence. We studied purely orientational ordering in closely-packed one-patch colloidal particles confined between flat substrates, where the particles can only rotate and are ordered via the sticky interaction between the patches. For the first time, we experimentally realized a rich variety of mesoscopic patterns through orientational ordering of colloids by controlling patch size and confinement thickness. The combination of experiment and numerical simulation reveals the decisive role of confinement: An ordered state(s) is selected from the (meta)stable options in bulk when it is commensurate with the system geometry and boundary conditions; otherwise, frustration induces a unique order. Our study offers a new means of systematic control over mesoscopic structures via orientational ordering in patchy particles. The system would also possess unique functionalities through the rotational response of the particles to external stimuli.

Spatial and Temporal Confined Photothermolysis of Cancer Cells Mediated by Hollow Gold Nanospheres Targeted to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

To date, a few studies have investigated the potential use of a short-pulsed laser in selective tumor cell destruction or its mechanism of cell killing. Computer simulation of the spatial and temporal profiles of temperature elevation after pulsed laser irradiation on an infinitesimal point source estimated that the temperature reached its highest point at ∼35 ns after a single 15 ns laser pulse. Moreover, temperature elevation was confined to a radius of sub-micrometer and returned to baseline within 100 ns. To investigate the effect of 15 ns laser pulses on A431 tumor cells, we conjugated hollow gold nanospheres (HAuNSs) to an antibody (C225) directed at the epithelial growth factor receptor. The resulting nanoparticles, C225-HAuNSs, bound to the cell membrane, internalized, and distributed throughout the cytoplasm, with some nanoparticles transported to the vicinity of the nuclear membrane. On using an optical microscope mounted to a tunable pulsed Ti:sapphire laser, rapid and extensive damage of live cancer cells was observed, whereas irradiation of A431 cells pretreated with nontargeted HAuNSs with a pulsed laser or pretreated with C225-HAuNSs with a continuous-wave laser-induced minimal cellular damage. Furthermore, after a single 15 ns laser pulse, C225-HAuNS-treated A431 cells cocultured with 3T3 fibroblasts showed signs of selective destruction. Thus, compared with a continuous-wave laser, shots of a short-pulsed laser were the most damaging to tumor cells that bound HAuNSs and generated the least heat to the surrounding environment. This mode of action by a short-pulsed laser on cancer cells (i.e., confined photothermolysis) may have potential applications in selective tumor cell destruction. PMID:29876540

Transverse mode control in proton-implanted and oxide-confined VCSELs via patterned dielectric anti-phase filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kesler, Benjamin; O'Brien, Thomas; Dallesasse, John M.

2017-02-01

A novel method for controlling the transverse lasing modes in both proton implanted and oxide-confined vertical- cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a multi-layer, patterned, dielectric anti-phase (DAP) filter is pre- sented. Using a simple photolithographic liftoff process, dielectric layers are deposited and patterned on individual VCSELs to modify (increase or decrease) the mirror reflectivity across the emission aperture via anti-phase reflections, creating spatially-dependent threshold material gain. The shape of the dielectric pattern can be tailored to overlap with specific transverse VCSEL modes or subsets of transverse modes to either facilitate or inhibit lasing by decreasing or increasing, respectively, the threshold modal gain. A silicon dioxide (SiO2) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) anti-phase filter is used to achieve a single-fundamental-mode, continuous-wave output power greater than 4.0 mW in an oxide-confined VCSEL at a lasing wavelength of 850 nm. A filter consisting of SiO2 and TiO2 is used to facilitate injection-current-insensitive fundamental mode and lower order mode lasing in proton implanted VCSELs at a lasing wavelength of 850 nm. Higher refractive index dielectric materials such as amorphous silicon (a-Si) can be used to increase the effectiveness of the anti-phase filter on proton implanted devices by reducing the threshold modal gain of any spatially overlapping modes. This additive, non-destructive method allows for mode selection at any lasing wavelength and for any VCSEL layer structure without the need for semiconductor etching or epitaxial regrowth. It also offers the capability of designing a filter based upon available optical coating materials.

Spatial and Temporal Confined Photothermolysis of Cancer Cells Mediated by Hollow Gold Nanospheres Targeted to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors.

PubMed

Ku, Geng; Huang, Qian; Wen, Xiaoxia; Ye, John; Piwnica-Worms, David; Li, Chun

2018-05-31

To date, a few studies have investigated the potential use of a short-pulsed laser in selective tumor cell destruction or its mechanism of cell killing. Computer simulation of the spatial and temporal profiles of temperature elevation after pulsed laser irradiation on an infinitesimal point source estimated that the temperature reached its highest point at ∼35 ns after a single 15 ns laser pulse. Moreover, temperature elevation was confined to a radius of sub-micrometer and returned to baseline within 100 ns. To investigate the effect of 15 ns laser pulses on A431 tumor cells, we conjugated hollow gold nanospheres (HAuNSs) to an antibody (C225) directed at the epithelial growth factor receptor. The resulting nanoparticles, C225-HAuNSs, bound to the cell membrane, internalized, and distributed throughout the cytoplasm, with some nanoparticles transported to the vicinity of the nuclear membrane. On using an optical microscope mounted to a tunable pulsed Ti:sapphire laser, rapid and extensive damage of live cancer cells was observed, whereas irradiation of A431 cells pretreated with nontargeted HAuNSs with a pulsed laser or pretreated with C225-HAuNSs with a continuous-wave laser-induced minimal cellular damage. Furthermore, after a single 15 ns laser pulse, C225-HAuNS-treated A431 cells cocultured with 3T3 fibroblasts showed signs of selective destruction. Thus, compared with a continuous-wave laser, shots of a short-pulsed laser were the most damaging to tumor cells that bound HAuNSs and generated the least heat to the surrounding environment. This mode of action by a short-pulsed laser on cancer cells (i.e., confined photothermolysis) may have potential applications in selective tumor cell destruction.

Confining the nucleation and overgrowth of Rh to the {111} facets of Pd nanocrystal seeds: the roles of capping agent and surface diffusion.

PubMed

Xie, Shuifen; Peng, Hsin-Chieh; Lu, Ning; Wang, Jinguo; Kim, Moon J; Xie, Zhaoxiong; Xia, Younan

2013-11-06

This article describes a systematic study of the spatially confined growth of Rh atoms on Pd nanocrystal seeds, with a focus on the blocking effect of a surface capping agent and the surface diffusion of adatoms. We initially used Pd cuboctahedrons as the seeds to illustrate the concept and to demonstrate the capabilities of our approach. Because the Pd{100} facets were selectively capped by a layer of chemisorbed Br(–) or I(–) ions, we were able to confine the nucleation and deposition of Rh atoms solely on the {111} facets of a Pd seed. When the synthesis was conducted at a relatively low temperature, the deposition of Rh atoms followed an island growth mode because of the high Rh–Rh interatomic binding energy. We also facilitated the surface diffusion of deposited Rh atoms by increasing the reaction temperature and decreasing the injection rate for the Rh precursor. Under these conditions, the deposition of Rh on the Pd{111} facets was switched to a layered growth mode. We further successfully extended this approach to a variety of other types of Pd polyhedral seeds that contained Pd{111} and Pd{100} facets in different proportions on the surface. As expected, a series of Pd–Rh bimetallic nanocrystals with distinctive elemental distributions were obtained. We could remove the Pd cores through selective chemical etching to generate Rh hollow nanoframes with different types and degrees of porosity. This study clearly demonstrates the importance of facet capping, surface diffusion, and reaction kinetics in controlling the morphologies of bimetallic nanocrystals during a seed-mediated process. It also provides a new direction for the rational design and synthesis of nanocrystals with spatially controlled distributions of elements for a variety of applications.

Lithium-based surfaces controlling fusion plasma behavior at the plasma-material interfacea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allain, Jean Paul; Taylor, Chase N.

2012-05-01

The plasma-material interface and its impact on the performance of magnetically confined thermonuclear fusion plasmas are considered to be one of the key scientific gaps in the realization of nuclear fusion power. At this interface, high particle and heat flux from the fusion plasma can limit the material's lifetime and reliability and therefore hinder operation of the fusion device. Lithium-based surfaces are now being used in major magnetic confinement fusion devices and have observed profound effects on plasma performance including enhanced confinement, suppression and control of edge localized modes (ELM), lower hydrogen recycling and impurity suppression. The critical spatial scale length of deuterium and helium particle interactions in lithium ranges between 5-100 nm depending on the incident particle energies at the edge and magnetic configuration. Lithium-based surfaces also range from liquid state to solid lithium coatings on a variety of substrates (e.g., graphite, stainless steel, refractory metal W/Mo/etc., or porous metal structures). Temperature-dependent effects from lithium-based surfaces as plasma facing components (PFC) include magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instability issues related to liquid lithium, surface impurity, and deuterium retention issues, and anomalous physical sputtering increase at temperatures above lithium's melting point. The paper discusses the viability of lithium-based surfaces in future burning-plasma environments such as those found in ITER and DEMO-like fusion reactor devices.

Acoustic phonon spectrum and thermal transport in nanoporous alumina arrays

DOE PAGES

Kargar, Fariborz; Ramirez, Sylvester; Debnath, Bishwajit; ...

2015-10-28

We report results of a combined investigation of thermal conductivity and acoustic phonon spectra in nanoporous alumina membranes with the pore diameter decreasing from D=180 nm to 25 nm. The samples with the hexagonally arranged pores were selected to have the same porosity Ø ≈13%. The Brillouin-Mandelstam spectroscopy measurements revealed bulk-like phonon spectrum in the samples with D = 180 nm pores and spectral features, which were attributed to spatial confinement, in the samples with 25 nm and 40 nm pores. The velocity of the longitudinal acoustic phonons was reduced in the samples with smaller pores. As a result, analysismore » of the experimental data and calculated phonon dispersion suggests that both phonon-boundary scattering and phonon spatial confinement affect heat conduction in membranes with the feature sizes D < 40 nm.« less

Spatially resolved dielectric constant of confined water and its connection to the non-local nature of bulk water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaaf, Christian; Gekle, Stephan

2016-08-01

We use molecular dynamics simulations to compute the spatially resolved static dielectric constant of water in cylindrical and spherical nanopores as occurring, e.g., in protein water pockets or carbon nanotubes. For this, we derive a linear-response formalism which correctly takes into account the dielectric boundary conditions in the considered geometries. We find that in cylindrical confinement, the axial component behaves similar as the local density akin to what is known near planar interfaces. The radial dielectric constant shows some oscillatory features when approaching the surface if their radius is larger than about 2 nm. Most importantly, however, the radial component exhibits pronounced oscillations at the center of the cavity. These surprising features are traced back quantitatively to the non-local dielectric nature of bulk water.

Accuracy improvement of quantitative analysis by spatial confinement in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

PubMed

Guo, L B; Hao, Z Q; Shen, M; Xiong, W; He, X N; Xie, Z Q; Gao, M; Li, X Y; Zeng, X Y; Lu, Y F

2013-07-29

To improve the accuracy of quantitative analysis in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, the plasma produced by a Nd:YAG laser from steel targets was confined by a cavity. A number of elements with low concentrations, such as vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), and manganese (Mn), in the steel samples were investigated. After the optimization of the cavity dimension and laser fluence, significant enhancement factors of 4.2, 3.1, and 2.87 in the emission intensity of V, Cr, and Mn lines, respectively, were achieved at a laser fluence of 42.9 J/cm(2) using a hemispherical cavity (diameter: 5 mm). More importantly, the correlation coefficient of the V I 440.85/Fe I 438.35 nm was increased from 0.946 (without the cavity) to 0.981 (with the cavity); and similar results for Cr I 425.43/Fe I 425.08 nm and Mn I 476.64/Fe I 492.05 nm were also obtained. Therefore, it was demonstrated that the accuracy of quantitative analysis with low concentration elements in steel samples was improved, because the plasma became uniform with spatial confinement. The results of this study provide a new pathway for improving the accuracy of quantitative analysis of LIBS.

LARGE-SCALE CONTRACTION AND SUBSEQUENT DISRUPTION OF CORONAL LOOPS DURING VARIOUS PHASES OF THE M6.2 FLARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONFINED FLUX ROPE ERUPTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kushwaha, Upendra; Joshi, Bhuwan; Moon, Yong-Jae

We investigate evolutionary phases of an M6.2 flare and the associated confined eruption of a prominence. The pre-flare phase exhibits spectacular large-scale contraction of overlying extreme ultraviolet (EUV) coronal loops during which the loop system was subjected to an altitude decrease of ∼20 Mm (40% of the initial height) for an extended span of ∼30 minutes. This contraction phase is accompanied by sequential EUV brightenings associated with hard X-ray (HXR; up to 25 keV) and microwave (MW) sources from low-lying loops in the core region which together with X-ray spectra indicate strong localized heating in the source region before themore » filament activation. With the onset of the flare’s impulsive phase, we detect HXR and MW sources that exhibit intricate temporal and spatial evolution in relation to the fast rise of the prominence. Following the flare maximum, the filament eruption slowed down and subsequently became confined within the large overlying active region loops. During the confinement process of the erupting prominence, we detect MW emission from the extended coronal region with multiple emission centroids, which likely represent emission from hot blobs of plasma formed after the collapse of the expanding flux rope and entailing prominence material. RHESSI spectroscopy reveals high plasma temperature (∼30 MK) and substantial non-thermal characteristics (δ ∼ 5) during the impulsive phase of the flare. The time evolution of thermal energy exhibits a good correspondence with the variations in cumulative non-thermal energy, which suggests that the energy of accelerated particles is efficiently converted to hot flare plasma, implying an effective validation of the Neupert effect.« less

Ion kinetic effects on the ignition and burn of inertial confinement fusion targets: A multi-scale approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peigney, B. E.; Larroche, O.; Tikhonchuk, V.

2014-12-01

In this article, we study the hydrodynamics and burn of the thermonuclear fuel in inertial confinement fusion pellets at the ion kinetic level. The analysis is based on a two-velocity-scale Vlasov-Fokker-Planck kinetic model that is specially tailored to treat fusion products (suprathermal α-particles) in a self-consistent manner with the thermal bulk. The model assumes spherical symmetry in configuration space and axial symmetry in velocity space around the mean flow velocity. A typical hot-spot ignition design is considered. Compared with fluid simulations where a multi-group diffusion scheme is applied to model α transport, the full ion-kinetic approach reveals significant non-local effects on the transport of energetic α-particles. This has a direct impact on hydrodynamic spatial profiles during combustion: the hot spot reactivity is reduced, while the inner dense fuel layers are pre-heated by the escaping α-suprathermal particles, which are transported farther out of the hot spot. We show how the kinetic transport enhancement of fusion products leads to a significant reduction of the fusion yield.

Multiscale modeling of electroosmotic flow: Effects of discrete ion, enhanced viscosity, and surface friction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhadauria, Ravi; Aluru, N. R.

2017-05-01

We propose an isothermal, one-dimensional, electroosmotic flow model for slit-shaped nanochannels. Nanoscale confinement effects are embedded into the transport model by incorporating the spatially varying solvent and ion concentration profiles that correspond to the electrochemical potential of mean force. The local viscosity is dependent on the solvent local density and is modeled using the local average density method. Excess contributions to the local viscosity are included using the Onsager-Fuoss expression that is dependent on the local ionic strength. A Dirichlet-type boundary condition is provided in the form of the slip velocity that is dependent on the macroscopic interfacial friction. This solvent-surface specific interfacial friction is estimated using a dynamical generalized Langevin equation based framework. The electroosmotic flow of Na+ and Cl- as single counterions and NaCl salt solvated in Extended Simple Point Charge (SPC/E) water confined between graphene and silicon slit-shaped nanochannels are considered as examples. The proposed model yields a good quantitative agreement with the solvent velocity profiles obtained from the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations.

Stochastic analysis of the efficiency of coupled hydraulic-physical barriers to contain solute plumes in highly heterogeneous aquifers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedretti, Daniele; Masetti, Marco; Beretta, Giovanni Pietro

2017-10-01

The expected long-term efficiency of vertical cutoff walls coupled to pump-and-treat technologies to contain solute plumes in highly heterogeneous aquifers was analyzed. A well-characterized case study in Italy, with a hydrogeological database of 471 results from hydraulic tests performed on the aquifer and the surrounding 2-km-long cement-bentonite (CB) walls, was used to build a conceptual model and assess a representative remediation site adopting coupled technologies. In the studied area, the aquifer hydraulic conductivity Ka [m/d] is log-normally distributed with mean E (Ya) = 0.32 , variance σYa2 = 6.36 (Ya = lnKa) and spatial correlation well described by an exponential isotropic variogram with integral scale less than 1/12 the domain size. The hardened CB wall's hydraulic conductivity, Kw [m/d], displayed strong scaling effects and a lognormal distribution with mean E (Yw) = - 3.43 and σYw2 = 0.53 (Yw =log10Kw). No spatial correlation of Kw was detected. Using this information, conservative transport was simulated across a CB wall in spatially correlated 1-D random Ya fields within a numerical Monte Carlo framework. Multiple scenarios representing different Kw values were tested. A continuous solute source with known concentration and deterministic drains' discharge rates were assumed. The efficiency of the confining system was measured by the probability of exceedance of concentration over a threshold (C∗) at a control section 10 years after the initial solute release. It was found that the stronger the aquifer heterogeneity, the higher the expected efficiency of the confinement system and the lower the likelihood of aquifer pollution. This behavior can be explained because, for the analyzed aquifer conditions, a lower Ka generates more pronounced drawdown in the water table in the proximity of the drain and consequently a higher advective flux towards the confined area, which counteracts diffusive fluxes across the walls. Thus, a higher σYa2 results in a larger amount of low Ka values in the proximity of the drain, and a higher probability of not exceeding C∗ .

Simple agarose micro-confinement array and machine-learning-based classification for analyzing the patterned differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

PubMed Central

Sato, Asako; Vogel, Viola; Tanaka, Yo

2017-01-01

The geometrical confinement of small cell colonies gives differential cues to cells sitting at the periphery versus the core. To utilize this effect, for example to create spatially graded differentiation patterns of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in vitro or to investigate underpinning mechanisms, the confinement needs to be robust for extended time periods. To create highly repeatable micro-fabricated structures for cellular patterning and high-throughput data mining, we employed here a simple casting method to fabricate more than 800 adhesive patches confined by agarose micro-walls. In addition, a machine learning based image processing software was developed (open code) to detect the differentiation patterns of the population of hMSCs automatically. Utilizing the agarose walls, the circular patterns of hMSCs were successfully maintained throughout 15 days of cell culture. After staining lipid droplets and alkaline phosphatase as the markers of adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation, respectively, the mega-pixels of RGB color images of hMSCs were processed by the software on a laptop PC within several minutes. The image analysis successfully showed that hMSCs sitting on the more central versus peripheral sections of the adhesive circles showed adipogenic versus osteogenic differentiation as reported previously, indicating the compatibility of patterned agarose walls to conventional microcontact printing. In addition, we found a considerable fraction of undifferentiated cells which are preferentially located at the peripheral part of the adhesive circles, even in differentiation-inducing culture media. In this study, we thus successfully demonstrated a simple framework for analyzing the patterned differentiation of hMSCs in confined microenvironments, which has a range of applications in biology, including stem cell biology. PMID:28380036

Cholesterol modulates CFTR confinement in the plasma membrane of primary epithelial cells.

PubMed

Abu-Arish, Asmahan; Pandzic, Elvis; Goepp, Julie; Matthes, Elizabeth; Hanrahan, John W; Wiseman, Paul W

2015-07-07

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a plasma-membrane anion channel that, when mutated, causes the disease cystic fibrosis. Although CFTR has been detected in a detergent-resistant membrane fraction prepared from airway epithelial cells, suggesting that it may partition into cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains (lipid rafts), its compartmentalization has not been demonstrated in intact cells and the influence of microdomains on CFTR lateral mobility is unknown. We used live-cell imaging, spatial image correlation spectroscopy, and k-space image correlation spectroscopy to examine the aggregation state of CFTR and its dynamics both within and outside microdomains in the plasma membrane of primary human bronchial epithelial cells. These studies were also performed during treatments that augment or deplete membrane cholesterol. We found two populations of CFTR molecules that were distinguishable based on their dynamics at the cell surface. One population showed confinement and had slow dynamics that were highly cholesterol dependent. The other, more abundant population was less confined and diffused more rapidly. Treatments that deplete the membrane of cholesterol caused the confined fraction and average number of CFTR molecules per cluster to decrease. Elevating cholesterol had the opposite effect, increasing channel aggregation and the fraction of channels displaying confinement, consistent with CFTR recruitment into cholesterol-rich microdomains with dimensions below the optical resolution limit. Viral infection caused the nanoscale microdomains to fuse into large platforms and reduced CFTR mobility. To our knowledge, these results provide the first biophysical evidence for multiple CFTR populations and have implications for regulation of their surface expression and channel function. Copyright © 2015 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Spatially distributed multipartite entanglement enables EPR steering of atomic clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunkel, Philipp; Prüfer, Maximilian; Strobel, Helmut; Linnemann, Daniel; Frölian, Anika; Gasenzer, Thomas; Gärttner, Martin; Oberthaler, Markus K.

2018-04-01

A key resource for distributed quantum-enhanced protocols is entanglement between spatially separated modes. However, the robust generation and detection of entanglement between spatially separated regions of an ultracold atomic system remain a challenge. We used spin mixing in a tightly confined Bose-Einstein condensate to generate an entangled state of indistinguishable particles in a single spatial mode. We show experimentally that this entanglement can be spatially distributed by self-similar expansion of the atomic cloud. We used spatially resolved spin read-out to reveal a particularly strong form of quantum correlations known as Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering between distinct parts of the expanded cloud. Based on the strength of EPR steering, we constructed a witness, which confirmed genuine 5-partite entanglement.

Molecular Insights into Division of Single Human Cancer Cells in On-Chip Transparent Microtubes

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

In vivo, mammalian cells proliferate within 3D environments consisting of numerous microcavities and channels, which contain a variety of chemical and physical cues. External environments often differ between normal and pathological states, such as the unique spatial constraints that metastasizing cancer cells experience as they circulate the vasculature through arterioles and narrow capillaries, where they can divide and acquire elongated cylindrical shapes. While metastatic tumors cause most cancer deaths, factors impacting early cancer cell proliferation inside the vasculature and those that can promote the formation of secondary tumors remain largely unknown. Prior studies investigating confined mitosis have mainly used 2D cell culture systems. Here, we mimic aspects of metastasizing tumor cells dividing inside blood capillaries by investigating single-cell divisions of living human cancer cells, trapped inside 3D rolled-up, transparent nanomembranes. We assess the molecular effects of tubular confinement on key mitotic features, using optical high- and super-resolution microscopy. Our experiments show that tubular confinement affects the morphology and dynamics of the mitotic spindle, chromosome arrangements, and the organization of the cell cortex. Moreover, we reveal that membrane blebbing and/or associated processes act as a potential genome-safety mechanism, limiting the extent of genomic instability caused by mitosis in confined circumstances, especially in tubular 3D microenvironments. Collectively, our study demonstrates the potential of rolled-up nanomembranes for gaining molecular insights into key cellular events occurring in tubular 3D microenvironments in vivo. PMID:27267364

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mitrofanov, Oleg; Han, Zhanghua; Ding, Fei

(THz) plasmonic double-metal resonators enable enhanced light-matter coupling by utilizing strong localization of the resonant field. The closed resonator design however restricts investigations of the light-matter interaction effects. We propose and demonstrate a method for spatial mapping and spectroscopic analysis of the internal resonant THz fields in plasmonic double-metal THz resonators. We use the aperture-type scanning near-field THz time-domain microscopy and the concept of image charges to probe the THz fields confined within the resonator. The experimental method opens doors to studies of light-matter coupling in deeply sub-wavelength volumes at THz frequencies.

Effects of front-surface target structures on properties of relativistic laser-plasma electrons.

PubMed

Jiang, S; Krygier, A G; Schumacher, D W; Akli, K U; Freeman, R R

2014-01-01

We report the results of a study of the role of prescribed geometrical structures on the front of a target in determining the energy and spatial distribution of relativistic laser-plasma electrons. Our three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation studies apply to short-pulse, high-intensity laser pulses, and indicate that a judicious choice of target front-surface geometry provides the realistic possibility of greatly enhancing the yield of high-energy electrons while simultaneously confining the emission to narrow (<5°) angular cones.

Dynamics of place, boundary and object encoding in rat anterior claustrum

PubMed Central

Jankowski, Maciej M.; O’Mara, Shane M.

2015-01-01

Discrete populations of brain cells signal differing types of spatial information. These “spatial cells” are largely confined to a closely-connected network of sites. We describe here, for the first time, cells in the anterior claustrum of the freely-moving rat encoding place, boundary and object information. This novel claustral spatial signal potentially directly modulates a wide variety of anterior cortical regions. We hypothesize that one of the functions of the claustrum is to provide information about body position, boundaries and landmark information, enabling dynamic control of behavior. PMID:26557060

Laser location and manipulation of a single quantum tunneling channel in an InAs quantum dot.

PubMed

Makarovsky, O; Vdovin, E E; Patané, A; Eaves, L; Makhonin, M N; Tartakovskii, A I; Hopkinson, M

2012-03-16

We use a femtowatt focused laser beam to locate and manipulate a single quantum tunneling channel associated with an individual InAs quantum dot within an ensemble of dots. The intensity of the directed laser beam tunes the tunneling current through the targeted dot with an effective optical gain of 10(7) and modifies the curvature of the dot's confining potential and the spatial extent of its ground state electron eigenfunction. These observations are explained by the effect of photocreated hole charges which become bound close to the targeted dot, thus acting as an optically induced gate electrode.

An effect of nuclear electric quadrupole moments in thermonuclear fusion plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

De, B. R.; Srnka, L. J.

1978-01-01

Consideration of the nuclear electric quadrupole terms in the expression for the fusion Coulomb barrier suggests that this electrostatic barrier may be substantially modified from that calculated under the usual plasma assumption that the nuclei are electric monopoles. This effect is a result of the nonspherical potential shape and the spatial quantization of the nuclear spins of the fully stripped ions in the presence of a magnetic field. For monopole-quadrupole fuel cycles like p-B-11, the fusion cross-section may be substantially increased at low energies if the protons are injected at a small angle relative to the confining magnetic field.

Boundary effects in a quasi-two-dimensional driven granular fluid.

PubMed

Smith, N D; Smith, M I

2017-12-01

The effect of a confining boundary on the spatial variations in granular temperature of a driven quasi-two-dimensional layer of particles is investigated experimentally. The radial drop in the relative granular temperature ΔT/T exhibits a maximum at intermediate particle numbers which coincides with a crossover from kinetic to collisional transport of energy. It is also found that at low particle numbers, the distributions of radial velocities are increasingly asymmetric as one approaches the boundary. The radial and tangential granular temperatures split, and in the tails of the radial velocity distribution there is a higher population of fast moving particles traveling away rather than towards the boundary.

The effects of resonant magnetic perturbations on fast ion confinement in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McClements, K. G.; Akers, R. J.; Boeglin, W. U.; Cecconello, M.; Keeling, D.; Jones, O. M.; Kirk, A.; Klimek, I.; Perez, R. V.; Shinohara, K.; Tani, K.

2015-07-01

The effects of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) on the confinement of energetic (neutral beam) ions in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) are assessed experimentally using measurements of neutrons, fusion protons and fast ion Dα (FIDA) light emission. In single null-diverted (SND) MAST pulses with relatively low plasma current (400 kA), the total neutron emission dropped by approximately a factor of two when RMPs with toroidal mode number n = 3 were applied. The measured neutron rate during RMPs was much lower than that calculated using the TRANSP plasma simulation code, even when non-classical (but axisymmetric) ad hoc fast ion transport was taken into account in the latter. Sharp drops in spatially-resolved neutron rates, fusion proton rates and FIDA emission were also observed. First principles-based simulations of RMP-induced fast ion transport in MAST, using the F3D-OFMC code, show similar losses for two alternative representations of the MAST first wall, with and without full orbit effects taken into account; for n = 6 RMPs in a 600 kA plasma, the additional loss of beam power due to the RMPs was found in the simulations to be approximately 11%.

Angular trapping of anisometric nano-objects in a fluid.

PubMed

Celebrano, Michele; Rosman, Christina; Sönnichsen, Carsten; Krishnan, Madhavi

2012-11-14

We demonstrate the ability to trap, levitate, and orient single anisometric nanoscale objects with high angular precision in a fluid. An electrostatic fluidic trap confines a spherical object at a spatial location defined by the minimum of the electrostatic system free energy. For an anisometric object and a potential well lacking angular symmetry, the system free energy can further strongly depend on the object's orientation in the trap. Engineering the morphology of the trap thus enables precise spatial and angular confinement of a single levitating nano-object, and the process can be massively parallelized. Since the physics of the trap depends strongly on the surface charge of the object, the method is insensitive to the object's dielectric function. Furthermore, levitation of the assembled objects renders them amenable to individual manipulation using externally applied optical, electrical, or hydrodynamic fields, raising prospects for reconfigurable chip-based nano-object assemblies.

Dynamic molecular confinement in the plasma membrane by microdomains and the cytoskeleton meshwork.

PubMed

Lenne, Pierre-François; Wawrezinieck, Laure; Conchonaud, Fabien; Wurtz, Olivier; Boned, Annie; Guo, Xiao-Jun; Rigneault, Hervé; He, Hai-Tao; Marguet, Didier

2006-07-26

It is by now widely recognized that cell membranes show complex patterns of lateral organization. Two mechanisms involving either a lipid-dependent (microdomain model) or cytoskeleton-based (meshwork model) process are thought to be responsible for these plasma membrane organizations. In the present study, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy measurements on various spatial scales were performed in order to directly identify and characterize these two processes in live cells with a high temporal resolution, without any loss of spatial information. Putative raft markers were found to be dynamically compartmented within tens of milliseconds into small microdomains (Ø <120 nm) that are sensitive to the cholesterol and sphingomyelin levels, whereas actin-based cytoskeleton barriers are responsible for the confinement of the transferrin receptor protein. A free-like diffusion was observed when both the lipid-dependent and cytoskeleton-based organizations were disrupted, which suggests that these are two main compartmentalizing forces at work in the plasma membrane.

The three scales of submarine groundwater flow and discharge across passive continental margins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bratton, John F.

2010-01-01

Increased study of submarine groundwater systems in recent years has provided a wealth of new data and techniques, but some ambiguity has been introduced by insufficient distinguishing of the relevant spatial scales of the phenomena studied. Submarine groundwater flow and discharge on passive continental margins can be most productively studied and discussed by distinct consideration of the following three spatial scales: (1) the nearshore scale, spanning approximately 0–10 m offshore and including the unconfined surficial aquifer; (2) the embayment scale, spanning approximately 10 m to as much as 10 km offshore and including the first confined submarine aquifer and its terminus; and (3) the shelf scale, spanning the width and thickness of the aquifers of the entire continental shelf, from the base of the first confined aquifer downward to the basement, and including influences of geothermal convection and glacio-eustatic change in sea level.

Structural “ δ Doping” to Control Local Magnetization in Isovalent Oxide Heterostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moon, E. J.; He, Q.; Ghosh, S.

Modulation and δ-doping strategies, in which atomically thin layers of charged dopants are precisely deposited within a heterostructure, have played enabling roles in the discovery of new physical behavior in electronic materials. Here in this paper, we demonstrate a purely structural “δ-doping” strategy in complex oxide heterostructures, in which atomically thin manganite layers are inserted into an isovalent manganite host, thereby modifying the local rotations of corner-connected MnO 6 octahedra. Combining scanning transmission electron microscopy, polarized neutron reflectometry, and density functional theory, we reveal how local magnetic exchange interactions are enhanced within the spatially confined regions of suppressed octahedral rotations.more » Finally, the combined experimental and theoretical results illustrate the potential to utilize noncharge-based approaches to “doping” in order to enhance or suppress functional properties within spatially confined regions of oxide heterostructures.« less

Structural “ δ Doping” to Control Local Magnetization in Isovalent Oxide Heterostructures

DOE PAGES

Moon, E. J.; He, Q.; Ghosh, S.; ...

2017-11-08

Modulation and δ-doping strategies, in which atomically thin layers of charged dopants are precisely deposited within a heterostructure, have played enabling roles in the discovery of new physical behavior in electronic materials. Here in this paper, we demonstrate a purely structural “δ-doping” strategy in complex oxide heterostructures, in which atomically thin manganite layers are inserted into an isovalent manganite host, thereby modifying the local rotations of corner-connected MnO 6 octahedra. Combining scanning transmission electron microscopy, polarized neutron reflectometry, and density functional theory, we reveal how local magnetic exchange interactions are enhanced within the spatially confined regions of suppressed octahedral rotations.more » Finally, the combined experimental and theoretical results illustrate the potential to utilize noncharge-based approaches to “doping” in order to enhance or suppress functional properties within spatially confined regions of oxide heterostructures.« less

Spatial control of chemical processes on nanostructures through nano-localized water heating.

PubMed

Jack, Calum; Karimullah, Affar S; Tullius, Ryan; Khorashad, Larousse Khosravi; Rodier, Marion; Fitzpatrick, Brian; Barron, Laurence D; Gadegaard, Nikolaj; Lapthorn, Adrian J; Rotello, Vincent M; Cooke, Graeme; Govorov, Alexander O; Kadodwala, Malcolm

2016-03-10

Optimal performance of nanophotonic devices, including sensors and solar cells, requires maximizing the interaction between light and matter. This efficiency is optimized when active moieties are localized in areas where electromagnetic (EM) fields are confined. Confinement of matter in these 'hotspots' has previously been accomplished through inefficient 'top-down' methods. Here we report a rapid 'bottom-up' approach to functionalize selective regions of plasmonic nanostructures that uses nano-localized heating of the surrounding water induced by pulsed laser irradiation. This localized heating is exploited in a chemical protection/deprotection strategy to allow selective regions of a nanostructure to be chemically modified. As an exemplar, we use the strategy to enhance the biosensing capabilities of a chiral plasmonic substrate. This novel spatially selective functionalization strategy provides new opportunities for efficient high-throughput control of chemistry on the nanoscale over macroscopic areas for device fabrication.

Confined states of individual type-II GaSb/GaAs quantum rings studied by cross-sectional scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

PubMed

Timm, Rainer; Eisele, Holger; Lenz, Andrea; Ivanova, Lena; Vossebürger, Vivien; Warming, Till; Bimberg, Dieter; Farrer, Ian; Ritchie, David A; Dähne, Mario

2010-10-13

Combined cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy results reveal the interplay between the atomic structure of ring-shaped GaSb quantum dots in GaAs and the corresponding electronic properties. Hole confinement energies between 0.2 and 0.3 eV and a type-II conduction band offset of 0.1 eV are directly obtained from the data. Additionally, the hole occupancy of quantum dot states and spatially separated Coulomb-bound electron states are observed in the tunneling spectra.

Suppression of MHD fluctuations leading to improved confinement in a gun-driven spheromak.

PubMed

McLean, H S; Woodruff, S; Hooper, E B; Bulmer, R H; Hill, D N; Holcomb, C; Moller, J; Stallard, B W; Wood, R D; Wang, Z

2002-03-25

Magnetic fluctuations have been reduced to approximately 1% during discharges on the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment by shaping the spatial distribution of the bias magnetic flux in the device. In the resulting quiescent regime, the safety factor profile is nearly flat in the plasma and the dominant ideal and resistive MHD modes are greatly reduced. During this period, the temperature profile is peaked at the magnetic axis and maps onto magnetic flux contours. Energy confinement time is improved over previous reports in a driven spheromak.

Subcellular glucose exposure biases the spatial distribution of insulin granules in single pancreatic beta cells.

PubMed

Terao, Kyohei; Gel, Murat; Okonogi, Atsuhito; Fuke, Ariko; Okitsu, Teru; Tada, Takashi; Suzuki, Takaaki; Nagamatsu, Shinya; Washizu, Masao; Kotera, Hidetoshi

2014-02-18

In living tissues, a cell is exposed to chemical substances delivered partially to its surface. Such a heterogeneous chemical environment potentially induces cell polarity. To evaluate this effect, we developed a microfluidic device that realizes spatially confined delivery of chemical substances at subcellular resolution. Our microfluidic device allows simple setup and stable operation for over 4 h to deliver chemicals partially to a single cell. Using the device, we showed that subcellular glucose exposure triggers an intracellular [Ca(2+)] change in the β-cells. In addition, the imaging of a cell expressing GFP-tagged insulin showed that continuous subcellular exposure to glucose biased the spatial distribution of insulin granules toward the site where the glucose was delivered. Our approach illustrates an experimental technique that will be applicable to many biological experiments for imaging the response to subcellular chemical exposure and will also provide new insights about the development of polarity of β-cells.

Subcellular glucose exposure biases the spatial distribution of insulin granules in single pancreatic beta cells

PubMed Central

Terao, Kyohei; Gel, Murat; Okonogi, Atsuhito; Fuke, Ariko; Okitsu, Teru; Tada, Takashi; Suzuki, Takaaki; Nagamatsu, Shinya; Washizu, Masao; Kotera, Hidetoshi

2014-01-01

In living tissues, a cell is exposed to chemical substances delivered partially to its surface. Such a heterogeneous chemical environment potentially induces cell polarity. To evaluate this effect, we developed a microfluidic device that realizes spatially confined delivery of chemical substances at subcellular resolution. Our microfluidic device allows simple setup and stable operation for over 4 h to deliver chemicals partially to a single cell. Using the device, we showed that subcellular glucose exposure triggers an intracellular [Ca2+] change in the β-cells. In addition, the imaging of a cell expressing GFP-tagged insulin showed that continuous subcellular exposure to glucose biased the spatial distribution of insulin granules toward the site where the glucose was delivered. Our approach illustrates an experimental technique that will be applicable to many biological experiments for imaging the response to subcellular chemical exposure and will also provide new insights about the development of polarity of β-cells. PMID:24535122

Structure, thermodynamic properties, and phase diagrams of few colloids confined in a spherical pore.

PubMed

Paganini, Iván E; Pastorino, Claudio; Urrutia, Ignacio

2015-06-28

We study a system of few colloids confined in a small spherical cavity with event driven molecular dynamics simulations in the canonical ensemble. The colloidal particles interact through a short range square-well potential that takes into account the basic elements of attraction and excluded-volume repulsion of the interaction among colloids. We analyze the structural and thermodynamic properties of this few-body confined system in the framework of inhomogeneous fluids theory. Pair correlation function and density profile are used to determine the structure and the spatial characteristics of the system. Pressure on the walls, internal energy, and surface quantities such as surface tension and adsorption are also analyzed for a wide range of densities and temperatures. We have characterized systems from 2 to 6 confined particles, identifying distinctive qualitative behavior over the thermodynamic plane T - ρ, in a few-particle equivalent to phase diagrams of macroscopic systems. Applying the extended law of corresponding states, the square well interaction is mapped to the Asakura-Oosawa model for colloid-polymer mixtures. We link explicitly the temperature of the confined square-well fluid to the equivalent packing fraction of polymers in the Asakura-Oosawa model. Using this approach, we study the confined system of few colloids in a colloid-polymer mixture.

Intermittent fluctuations in the Alcator C-Mod scrape-off layer for ohmic and high confinement mode plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, O. E.; Kube, R.; Theodorsen, A.; LaBombard, B.; Terry, J. L.

2018-05-01

Plasma fluctuations in the scrape-off layer of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak in ohmic and high confinement modes have been analyzed using gas puff imaging data. In all cases investigated, the time series of emission from a single spatially resolved view into the gas puff are dominated by large-amplitude bursts, attributed to blob-like filament structures moving radially outwards and poloidally. There is a remarkable similarity of the fluctuation statistics in ohmic plasmas and in edge localized mode-free and enhanced D-alpha high confinement mode plasmas. Conditionally averaged waveforms have a two-sided exponential shape with comparable temporal scales and asymmetry, while the burst amplitudes and the waiting times between them are exponentially distributed. The probability density functions and the frequency power spectral densities are similar for all these confinement modes. These results provide strong evidence in support of a stochastic model describing the plasma fluctuations in the scrape-off layer as a super-position of uncorrelated exponential pulses. Predictions of this model are in excellent agreement with experimental measurements in both ohmic and high confinement mode plasmas. The stochastic model thus provides a valuable tool for predicting fluctuation-induced plasma-wall interactions in magnetically confined fusion plasmas.

Structure, thermodynamic properties, and phase diagrams of few colloids confined in a spherical pore

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paganini, Iván E.; Pastorino, Claudio, E-mail: pastor@cnea.gov.ar; Urrutia, Ignacio, E-mail: iurrutia@cnea.gov.ar

2015-06-28

We study a system of few colloids confined in a small spherical cavity with event driven molecular dynamics simulations in the canonical ensemble. The colloidal particles interact through a short range square-well potential that takes into account the basic elements of attraction and excluded-volume repulsion of the interaction among colloids. We analyze the structural and thermodynamic properties of this few-body confined system in the framework of inhomogeneous fluids theory. Pair correlation function and density profile are used to determine the structure and the spatial characteristics of the system. Pressure on the walls, internal energy, and surface quantities such as surfacemore » tension and adsorption are also analyzed for a wide range of densities and temperatures. We have characterized systems from 2 to 6 confined particles, identifying distinctive qualitative behavior over the thermodynamic plane T − ρ, in a few-particle equivalent to phase diagrams of macroscopic systems. Applying the extended law of corresponding states, the square well interaction is mapped to the Asakura-Oosawa model for colloid-polymer mixtures. We link explicitly the temperature of the confined square-well fluid to the equivalent packing fraction of polymers in the Asakura-Oosawa model. Using this approach, we study the confined system of few colloids in a colloid-polymer mixture.« less

Magnetic confinement of weakly ionized plasma with superconducting bulk magnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuzawa, Hidenori; Ohishi, Kazuya; Ishikawa, Kazuhito; Morita, Tomonori; Yoshikawa, Masaaki; Ikuta, Hiroshi; Mizutani, Uichiro

2003-04-01

This letter describes the application of single-domain superconducting bulk magnets as a plasma confinement. A through-hole was drilled at the center of a Sm123 bulk superconductor of 39 mm diameter and 17 mm thickness. When the sample was field cooled to 77 K, the resulting bulk magnet trapped a magnetic field of ˜0.65 T called a magnetic mirror, in the bore of the hole. The magnet was applied to a weakly ionized neon plasma column. Both the magnet and discharge glass tube were immersed in liquid nitrogen. The spatial distribution in the tube of red fluorescence of the plasma showed that the magnet certainly confined the plasma. These results would provide a clue to applications of the compact magnet of strong magnetic field.

Measuring time of flight of fusion products in an inertial electrostatic confinement fusion device for spatial profiling of fusion reactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Donovan, D. C.; Boris, D. R.; Kulcinski, G. L.

2013-03-15

A new diagnostic has been developed that uses the time of flight (TOF) of the products from a nuclear fusion reaction to determine the location where the fusion reaction occurred. The TOF diagnostic uses charged particle detectors on opposing sides of the inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) device that are coupled to high resolution timing electronics to measure the spatial profile of fusion reactions occurring between the two charged particle detectors. This diagnostic was constructed and tested by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Group in the IEC device, HOMER, which accelerates deuterium ions to fusion relevant energies inmore » a high voltage ({approx}100 kV), spherically symmetric, electrostatic potential well [J. F. Santarius, G. L. Kulcinski, R. P. Ashley, D. R. Boris, B. B. Cipiti, S. K. Murali, G. R. Piefer, R. F. Radel, T. E. Radel, and A. L. Wehmeyer, Fusion Sci. Technol. 47, 1238 (2005)]. The TOF diagnostic detects the products of D(d,p)T reactions and determines where along a chord through the device the fusion event occurred. The diagnostic is also capable of using charged particle spectroscopy to determine the Doppler shift imparted to the fusion products by the center of mass energy of the fusion reactants. The TOF diagnostic is thus able to collect spatial profiles of the fusion reaction density along a chord through the device, coupled with the center of mass energy of the reactions occurring at each location. This provides levels of diagnostic detail never before achieved on an IEC device.« less

Classical confinement and outward convection of impurity ions in the MST RFP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, S. T. A.; Den Hartog, D. J.; Mirnov, V. V.; Caspary, K. J.; Magee, R. M.; Brower, D. L.; Chapman, B. E.; Craig, D.; Ding, W. X.; Eilerman, S.; Fiksel, G.; Lin, L.; Nornberg, M.; Parke, E.; Reusch, J. A.; Sarff, J. S.

2012-05-01

Impurity ion dynamics measured with simultaneously high spatial and temporal resolution reveal classical ion transport in the reversed-field pinch. The boron, carbon, oxygen, and aluminum impurity ion density profiles are obtained in the Madison Symmetric Torus [R. N. Dexter et al., Fusion Technol. 19, 131 (1991)] using a fast, active charge-exchange-recombination-spectroscopy diagnostic. Measurements are made during improved-confinement plasmas obtained using inductive control of tearing instability to mitigate stochastic transport. At the onset of the transition to improved confinement, the impurity ion density profile becomes hollow, with a slow decay in the core region concurrent with an increase in the outer region, implying an outward convection of impurities. Impurity transport from Coulomb collisions in the reversed-field pinch is classical for all collisionality regimes, and analysis shows that the observed hollow profile and outward convection can be explained by the classical temperature screening mechanism. The profile agrees well with classical expectations. Experiments performed with impurity pellet injection provide further evidence for classical impurity ion confinement.

Detection and Analysis of X Ray Emission from the Princeton-Field-Reversed Configuration (PFRC-2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosh, Alexandra; Swanson, Charles; Jandovitz, Peter; Cohen, Samuel

2016-10-01

The PFRC is an odd-parity rotating-magnetic-field-driven field-reversed-configuration magnetic confinement experiment. Studying X rays produced via electron Bremsstrahlung with neutral particles is crucial to the further understanding of the energy and particle confinement of the PFRC. The data on the x rays are collected using a detector system comprised of two, spatially scannable Amptek XR-100 CR detectors and a Amptek XR-100 SDD detector that view the plasma column at two axial locations, one in the divertor and one near the axial midplane. These provide X-ray energy and arrival-time information. (Data analysis requires measurement of each detector's efficiency, a parameter that is modified by window transmission. Detector calibrations were performed with a custom-made X-ray tube that impinged 1-microamp 1-5 kV electron beams onto a carbon target.) From the analyzed data, the average electron energy, effective temperature, and electron density can be extracted. Spatial scans then allow the FRC's internal energy to be measured. We present recent measurements of the Bremsstrahlung spectrum from 0.8 to 6 keV and the inferred electron temperature in the PFRC device as functions of heating power, magnetic field and fill gas pressure. This work was supported, in part, by DOE Contract Number DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Pulsed focused ultrasound-induced displacements in confined in vitro blood clots.

PubMed

Wright, Cameron C; Hynynen, Kullervo; Goertz, David E

2012-03-01

Ultrasound has been shown to potentiate the effects of tissue plasminogen activator to improve clot lysis in a range of in vitro and in vivo studies as well as in clinical trials. One possible mechanism of action is acoustic radiation force-induced clot displacements. In this study, we investigate the temporal and spatial dynamics of clot displacements and strain initiated by focused ultrasound pulses. Displacements were produced by a 1.51 MHz f-number 1 transducer over a range of acoustic powers (1-85 W) in clots constrained within an agar vessel phantom channel. Displacements were tracked during and after a 5.45 ms therapy pulse using a 20 MHz high-frequency ultrasound imaging probe. Peak thrombus displacements were found to be linear as a function of acoustic power up to 60 W before leveling off near 128 μm for the highest transmit powers. The time to peak displacement and recovery time of blood clots was largely independent of acoustic powers with measured values near 2 ms. A linear relationship between peak axial strain and transmit power was observed, reaching a peak value of 11% at 35 W. The peak strain occurred ~0.75 mm from the focal zone for all powers investigated in both lateral and axial directions. These results indicate that substantial displacements can be induced by focused ultrasound in confined blood clots, and that the spatial and temporal displacement patterns are complex and highly dependent on exposure conditions, which has implications for future work investigating their link to clot lysis and for developing approaches to exploit these effects.

Stochastic Assembly of Bacteria in Microwell Arrays Reveals the Importance of Confinement in Community Development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hansen, Ryan H.; Timm, Andrea C.; Timm, Collin M.

The structure, function and evolving composition of microbial communities is deeply influenced by the physical and chemical architecture of the local microenvironment. The complexity of this parameter space in naturally occurring systems has made a clear understanding of the key drivers of community development elusive. Here, we examine the role of spatial confinement on community development using a microwell platform that allows for assembly and monitoring of unique microbial communities en masse. This platform was designed to contain microwells with varied size features in order to mimic various levels of spatial confinement found in natural systems. Microbial populations assembled inmore » wells with incrementally smaller size features showed increasingly larger variations in inoculum levels. By exploiting this size dependence, large wells were used to assemble homogenous initial populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, allowing for reproducible, directed growth trajectories. In contrast, smaller wells were used to assemble a heterogeneous range of initial populations, resulting in a variety of growth and decay trajectories. This allowed for parallel screening of single member communities across different levels of confinement to identify initial conditions in which P. aeruginosa colonies have dramatically higher probabilities of survival. These results demonstrate a unique approach for manipulating the distribution of initial microbial populations assembled into controlled microenvironments to rapidly identify population and environmental parameters conducive or inhibitive to growth. Additionally, multi-member community assembly was characterized to demonstrate the power of this platform for studying the role of member abundance on microbial competition, mutualism and community succession.« less

Stochastic Assembly of Bacteria in Microwell Arrays Reveals the Importance of Confinement in Community Development

DOE PAGES

Hansen, Ryan H.; Timm, Andrea C.; Timm, Collin M.; ...

2016-05-06

The structure, function and evolving composition of microbial communities is deeply influenced by the physical and chemical architecture of the local microenvironment. The complexity of this parameter space in naturally occurring systems has made a clear understanding of the key drivers of community development elusive. Here, we examine the role of spatial confinement on community development using a microwell platform that allows for assembly and monitoring of unique microbial communities en masse. This platform was designed to contain microwells with varied size features in order to mimic various levels of spatial confinement found in natural systems. Microbial populations assembled inmore » wells with incrementally smaller size features showed increasingly larger variations in inoculum levels. By exploiting this size dependence, large wells were used to assemble homogenous initial populations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, allowing for reproducible, directed growth trajectories. In contrast, smaller wells were used to assemble a heterogeneous range of initial populations, resulting in a variety of growth and decay trajectories. This allowed for parallel screening of single member communities across different levels of confinement to identify initial conditions in which P. aeruginosa colonies have dramatically higher probabilities of survival. These results demonstrate a unique approach for manipulating the distribution of initial microbial populations assembled into controlled microenvironments to rapidly identify population and environmental parameters conducive or inhibitive to growth. Additionally, multi-member community assembly was characterized to demonstrate the power of this platform for studying the role of member abundance on microbial competition, mutualism and community succession.« less

Observation of superconducting vortex clusters in S/F hybrids

DOE PAGES

Di Giorgio, C.; Bobba, F.; Cucolo, A. M.; ...

2016-12-09

While Abrikosov vortices repel each other and form a uniform vortex lattice in bulk type-II superconductors, strong confinement potential profoundly affects their spatial distribution eventually leading to vortex cluster formation. The confinement could be induced by the geometric boundaries in mesoscopic-size superconductors or by the spatial modulation of the magnetic field in superconductor/ ferromagnet (S/F) hybrids. Here we study the vortex confinement in S/F thin film heterostructures and we observe that vortex clusters appear near magnetization inhomogeneities in the ferromagnet, called bifurcations. We use magnetic force microscopy to image magnetic bifurcations and superconducting vortices, while high resolution scanning tunneling microscopymore » is used to obtain detailed information of the local electronic density of states outside and inside the vortex cluster. We find an intervortex spacing at the bifurcation shorter than the one predicted for the same superconductor in a uniform magnetic field equal to the thermodynamical upper critical field H c2. This result is due to a local enhanced stray field and a competition between vortex-vortex repulsion and Lorentz force. Here, our findings suggest that special magnetic topologies could result in S/F hybrids that support superconductivity even when locally the vortex density exceeds the thermodynamic critical threshold value beyond which the superconductivity is destroyed.« less

Observation of superconducting vortex clusters in S/F hybrids.

PubMed

Di Giorgio, C; Bobba, F; Cucolo, A M; Scarfato, A; Moore, S A; Karapetrov, G; D'Agostino, D; Novosad, V; Yefremenko, V; Iavarone, M

2016-12-09

While Abrikosov vortices repel each other and form a uniform vortex lattice in bulk type-II superconductors, strong confinement potential profoundly affects their spatial distribution eventually leading to vortex cluster formation. The confinement could be induced by the geometric boundaries in mesoscopic-size superconductors or by the spatial modulation of the magnetic field in superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) hybrids. Here we study the vortex confinement in S/F thin film heterostructures and we observe that vortex clusters appear near magnetization inhomogeneities in the ferromagnet, called bifurcations. We use magnetic force microscopy to image magnetic bifurcations and superconducting vortices, while high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy is used to obtain detailed information of the local electronic density of states outside and inside the vortex cluster. We find an intervortex spacing at the bifurcation shorter than the one predicted for the same superconductor in a uniform magnetic field equal to the thermodynamical upper critical field H c2 . This result is due to a local enhanced stray field and a competition between vortex-vortex repulsion and Lorentz force. Our findings suggest that special magnetic topologies could result in S/F hybrids that support superconductivity even when locally the vortex density exceeds the thermodynamic critical threshold value beyond which the superconductivity is destroyed.

Observation of superconducting vortex clusters in S/F hybrids

PubMed Central

Di Giorgio, C.; Bobba, F.; Cucolo, A. M.; Scarfato, A.; Moore, S. A.; Karapetrov, G.; D’Agostino, D.; Novosad, V.; Yefremenko, V.; Iavarone, M.

2016-01-01

While Abrikosov vortices repel each other and form a uniform vortex lattice in bulk type-II superconductors, strong confinement potential profoundly affects their spatial distribution eventually leading to vortex cluster formation. The confinement could be induced by the geometric boundaries in mesoscopic-size superconductors or by the spatial modulation of the magnetic field in superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) hybrids. Here we study the vortex confinement in S/F thin film heterostructures and we observe that vortex clusters appear near magnetization inhomogeneities in the ferromagnet, called bifurcations. We use magnetic force microscopy to image magnetic bifurcations and superconducting vortices, while high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy is used to obtain detailed information of the local electronic density of states outside and inside the vortex cluster. We find an intervortex spacing at the bifurcation shorter than the one predicted for the same superconductor in a uniform magnetic field equal to the thermodynamical upper critical field Hc2. This result is due to a local enhanced stray field and a competition between vortex-vortex repulsion and Lorentz force. Our findings suggest that special magnetic topologies could result in S/F hybrids that support superconductivity even when locally the vortex density exceeds the thermodynamic critical threshold value beyond which the superconductivity is destroyed. PMID:27934898

Confinement and diffusion modulate bistability and stochastic switching in a reaction network with positive feedback

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mlynarczyk, Paul J.; Pullen, Robert H.; Abel, Steven M., E-mail: abel@utk.edu

2016-01-07

Positive feedback is a common feature in signal transduction networks and can lead to phenomena such as bistability and signal propagation by domain growth. Physical features of the cellular environment, such as spatial confinement and the mobility of proteins, play important but inadequately understood roles in shaping the behavior of signaling networks. Here, we use stochastic, spatially resolved kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to explore a positive feedback network as a function of system size, system shape, and mobility of molecules. We show that these physical properties can markedly alter characteristics of bistability and stochastic switching when compared with well-mixed simulations.more » Notably, systems of equal volume but different shapes can exhibit qualitatively different behaviors under otherwise identical conditions. We show that stochastic switching to a state maintained by positive feedback occurs by cluster formation and growth. Additionally, the frequency at which switching occurs depends nontrivially on the diffusion coefficient, which can promote or suppress switching relative to the well-mixed limit. Taken together, the results provide a framework for understanding how confinement and protein mobility influence emergent features of the positive feedback network by modulating molecular concentrations, diffusion-influenced rate parameters, and spatiotemporal correlations between molecules.« less

Chiral symmetry breaking by spatial confinement in tactoidal droplets of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals

PubMed Central

Tortora, Luana; Lavrentovich, Oleg D.

2011-01-01

In many colloidal systems, an orientationally ordered nematic (N) phase emerges from the isotropic (I) melt in the form of spindle-like birefringent tactoids. In cases studied so far, the tactoids always reveal a mirror-symmetric nonchiral structure, sometimes even when the building units are chiral. We report on chiral symmetry breaking in the nematic tactoids formed in molecularly nonchiral polymer-crowded aqueous solutions of low-molecular weight disodium cromoglycate. The parity is broken by twisted packing of self-assembled molecular aggregates within the tactoids as manifested by the observed optical activity. Fluorescent confocal microscopy reveals that the chiral N tactoids are located at the boundaries of cells. We explain the chirality induction as a replacement of energetically costly splay packing of the aggregates within the curved bipolar tactoidal shape with twisted packing. The effect represents a simple pathway of macroscopic chirality induction in an organic system with no molecular chirality, as the only requirements are orientational order and curved shape of confinement. PMID:21402929

Faraday spectroscopy of ultracold atoms guided in hollow core optical fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fatemi, Fredrik; Pechkis, Joseph

2013-05-01

We have performed spatially and temporally resolved magnetometry using Faraday spectroscopy of ultracold rubidium atoms confined in hollow core optical fibers. We first guide 105 Rb atoms into a 3-cm-long, 100-micron-core hollow fiber using blue-detuned hollow waveguide modes. Inside the fiber, the atoms are exposed to an optical pumping pulse, and the Larmor precession is monitored by the polarization rotation of a probe laser beam detuned by 50 GHz. The intense guide beams can perturb the detected Larmor precession frequencies, but we show that by confining the atoms to the intensity null of higher order blue-detuned hollow modes, these perturbations are reduced by over 95% compared to red-detuned guides. By adjusting the guide beam detuning and polarization, the deleterious effects of both photon scattering and frequency shifts can be suppressed such that multiple magnetic field measurements with sensitivity of 30 nT per sampling pulse can be obtained throughout the length of the fiber in a single loading cycle. Work supported by ONR and DARPA.

Space-time crystals of trapped ions.

PubMed

Li, Tongcang; Gong, Zhe-Xuan; Yin, Zhang-Qi; Quan, H T; Yin, Xiaobo; Zhang, Peng; Duan, L-M; Zhang, Xiang

2012-10-19

Spontaneous symmetry breaking can lead to the formation of time crystals, as well as spatial crystals. Here we propose a space-time crystal of trapped ions and a method to realize it experimentally by confining ions in a ring-shaped trapping potential with a static magnetic field. The ions spontaneously form a spatial ring crystal due to Coulomb repulsion. This ion crystal can rotate persistently at the lowest quantum energy state in magnetic fields with fractional fluxes. The persistent rotation of trapped ions produces the temporal order, leading to the formation of a space-time crystal. We show that these space-time crystals are robust for direct experimental observation. We also study the effects of finite temperatures on the persistent rotation. The proposed space-time crystals of trapped ions provide a new dimension for exploring many-body physics and emerging properties of matter.

Spatially resolved X-ray emission measurements of the residual velocity during the stagnation phase of inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ruby, J. J.; Pak, A., E-mail: pak5@llnl.gov; Field, J. E.

2016-07-15

A technique for measuring residual motion during the stagnation phase of an indirectly driven inertial confinement experiment has been implemented. This method infers a velocity from spatially and temporally resolved images of the X-ray emission from two orthogonal lines of sight. This work investigates the accuracy of recovering spatially resolved velocities from the X-ray emission data. A detailed analytical and numerical modeling of the X-ray emission measurement shows that the accuracy of this method increases as the displacement that results from a residual velocity increase. For the typical experimental configuration, signal-to-noise ratios, and duration of X-ray emission, it is estimatedmore » that the fractional error in the inferred velocity rises above 50% as the velocity of emission falls below 24 μm/ns. By inputting measured parameters into this model, error estimates of the residual velocity as inferred from the X-ray emission measurements are now able to be generated for experimental data. Details of this analysis are presented for an implosion experiment conducted with an unintentional radiation flux asymmetry. The analysis shows a bright localized region of emission that moves through the larger emitting volume at a relatively higher velocity towards the location of the imposed flux deficit. This technique allows for the possibility of spatially resolving velocity flows within the so-called central hot spot of an implosion. This information would help to refine our interpretation of the thermal temperature inferred from the neutron time of flight detectors and the effect of localized hydrodynamic instabilities during the stagnation phase. Across several experiments, along a single line of sight, the average difference in magnitude and direction of the measured residual velocity as inferred from the X-ray and neutron time of flight detectors was found to be ∼13 μm/ns and ∼14°, respectively.« less

Spatially resolved X-ray emission measurements of the residual velocity during the stagnation phase of inertial confinement fusion implosion experiments

DOE PAGES

Ruby, J. J.; Pak, A.; Field, J. E.; ...

2016-07-01

A technique for measuring residual motion during the stagnation phase of an indirectly driven inertial confinement experiment has been implemented. Our method infers a velocity from spatially and temporally resolved images of the X-ray emission from two orthogonal lines of sight. This work investigates the accuracy of recovering spatially resolved velocities from the X-ray emission data. A detailed analytical and numerical modeling of the X-ray emission measurement shows that the accuracy of this method increases as the displacement that results from a residual velocity increase. For the typical experimental configuration, signal-to-noise ratios, and duration of X-ray emission, it is estimatedmore » that the fractional error in the inferred velocity rises above 50% as the velocity of emission falls below 24 μm/ns. Furthermore, by inputting measured parameters into this model, error estimates of the residual velocity as inferred from the X-ray emission measurements are now able to be generated for experimental data. Details of this analysis are presented for an implosion experiment conducted with an unintentional radiation flux asymmetry. The analysis shows a bright localized region of emission that moves through the larger emitting volume at a relatively higher velocity towards the location of the imposed flux deficit. Our technique allows for the possibility of spatially resolving velocity flows within the so-called central hot spot of an implosion. This information would help to refine our interpretation of the thermal temperature inferred from the neutron time of flight detectors and the effect of localized hydrodynamic instabilities during the stagnation phase. Across several experiments, along a single line of sight, the average difference in magnitude and direction of the measured residual velocity as inferred from the X-ray and neutron time of flight detectors was found to be ~13 μm/ns and ~14°, respectively.« less

Absolute/convective secondary instabilities and the role of confinement in free shear layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arratia, Cristóbal; Mowlavi, Saviz; Gallaire, François

2018-05-01

We study the linear spatiotemporal stability of an infinite row of equal point vortices under symmetric confinement between parallel walls. These rows of vortices serve to model the secondary instability leading to the merging of consecutive (Kelvin-Helmholtz) vortices in free shear layers, allowing us to study how confinement limits the growth of shear layers through vortex pairings. Using a geometric construction akin to a Legendre transform on the dispersion relation, we compute the growth rate of the instability in different reference frames as a function of the frame velocity with respect to the vortices. This approach is verified and complemented with numerical computations of the linear impulse response, fully characterizing the absolute/convective nature of the instability. Similar to results by Healey on the primary instability of parallel tanh profiles [J. Fluid Mech. 623, 241 (2009), 10.1017/S0022112008005284], we observe a range of confinement in which absolute instability is promoted. For a parallel shear layer with prescribed confinement and mixing length, the threshold for absolute/convective instability of the secondary pairing instability depends on the separation distance between consecutive vortices, which is physically determined by the wavelength selected by the previous (primary or pairing) instability. In the presence of counterflow and moderate to weak confinement, small (large) wavelength of the vortex row leads to absolute (convective) instability. While absolute secondary instabilities in spatially developing flows have been previously related to an abrupt transition to a complex behavior, this secondary pairing instability regenerates the flow with an increased wavelength, eventually leading to a convectively unstable row of vortices. We argue that since the primary instability remains active for large wavelengths, a spatially developing shear layer can directly saturate on the wavelength of such a convectively unstable row, by-passing the smaller wavelengths of absolute secondary instability. This provides a wavelength selection mechanism, according to which the distance between consecutive vortices should be sufficiently large in comparison with the channel width in order for the row of vortices to persist. We argue that the proposed wavelength selection criteria can serve as a guideline for experimentally obtaining plane shear layers with counterflow, which has remained an experimental challenge.

Evaluation of Confining Layer Integrity Beneath the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, Dade County, Florida

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Starr, R.C.; Green, T.S.; Hull, L.C.

2001-02-28

A review has been performed of existing information that describes geology, hydrogeology, and geochemistry at the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is operated by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, in Dade County, Florida. Treated sanitary wastewater is injected into a saline aquifer beneath the plant. Detection of contaminants commonly associated with treated sanitary wastewater in the freshwater aquifer that overlies the saline aquifer has indicated a need for a reevaluation of the ability of the confining layer above the saline aquifer to prevent fluid migration into the overlying freshwater aquifer. Review of the available data shows that themore » geologic data set is not sufficient to demonstrate that a competent confining layer is present between the saline and freshwater aquifers. The hydrogeologic data also do not indicate that a competent confining layer is present. The geochemical data show that the freshwater aquifer is contaminated with treated wastewater, and the spatial patterns of contamination are consistent with upward migration through localized conduits through the Middle Confining Unit, such as leaking wells or natural features. Recommendations for collection and interpretation of additional site characterization data are provided.« less

Evaluation of Confining Layer Integrity Beneath the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, Dade County, Florida

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Starr, Robert Charles; Green, Timothy Scott; Hull, Laurence Charles

2001-02-01

A review has been performed of existing information that describes geology, hydrogeology, and geochemistry at the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is operated by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department, in Dade County, Florida. Treated sanitary wastewater is injected into a saline aquifer beneath the plant. Detection of contaminants commonly associated with treated sanitary wastewater in the freshwater aquifer that overlies the saline aquifer has indicated a need for a reevaluation of the ability of the confining layer above the saline aquifer to prevent fluid migration into the overlying freshwater aquifer. Review of the available data shows that themore » geologic data set is not sufficient to demonstrate that a competent confining layer is present between the saline and freshwater aquifers. The hydrogeologic data also do not indicate that a competent confining layer is present. The geochemical data show that the freshwater aquifer is contaminated with treated wastewater, and the spatial patterns of contamination are consistent with upward migration through localized conduits through the Middle Confining Unit, such as leaking wells or natural features. Recommendations for collection and interpretation of additional site characterization data are provided.« less

Tracking the ultrafast motion of a single molecule by femtosecond orbital imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cocker, Tyler L.; Peller, Dominik; Yu, Ping; Repp, Jascha; Huber, Rupert

2016-11-01

Watching a single molecule move on its intrinsic timescale has been one of the central goals of modern nanoscience, and calls for measurements that combine ultrafast temporal resolution with atomic spatial resolution. Steady-state experiments access the requisite spatial scales, as illustrated by direct imaging of individual molecular orbitals using scanning tunnelling microscopy or the acquisition of tip-enhanced Raman and luminescence spectra with sub-molecular resolution. But tracking the intrinsic dynamics of a single molecule directly in the time domain faces the challenge that interactions with the molecule must be confined to a femtosecond time window. For individual nanoparticles, such ultrafast temporal confinement has been demonstrated by combining scanning tunnelling microscopy with so-called lightwave electronics, which uses the oscillating carrier wave of tailored light pulses to directly manipulate electronic motion on timescales faster even than a single cycle of light. Here we build on ultrafast terahertz scanning tunnelling microscopy to access a state-selective tunnelling regime, where the peak of a terahertz electric-field waveform transiently opens an otherwise forbidden tunnelling channel through a single molecular state. It thereby removes a single electron from an individual pentacene molecule’s highest occupied molecular orbital within a time window shorter than one oscillation cycle of the terahertz wave. We exploit this effect to record approximately 100-femtosecond snapshot images of the orbital structure with sub-ångström spatial resolution, and to reveal, through pump/probe measurements, coherent molecular vibrations at terahertz frequencies directly in the time domain. We anticipate that the combination of lightwave electronics and the atomic resolution of our approach will open the door to visualizing ultrafast photochemistry and the operation of molecular electronics on the single-orbital scale.

Ultrafast spintronics roadmap: from femtosecond spin current pulses to terahertz non-uniform spin dynamics via nano-confined spin transfer torques (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnikov, Alexey; Razdolski, Ilya; Alekhin, Alexandr; Ilin, Nikita; Meyburg, Jan; Diesing, Detlef; Roddatis, Vladimir; Rungger, Ivan; Stamenova, Maria; Sanvito, Stefano; Bovensiepen, Uwe

2016-10-01

Further development of spintronics requires miniaturization and reduction of characteristic timescales of spin dynamics combining the nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal ranges. These demands shift the focus of interest towards the fundamental open question of the interaction of femtosecond spin current (SC) pulses with a ferromagnet (FM). The spatio-temporal properties of the spin transfer torque (STT) exerted by ultrashort SC pulses on the FM open the time domain for studying STT fingerprint on spatially non-uniform magnetization dynamics. Using the sensitivity of magneto-induced second harmonic generation to SC, we develop technique for SC monitoring. With 20 fs resolution, we demonstrate the generation of 250 fs-long SC pulses in Fe/Au/Fe/MgO(001) structures. Their temporal profile indicates (i) nearly-ballistic hot electron transport in Au and (ii) that the pulse duration is primarily determined by the thermalization time of laser-excited hot carriers in Fe. Together with strongly spin-dependent Fe/Au interface transmission calculated for these carriers, this suggests the non-thermal spin-dependent Seebeck effect dominating the generation of ultrashort SC pulses. The analysis of SC transmission/reflection at the Au/Fe interface shows that hot electron spins orthogonal to the Fe magnetization rotate gaining huge parallel (anti-parallel) projection in transmitted (reflected) SC. This is accompanied by a STT-induced perturbation of the magnetization localized at the interface, which excites the inhomogeneous high-frequency spin dynamics in the FM. Time-resolved magneto-optical studies reveal the excitation of several standing spin wave modes in the Fe film with their spectrum extending up to 0.6 THz and indicating the STT spatial confinement to 2 nm.

Near ground level sensing for spatial analysis of vegetation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sauer, Tom; Rasure, John; Gage, Charlie

1991-01-01

Measured changes in vegetation indicate the dynamics of ecological processes and can identify the impacts from disturbances. Traditional methods of vegetation analysis tend to be slow because they are labor intensive; as a result, these methods are often confined to small local area measurements. Scientists need new algorithms and instruments that will allow them to efficiently study environmental dynamics across a range of different spatial scales. A new methodology that addresses this problem is presented. This methodology includes the acquisition, processing, and presentation of near ground level image data and its corresponding spatial characteristics. The systematic approach taken encompasses a feature extraction process, a supervised and unsupervised classification process, and a region labeling process yielding spatial information.

Simulation of dispersion in layered coastal aquifer systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reilly, T.E.

1990-01-01

A density-dependent solute-transport formulation is used to examine ground-water flow in layered coastal aquifers. The numerical experiments indicate that although the transition zone may be thought of as an impermeable 'sharp' interface with freshwater flow parallel to the transition zone in homogeneous aquifers, this is not the case for layered systems. Freshwater can discharge through the transition zone in the confining units. Further, for the best simulation of layered coastal aquifer systems, either a flow-direction-dependent dispersion formulation is required, or the dispersivities must change spatially to reflect the tight thin confining unit. ?? 1990.

Topological defects in two-dimensional liquid crystals confined by a box

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Xiaomei; Zhang, Hui; Chen, Jeff Z. Y.

2018-05-01

When a spatially uniform system that displays a liquid-crystal ordering on a two-dimensional surface is confined inside a rectangular box, the liquid crystal direction field develops inhomogeneous textures accompanied by topological defects because of the geometric frustrations. We show that the rich variety of nematic textures and defect patterns found in recent experimental and theoretical studies can be classified by the solutions of the rather fundamental, extended Onsager model. This is critically examined based on the determined free energies of different defect states, as functions of a few relevant, dimensionless geometric parameters.

Electric field induced optical gain of a hydrogenic impurity in a Cd{sub 0.8}Zn{sub 0.2}Se/ZnSe parabolic quantum dot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jasmine, P. Christina Lily; Peter, A. John, E-mail: a.john.peter@gmail.com

The dependence of electric field on the electronic and optical properties is investigated in a Cd{sub 0.8}Zn{sub 0.2}Se/ZnSe quantum dot. The hydrogenic binding energy, in the presence of electric field, is calculated with the spatial confinement effect. The electric field dependent optical gain with the photon energy is found using compact density matrix method. The results show that the electric field has a great influence on the optical properties of II-VI semiconductor quantum dot.

Synthesis of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles in a flow of immiscible liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matyushkin, L. B., E-mail: leva.matyushkin@gmail.com; Ryzhov, O. A.; Aleksandrova, O. A.

Nanoparticles of silver and cadmium selenide are obtained by the method of synthesis in a flow of immiscible liquids (water/toluene, water/dodecane); these nanoparticles manifest, respectively, the effects of plasmon resonance and the spatial confinement of charge carriers. The reactor used is a polytetrafluoroethylene capillary with temperature-controlled sections for particle nucleation and growth with the supply of precursors using micropumps. The diameters of the particles are determined from absorbance spectra and are found to be 40 nm for Ag nanoparticles and 1–2 nm for CdSe nanoparticles (depending on the growth duration).

Large Spatially Resolved Rectification in a Donor–Acceptor Molecular Heterojunction

DOE PAGES

Smerdon, Joseph A.; Giebink, Noel C.; Guisinger, Nathan P.; ...

2016-03-10

Here, we demonstrate that rectification ratios (RR) of ≳250 (≳1000) at biases of 0.5 V (1.2 V) are achievable at the two-molecule limit for donor–acceptor bilayers of pentacene on C 60 on Cu using scanning tunneling spectroscopy and microscopy. Using first-principles calculations, we show that the system behaves as a molecular Schottky diode with a tunneling transport mechanism from semiconducting pentacene to Cu- hybridized metallic C 60. Low-bias RRs vary by two orders-of-magnitude at the edge of these molecular heterojunctions due to increased Stark shifts and confinement effects.

Role of impurities in magnetically confined high temperature plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barnett, C.F.

1976-01-01

A summary is given of the atomic physics concerned with plasma cooling by impurities and the limiting effect that impurities may have on heating of plasmas by neutral injection. A general description is given of the tokamak concept and the present and next generation experiments are described. The time and spatial behavior of O and Mo multicharged ions in present hydrogen plasmas is presented. This is followed by a discussion of the power loss from a plasma containing one percent Fe. Finally, the limitation of plasma heating by energetic H or D injection is summarized. (MOW)

Detection of internal fields in double-metal terahertz resonators

DOE PAGES

Mitrofanov, Oleg; Han, Zhanghua; Ding, Fei; ...

2017-02-06

(THz) plasmonic double-metal resonators enable enhanced light-matter coupling by utilizing strong localization of the resonant field. The closed resonator design however restricts investigations of the light-matter interaction effects. We propose and demonstrate a method for spatial mapping and spectroscopic analysis of the internal resonant THz fields in plasmonic double-metal THz resonators. We use the aperture-type scanning near-field THz time-domain microscopy and the concept of image charges to probe the THz fields confined within the resonator. The experimental method opens doors to studies of light-matter coupling in deeply sub-wavelength volumes at THz frequencies.

A new concept for spatially divided Deep Reactive Ion Etching with ALD-based passivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roozeboom, F.; Kniknie, B.; Lankhorst, A. M.; Winands, G.; Knaapen, R.; Smets, M.; Poodt, P.; Dingemans, G.; Keuning, W.; Kessels, W. M. M.

2012-12-01

Conventional Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) is a plasma etch process with alternating half-cycles of 1) Si-etching with SF6 to form gaseous SiFx etch products, and 2) passivation with C4F8 that polymerizes as a protecting fluorocarbon deposit on the sidewalls and bottom of the etched features. In this work we report on a novel alternative and disruptive technology concept of Spatially-divided Deep Reactive Ion Etching, S-DRIE, where the process is converted from the time-divided into the spatially divided regime. The spatial division can be accomplished by inert gas bearing 'curtains' of heights down to ~20 μm. These curtains confine the reactive gases to individual (often linear) injection slots constructed in a gas injector head. By horizontally moving the substrate back and forth under the head one can realize the alternate exposures to the overall cycle. A second improvement in the spatially divided approach is the replacement of the CVD-based C4F8 passivation steps by ALD-based oxide (e.g. SiO2) deposition cycles. The method can have industrial potential in cost-effective creation of advanced 3D interconnects (TSVs), MEMS manufacturing and advanced patterning, e.g., in nanoscale transistor line edge roughness using Atomic Layer Etching.

Variational Monte Carlo Method with Dirichlet Boundary Conditions: Application to the Study of Confined Systems by Impenetrable Surfaces with Different Symmetries.

PubMed

Sarsa, Antonio; Le Sech, Claude

2011-09-13

Variational Monte Carlo method is a powerful tool to determine approximate wave functions of atoms, molecules, and solids up to relatively large systems. In the present work, we extend the variational Monte Carlo approach to study confined systems. Important properties of the atoms, such as the spatial distribution of the electronic charge, the energy levels, or the filling of electronic shells, are modified under confinement. An expression of the energy very similar to the estimator used for free systems is derived. This opens the possibility to study confined systems with little changes in the solution of the corresponding free systems. This is illustrated by the study of helium atom in its ground state (1)S and the first (3)S excited state confined by spherical, cylindrical, and plane impenetrable surfaces. The average interelectronic distances are also calculated. They decrease in general when the confinement is stronger; however, it is seen that they present a minimum for excited states under confinement by open surfaces (cylindrical, planes) around the radii values corresponding to ionization. The ground (2)S and the first (2)P and (2)D excited states of the lithium atom are calculated under spherical constraints for different confinement radii. A crossing between the (2)S and (2)P states is observed around rc = 3 atomic units, illustrating the modification of the atomic energy level under confinement. Finally the carbon atom is studied in the spherical symmetry by using both variational and diffusion Monte Carlo methods. It is shown that the hybridized state sp(3) becomes lower in energy than the ground state (3)P due to a modification and a mixing of the atomic orbitals s, p under strong confinement. This result suggests a model, at least of pedagogical interest, to interpret the basic properties of carbon atom in chemistry.

Engineering zonal cartilaginous tissue by modulating oxygen levels and mechanical cues through the depth of infrapatellar fat pad stem cell laden hydrogels.

PubMed

Luo, Lu; O'Reilly, Adam R; Thorpe, Stephen D; Buckley, Conor T; Kelly, Daniel J

2017-09-01

Engineering tissues with a structure and spatial composition mimicking those of native articular cartilage (AC) remains a challenge. This study examined if infrapatellar fat pad-derived stem cells (FPSCs) can be used to engineer cartilage grafts with a bulk composition and a spatial distribution of matrix similar to the native tissue. In an attempt to mimic the oxygen gradients and mechanical environment within AC, FPSC-laden hydrogels (either 2 mm or 4 mm in height) were confined to half of their thickness and/or subjected to dynamic compression (DC). Confining FPSC-laden hydrogels was predicted to accentuate the gradient in oxygen tension through the depth of the constructs (higher in the top and lower in the bottom), leading to enhanced glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and collagen synthesis in 2 mm high tissues. When subjected to DC alone, both GAG and collagen accumulation increased within 2 mm high unconfined constructs. Furthermore, the dynamic modulus of constructs increased from 0.96 MPa to 1.45 MPa following the application of DC. There was no synergistic benefit of coupling confinement and DC on overall levels of matrix accumulation; however in all constructs, irrespective of their height, the combination of these boundary conditions led to the development of engineered tissues that spatially best resembled native AC. The superficial region of these constructs mimicked that of native tissue, staining weakly for GAG, strongly for type II collagen, and in 4 mm high tissues more intensely for proteoglycan 4 (lubricin). This study demonstrated that FPSCs respond to joint-like environmental conditions by producing cartilage tissues mimicking native AC. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Temporal and Spatial Variability of the Confined Aquifer Head and Storage Properties in the San Luis Valley, Colorado Inferred From Multiple InSAR Missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jingyi; Knight, Rosemary; Zebker, Howard A.

2017-11-01

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data from multiple satellite missions were combined to study the temporal and spatial variability of head and storage properties in a confined aquifer system on a decadal time scale. The area of study was a 4,500 km2 agricultural basin in the San Luis Valley (SLV), Colorado. We had available previous analyses of C-band ERS-1/2 data from June 1992 to November 2000, and L-band ALOS PALSAR data from October 2009 to March 2011. We used C-band Envisat data to fill in the time period from November 2006 to July 2010. In processing the Envisat data, we successfully employed a phase interpolation between persistent scatterer pixels to reduce the impact of vegetation decorrelation, which can significantly reduce the quality of C-band InSAR data over agricultural basins. In comparing the results from the L-band ALOS data and C-band Envisat data in a 10 month overlapping time period, we found that the shorter wavelength of C-band InSAR allowed us to preserve small deformation signals that were not detectable using L-band ALOS data. A significant result was the finding that the elastic storage properties of the SLV confined aquifer system remained stable over the 20 year time period and vary slowly in space, allowing us to combine InSAR data acquired from multiple missions to fill the temporal and spatial gaps in well data. The InSAR estimated head levels were validated with well measurements, which indicate little permanent water-storage loss over the study time period in the SLV.

Spectra of confined positronium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munjal, D.; Silotia, P.; Prasad, V.

2017-12-01

Positronium is studied under the effect of spherically confined plasma environment. Exponentially Cosine Screened Coulomb potential (ECSC) has been used to include the dense plasma screening effect on positronium. Time independent Schrodinger equation is solved numerically. Various physical parameters such as energy eigenvalues, radial matrix elements, oscillator strengths, and polarizability are well explored as a function of confinement parameters. Oscillator strength gets drastically modified under confinement. We have also obtained the results for Ps confined under spherically confined Debye potential and compared with results of ECSC potential. Also incidental degeneracy for different values of confinement parameters has been reported for the first time for positronium.

Post-IOC space station: Models of operation and their implications for organizational behavior, performance and effectiveness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Danford, S.; Meindl, J.; Hunt, R.

1985-01-01

Issues of crew productivity during design work on space station are discussed. The crew productivity is defined almost exclusively in terms of human factors engineering and habitability design concerns. While such spatial environmental conditions are necessary to support crew performance and productivity, they are not sufficient to ensure high levels of crew performance and productivity on the post-Initial Operational Configurations (IOC) space station. The role of the organizational environment as a complement to the spatial environment for influencing crew performance in such isolated and confined work settings is examined. Three possible models of operation for post-IOC space station's organizational environment are identified and it is explained how they and space station's spatial environment will combine and interact to occasion patterns of crew behavior is suggested. A three phase program of research design: (1) identify patterns of crew behavior likely to be occasioned on post-IOC space station for each of the three models of operation; and (2) to determine proactive/preventative management strategies which could be adopted to maximize the emergence of preferred outcomes in crew behavior under each of the several spatial and organizational environment combinations.

Far-Field Effects of Large Earthquakes on South Florida's Confined Aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voss, N. K.; Wdowinski, S.

2012-12-01

The similarity between a seismometer and a well hydraulic head record during the passage of a seismic wave has long been documented. This is true even at large distances from earthquake epicenters. South Florida lacks a dense seismic array but does contain a comparably dense network of monitoring wells. The large spatial distribution of deep monitoring wells in South Florida provides an opportunity to study the variance of aquifer response to the passage of seismic waves. We conducted a preliminary study of hydraulic head data, provided by the South Florida Water Management District, from 9 deep wells in South Florida's confined Floridian Aquifer in response to 27 main shock events (January 2010- April 2012) with magnitude 6.9 or greater. Coseismic hydraulic head response was observed in 7 of the 27 events. In order to determine what governs aquifer response to seismic events, earthquake parameters were compared for the 7 positive events. Seismic energy density (SED), an empirical relationship between distance and magnitude, was also used to compare the relative energy between the events at each well site. SED is commonly used as a parameter for establishing thresholds for hydrologic events in the near and intermediate fields. Our analysis yielded a threshold SED for well response in South Florida as 8 x 10-3 J m-3, which is consistent with other studies. Deep earthquakes, with SED above this threshold, did not appear to trigger hydraulic head oscillations. The amplitude of hydraulic head oscillations had no discernable relationship to SED levels. Preliminary results indicate a need for a modification of the SED equation to better accommodate depth in order to be of use in the study of hydrologic response in the far field. We plan to conduct a more comprehensive study incorporating a larger subset (~60) of wells in South Florida in order to further examine the spatial variance of aquifers to the passing of seismic waves as well as better confine the relationship between earthquake depth and aquifer response.

Surface-Activated Coupling Reactions Confined on a Surface.

PubMed

Dong, Lei; Liu, Pei Nian; Lin, Nian

2015-10-20

Chemical reactions may take place in a pure phase of gas or liquid or at the interface of two phases (gas-solid or liquid-solid). Recently, the emerging field of "surface-confined coupling reactions" has attracted intensive attention. In this process, reactants, intermediates, and products of a coupling reaction are adsorbed on a solid-vacuum or a solid-liquid interface. The solid surface restricts all reaction steps on the interface, in other words, the reaction takes place within a lower-dimensional, for example, two-dimensional, space. Surface atoms that are fixed in the surface and adatoms that move on the surface often activate the surface-confined coupling reactions. The synergy of surface morphology and activity allow some reactions that are inefficient or prohibited in the gas or liquid phase to proceed efficiently when the reactions are confined on a surface. Over the past decade, dozens of well-known "textbook" coupling reactions have been shown to proceed as surface-confined coupling reactions. In most cases, the surface-confined coupling reactions were discovered by trial and error, and the reaction pathways are largely unknown. It is thus highly desirable to unravel the mechanisms, mechanisms of surface activation in particular, of the surface-confined coupling reactions. Because the reactions take place on surfaces, advanced surface science techniques can be applied to study the surface-confined coupling reactions. Among them, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are the two most extensively used experimental tools. The former resolves submolecular structures of individual reactants, intermediates, and products in real space, while the latter monitors the chemical states during the reactions in real time. Combination of the two methods provides unprecedented spatial and temporal information on the reaction pathways. The experimental findings are complemented by theoretical modeling. In particular, density-functional theory (DFT) transition-state calculations have been used to shed light on reaction mechanisms and to unravel the trends of different surface materials. In this Account, we discuss recent progress made in two widely studied surface-confined coupling reactions, aryl-aryl (Ullmann-type) coupling and alkyne-alkyne (Glaser-type) coupling, and focus on surface activation effects. Combined experimental and theoretical studies on the same reactions taking place on different metal surfaces have clearly demonstrated that different surfaces not only reduce the reaction barrier differently and render different reaction pathways but also control the morphology of the reaction products and, to some degree, select the reaction products. We end the Account with a list of questions to be addressed in the future. Satisfactorily answering these questions may lead to using the surface-confined coupling reactions to synthesize predefined products with high yield.

Aharonov-Bohm effect in graphene Möbius strips: an analytical treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira de Souza, Jose Fernando; de Lima Ribeiro, Carlos Alberto; Furtado, Claudio

2017-05-01

In this work, the influence of an Aharonov-Bohm flux on the low energy physical properties of graphene nanorings exhibiting Möbius topology is examined. Our approach lies in the continuum description of graphene, providing an analytical treatment for Aharonov-Bohm problem in the context of general relativistic confined systems, whose main goal is to understand the role of boundary conditions and their effects in such a background. We study a class of quantum rings described by a particular set of boundary conditions which combines infinite mass confinement along the transverse direction with a Möbius-type periodicity longitudinally, in order to sketch out insights into the electronic behavior of typical hard wall nanoribbons within a relativistic domain in response to the interplay between non-trivial topology and quantum interference effects. Boundary conditions are found to be only partially compatible, leading to spatial constraints on the solution, which also manifests itself in the nature of energy spectrum and persistent currents. Expressions for flux-dependent energy eigenvalues and persistent currents are explicitly calculated, as well as comparative graphs are plotted and analyzed. Both quantities are shown to alternate their expressions not only in dependence on the transverse modes, but also showing sensitivity to the allowed positions of the domain.

Estimation of the temperature spatial variability in confined spaces based on thermal imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Augustyn, Grzegorz; Jurasz, Jakub; Jurczyk, Krzysztof; Korbiel, Tomasz; Mikulik, Jerzy; Pawlik, Marcin; Rumin, Rafał

2017-11-01

In developed countries the salaries of office workers are several times higher than the total cost of maintaining and operating the building. Therefore even a small improvement in human work productivity and performance as a result of enhancing the quality of their work environment may lead to a meaningful economic benefits. The air temperature is the most commonly used indicator in assessing the indoor environment quality. What is more, it is well known that thermal comfort has the biggest impact on employees performance and their ability to work efficiently. In majority of office buildings, indoor temperature is managed by heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) appliances. However the way how they are currently managed and controlled leads to the nonhomogeneous distribution of temperature in certain space. An approach to determining the spatial variability of temperature in confined spaces was introduced based on thermal imaging temperature measurements. The conducted research and obtained results enabled positive verification of the method and creation of surface plot illustrating the temperature variability.

Toll-like receptor ligands sensitize B-cell receptor signalling by reducing actin-dependent spatial confinement of the receptor.

PubMed

Freeman, Spencer A; Jaumouillé, Valentin; Choi, Kate; Hsu, Brian E; Wong, Harikesh S; Abraham, Libin; Graves, Marcia L; Coombs, Daniel; Roskelley, Calvin D; Das, Raibatak; Grinstein, Sergio; Gold, Michael R

2015-02-03

Integrating signals from multiple receptors allows cells to interpret the physiological context in which a signal is received. Here we describe a mechanism for receptor crosstalk in which receptor-induced increases in actin dynamics lower the threshold for signalling by another receptor. We show that the Toll-like receptor ligands lipopolysaccharide and CpG DNA, which are conserved microbial molecules, enhance signalling by the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) by activating the actin-severing protein cofilin. Single-particle tracking reveals that increased severing of actin filaments reduces the spatial confinement of the BCR within the plasma membrane and increases BCR mobility. This allows more frequent collisions between BCRs and greater signalling in response to low densities of membrane-bound antigen. These findings implicate actin dynamics as a means of tuning receptor signalling and as a mechanism by which B cells distinguish inert antigens from those that are accompanied by indicators of microbial infection.

Dynamic molecular confinement in the plasma membrane by microdomains and the cytoskeleton meshwork

PubMed Central

Lenne, Pierre-François; Wawrezinieck, Laure; Conchonaud, Fabien; Wurtz, Olivier; Boned, Annie; Guo, Xiao-Jun; Rigneault, Hervé; He, Hai-Tao; Marguet, Didier

2006-01-01

It is by now widely recognized that cell membranes show complex patterns of lateral organization. Two mechanisms involving either a lipid-dependent (microdomain model) or cytoskeleton-based (meshwork model) process are thought to be responsible for these plasma membrane organizations. In the present study, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy measurements on various spatial scales were performed in order to directly identify and characterize these two processes in live cells with a high temporal resolution, without any loss of spatial information. Putative raft markers were found to be dynamically compartmented within tens of milliseconds into small microdomains (∅<120 nm) that are sensitive to the cholesterol and sphingomyelin levels, whereas actin-based cytoskeleton barriers are responsible for the confinement of the transferrin receptor protein. A free-like diffusion was observed when both the lipid-dependent and cytoskeleton-based organizations were disrupted, which suggests that these are two main compartmentalizing forces at work in the plasma membrane. PMID:16858413

Toll-like receptor ligands sensitize B-cell receptor signalling by reducing actin-dependent spatial confinement of the receptor

PubMed Central

Freeman, Spencer A.; Jaumouillé, Valentin; Choi, Kate; Hsu, Brian E.; Wong, Harikesh S.; Abraham, Libin; Graves, Marcia L.; Coombs, Daniel; Roskelley, Calvin D.; Das, Raibatak; Grinstein, Sergio; Gold, Michael R.

2015-01-01

Integrating signals from multiple receptors allows cells to interpret the physiological context in which a signal is received. Here we describe a mechanism for receptor crosstalk in which receptor-induced increases in actin dynamics lower the threshold for signalling by another receptor. We show that the Toll-like receptor ligands lipopolysaccharide and CpG DNA, which are conserved microbial molecules, enhance signalling by the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) by activating the actin-severing protein cofilin. Single-particle tracking reveals that increased severing of actin filaments reduces the spatial confinement of the BCR within the plasma membrane and increases BCR mobility. This allows more frequent collisions between BCRs and greater signalling in response to low densities of membrane-bound antigen. These findings implicate actin dynamics as a means of tuning receptor signalling and as a mechanism by which B cells distinguish inert antigens from those that are accompanied by indicators of microbial infection. PMID:25644899

New thermodynamical force in plasma phase space that controls turbulence and turbulent transport.

PubMed

Itoh, Sanae-I; Itoh, Kimitaka

2012-01-01

Physics of turbulence and turbulent transport has been developed on the central dogma that spatial gradients constitute the controlling parameters, such as Reynolds number and Rayleigh number. Recent experiments with the nonequilibrium plasmas in magnetic confinement devices, however, have shown that the turbulence and transport change much faster than global parameters, after an abrupt change of heating power. Here we propose a theory of turbulence in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas, showing that the heating power directly influences the turbulence. New mechanism, that an external source couples with plasma fluctuations in phase space so as to affect turbulence, is investigated. A new thermodynamical force in phase-space, i.e., the derivative of heating power by plasma pressure, plays the role of new control parameter, in addition to spatial gradients. Following the change of turbulence, turbulent transport is modified accordingly. The condition under which this new effect can be observed is also evaluated.

Antiferromagnetic order in the Hubbard model on the Penrose lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koga, Akihisa; Tsunetsugu, Hirokazu

2017-12-01

We study an antiferromagnetic order in the ground state of the half-filled Hubbard model on the Penrose lattice and investigate the effects of quasiperiodic lattice structure. In the limit of infinitesimal Coulomb repulsion U →+0 , the staggered magnetizations persist to be finite, and their values are determined by confined states, which are strictly localized with thermodynamics degeneracy. The magnetizations exhibit an exotic spatial pattern, and have the same sign in each of cluster regions, the size of which ranges from 31 sites to infinity. With increasing U , they continuously evolve to those of the corresponding spin model in the U =∞ limit. In both limits of U , local magnetizations exhibit a fairly intricate spatial pattern that reflects the quasiperiodic structure, but the pattern differs between the two limits. We have analyzed this pattern change by a mode analysis by the singular value decomposition method for the fractal-like magnetization pattern projected into the perpendicular space.

Memory effects in active particles with exponentially correlated propulsion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandford, Cato; Grosberg, Alexander Y.

2018-01-01

The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particle (OUP) model imagines a microscopic swimmer propelled by an active force which is correlated with itself on a finite time scale. Here we investigate the influence of external potentials on an ideal suspension of OUPs, in both one and two spatial dimensions, with particular attention paid to the pressure exerted on "confining walls." We employ a mathematical connection between the local density of OUPs and the statistics of their propulsion force to demonstrate the existence of an equation of state in one dimension. In higher dimensions we show that active particles generate a nonconservative force field in the surrounding medium. A simplified far-from-equilibrium model is proposed to account for OUP behavior in the vicinity of potentials. Building on this, we interpret simulations of OUPs in more complicated situations involving asymmetrical and spatially curved potentials, and characterize the resulting inhomogeneous stresses in terms of competing active length scales.

Optogenetic control of ATP release

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Matthew A.; Joshi, Bipin; Gu, Ling; Feranchak, Andrew; Mohanty, Samarendra K.

2013-03-01

Controlled release of ATP can be used for understanding extracellular purinergic signaling. While coarse mechanical forces and hypotonic stimulation have been utilized in the past to initiate ATP release from cells, these methods are neither spatially accurate nor temporally precise. Further, these methods cannot be utilized in a highly effective cell-specific manner. To mitigate the uncertainties regarding cellular-specificity and spatio-temporal release of ATP, we herein demonstrate use of optogenetics for ATP release. ATP release in response to optogenetic stimulation was monitored by Luciferin-Luciferase assay (North American firefly, photinus pyralis) using luminometer as well as mesoscopic bioluminescence imaging. Our result demonstrates repetitive release of ATP subsequent to optogenetic stimulation. It is thus feasible that purinergic signaling can be directly detected via imaging if the stimulus can be confined to single cell or in a spatially-defined group of cells. This study opens up new avenue to interrogate the mechanisms of purinergic signaling.

New Thermodynamical Force in Plasma Phase Space that Controls Turbulence and Turbulent Transport

PubMed Central

Itoh, Sanae-I.; Itoh, Kimitaka

2012-01-01

Physics of turbulence and turbulent transport has been developed on the central dogma that spatial gradients constitute the controlling parameters, such as Reynolds number and Rayleigh number. Recent experiments with the nonequilibrium plasmas in magnetic confinement devices, however, have shown that the turbulence and transport change much faster than global parameters, after an abrupt change of heating power. Here we propose a theory of turbulence in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas, showing that the heating power directly influences the turbulence. New mechanism, that an external source couples with plasma fluctuations in phase space so as to affect turbulence, is investigated. A new thermodynamical force in phase-space, i.e., the derivative of heating power by plasma pressure, plays the role of new control parameter, in addition to spatial gradients. Following the change of turbulence, turbulent transport is modified accordingly. The condition under which this new effect can be observed is also evaluated. PMID:23155481

New Thermodynamical Force in Plasma Phase Space that Controls Turbulence and Turbulent Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itoh, Sanae-I.; Itoh, Kimitaka

2012-11-01

Physics of turbulence and turbulent transport has been developed on the central dogma that spatial gradients constitute the controlling parameters, such as Reynolds number and Rayleigh number. Recent experiments with the nonequilibrium plasmas in magnetic confinement devices, however, have shown that the turbulence and transport change much faster than global parameters, after an abrupt change of heating power. Here we propose a theory of turbulence in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas, showing that the heating power directly influences the turbulence. New mechanism, that an external source couples with plasma fluctuations in phase space so as to affect turbulence, is investigated. A new thermodynamical force in phase-space, i.e., the derivative of heating power by plasma pressure, plays the role of new control parameter, in addition to spatial gradients. Following the change of turbulence, turbulent transport is modified accordingly. The condition under which this new effect can be observed is also evaluated.

Altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Westerman, Drew A.; Gillip, Jonathan A.; Richards, Joseph M.; Hays, Phillip D.; Clark, Brian R.

2016-09-29

A hydrogeologic framework was constructed to represent the altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units within the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system as part of a regional groundwater-flow model supported by the U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program. The Ozark Plateaus aquifer system study area is nearly 70,000 square miles and includes parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Nine hydrogeologic units were selected for delineation within the aquifer system and include the Western Interior Plains confining system, the Springfield Plateau aquifer, the Ozark confining unit, the Ozark aquifer, which was divided into the upper, middle, and lower Ozark aquifers to better capture the spatial variation in the hydrologic properties, the St. Francois confining unit, the St. Francois aquifer, and the basement confining unit. Geophysical and well-cutting logs, along with lithologic descriptions by well drillers, were compiled and interpreted to create hydrologic altitudes for each unit. The final compiled dataset included more than 23,000 individual altitude points (excluding synthetic points) representing the nine hydrogeologic units within the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system.

Size-tunable Lateral Confinement in Monolayer Semiconductors

DOE PAGES

Wei, Guohua; Czaplewski, David A.; Lenferink, Erik J.; ...

2017-06-12

Three-dimensional confinement allows semiconductor quantum dots to exhibit size-tunable electronic and optical properties that enable a wide range of opto-electronic applications from displays, solar cells and bio-medical imaging to single-electron devices. Additional modalities such as spin and valley properties in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides provide further degrees of freedom requisite for information processing and spintronics. In nanostructures, however, spatial confinement can cause hybridization that inhibits the robustness of these emergent properties. Here in this paper, we show that laterally-confined excitons in monolayer MoS 2 nanodots can be created through top-down nanopatterning with controlled size tunability. Unlike chemically-exfoliated monolayer nanoparticles, themore » lithographically patterned monolayer semiconductor nanodots down to a radius of 15 nm exhibit the same valley polarization as in a continuous monolayer sheet. The inherited bulk spin and valley properties, the size dependence of excitonic energies, and the ability to fabricate MoS 2 nanostructures using semiconductor-compatible processing suggest that monolayer semiconductor nanodots have potential to be multimodal building blocks of integrated optoelectronics and spintronics systems« less

Effects of high sound speed confiners on ANFO detonations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiyanda, Charles; Jackson, Scott; Short, Mark

2011-06-01

The interaction between high explosive (HE) detonations and high sound speed confiners, where the confiner sound speed exceeds the HE's detonation speed, has not been thoroughly studied. The subsonic nature of the flow in the confiner allows stress waves to travel ahead of the main detonation front and influence the upstream HE state. The interaction between the detonation wave and the confiner is also no longer a local interaction, so that the confiner thickness now plays a significant role in the detonation dynamics. We report here on larger scale experiments in which a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) is detonated in aluminium confiners with varying charge diameter and confiner thickness. The results of these large-scale experiments are compared with previous large-scale ANFO experiments in cardboard, as well as smaller-scale aluminium confined ANFO experiments, to characterize the effects of confiner thickness.

Polariton solitons and nonlinear localized states in a one-dimensional semiconductor microcavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ting-Wei; Cheng, Szu-Cheng

2018-01-01

This paper presents numerical studies of cavity polariton solitons (CPSs) in a resonantly pumped semiconductor microcavity with an imbedded spatial defect. In the bistable regime of the well-known homogeneous polariton condensate, with proper incident wave vector and pump strength, bright and/or dark cavity solitons can be found in the presence of a spatially confined potential. The minimum pump strength required to observe the CPSs or nonlinear localized states in this parametric pump scheme is therefore reported.

Spatial optimization of operationally relevant large fire confine and point protection strategies: Model development and test cases

Treesearch

Yu Wei; Matthew P. Thompson; Jessica R. Haas; Gregory K. Dillon; Christopher D. O’Connor

2018-01-01

This study introduces a large fire containment strategy that builds upon recent advances in spatial fire planning, notably the concept of potential wildland fire operation delineations (PODs). Multiple PODs can be clustered together to form a “box” that is referred as the “response POD” (or rPOD). Fire lines would be built along the boundary of an rPOD to contain a...

In-situ confined formation of NiFe layered double hydroxide quantum dots in expanded graphite for active electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jinxue; Li, Xiaoyan; Sun, Yanfang; Liu, Qingyun; Quan, Zhenlan; Zhang, Xiao

2018-06-01

Development of noble-metal-free catalysts towards highly efficient electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical but challenging in the renewable energy area. Herein, we firstly embed NiFe LDHs quantum dots (QDs) into expanded graphite (NiFe LDHs/EG) via in-situ confined formation process. The interlayer spacing of EG layers acts as nanoreactors for spatially confined formation of NiFe LDHs QDs. The QDs supply huge catalytic sites for OER. The in-situ decoration endows the strong affinity between QDs with EG, thus inducing fast charge transfer. Based on the aforementioned benefits, the designed catalyst exhibits outstanding OER properties, in terms of small overpotential (220 mV required to generate 10 mA cm-2), low Tafel slope, and good durable stability, making it a promising candidate for inexpensive OER catalyst.

Axial Structure of High-Vacuum Planar Magnetron Discharge Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miura, Tsutomu

1999-09-01

The spatial structure of high-vacuum planar magnetron discharge is theoretically investigated taking into account the electron confinement. The boundary xes of the electron confinement region depends on BA with Ea/BA as the parameter (BA: the magnetic flux density at the anode, Ea: the average electric field strength). The location at which the frequency of ionization events takes the maximum is expressed as CnNxiep (CnN: a factor related to the electron density distribution, xiep: the distance of the location from the cathode at which the ionization is most efficient). With increasing Ea and BA at a fixed Ea/BA, the density of the confined energetic electrons increases. With increasing Ea, the region where ionization is efficient shifts to the cathode side to give a high efficiency of the magnet. The boundary xes as determined by the probe method agreed with the theoretical prediction.

Enzymatic reactions in confined environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Küchler, Andreas; Yoshimoto, Makoto; Luginbühl, Sandra; Mavelli, Fabio; Walde, Peter

2016-05-01

Within each biological cell, surface- and volume-confined enzymes control a highly complex network of chemical reactions. These reactions are efficient, timely, and spatially defined. Efforts to transfer such appealing features to in vitro systems have led to several successful examples of chemical reactions catalysed by isolated and immobilized enzymes. In most cases, these enzymes are either bound or adsorbed to an insoluble support, physically trapped in a macromolecular network, or encapsulated within compartments. Advanced applications of enzymatic cascade reactions with immobilized enzymes include enzymatic fuel cells and enzymatic nanoreactors, both for in vitro and possible in vivo applications. In this Review, we discuss some of the general principles of enzymatic reactions confined on surfaces, at interfaces, and inside small volumes. We also highlight the similarities and differences between the in vivo and in vitro cases and attempt to critically evaluate some of the necessary future steps to improve our fundamental understanding of these systems.

X-ray shadow imprint of hydrodynamic instabilities on the surface of inertial confinement fusion capsules by the fuel fill tube

DOE PAGES

MacPhee, A. G.; Casey, D. T.; Clark, D. S.; ...

2017-03-30

Measurements of hydrodynamic instability growth for a high-density carbon ablator for indirectly driven inertial confinement fusion implosions on the National Ignition Facility are reported. We observe significant unexpected features on the capsule surface created by shadows of the capsule fill tube, as illuminated by laser-irradiated x-ray spots on the hohlraum wall. These shadows increase the spatial size and shape of the fill tube perturbation in a way that can significantly degrade performance in layered implosions compared to previous expectations. The measurements were performed at a convergence ratio of ~2 using in-flight x-ray radiography. The initial seed due to shadow imprintmore » is estimated to be equivalent to ~50–100 nm of solid ablator material. As a result, this discovery has prompted the need for a mitigation strategy for future inertial confinement fusion designs as proposed here.« less

X-ray shadow imprint of hydrodynamic instabilities on the surface of inertial confinement fusion capsules by the fuel fill tube

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

MacPhee, A. G.; Casey, D. T.; Clark, D. S.

Measurements of hydrodynamic instability growth for a high-density carbon ablator for indirectly driven inertial confinement fusion implosions on the National Ignition Facility are reported. We observe significant unexpected features on the capsule surface created by shadows of the capsule fill tube, as illuminated by laser-irradiated x-ray spots on the hohlraum wall. These shadows increase the spatial size and shape of the fill tube perturbation in a way that can significantly degrade performance in layered implosions compared to previous expectations. The measurements were performed at a convergence ratio of ~2 using in-flight x-ray radiography. The initial seed due to shadow imprintmore » is estimated to be equivalent to ~50–100 nm of solid ablator material. As a result, this discovery has prompted the need for a mitigation strategy for future inertial confinement fusion designs as proposed here.« less

Three-dimensional spatiotemporal focusing of holographic patterns

PubMed Central

Hernandez, Oscar; Papagiakoumou, Eirini; Tanese, Dimitrii; Fidelin, Kevin; Wyart, Claire; Emiliani, Valentina

2016-01-01

Two-photon excitation with temporally focused pulses can be combined with phase-modulation approaches, such as computer-generated holography and generalized phase contrast, to efficiently distribute light into two-dimensional, axially confined, user-defined shapes. Adding lens-phase modulations to 2D-phase holograms enables remote axial pattern displacement as well as simultaneous pattern generation in multiple distinct planes. However, the axial confinement linearly degrades with lateral shape area in previous reports where axially shifted holographic shapes were not temporally focused. Here we report an optical system using two spatial light modulators to independently control transverse- and axial-target light distribution. This approach enables simultaneous axial translation of single or multiple spatiotemporally focused patterns across the sample volume while achieving the axial confinement of temporal focusing. We use the system's capability to photoconvert tens of Kaede-expressing neurons with single-cell resolution in live zebrafish larvae. PMID:27306044

Receptor dimer stabilization by hierarchical plasma membrane microcompartments regulates cytokine signaling

PubMed Central

You, Changjiang; Marquez-Lago, Tatiana T.; Richter, Christian Paolo; Wilmes, Stephan; Moraga, Ignacio; Garcia, K. Christopher; Leier, André; Piehler, Jacob

2016-01-01

The interaction dynamics of signaling complexes is emerging as a key determinant that regulates the specificity of cellular responses. We present a combined experimental and computational study that quantifies the consequences of plasma membrane microcompartmentalization for the dynamics of type I interferon receptor complexes. By using long-term dual-color quantum dot (QD) tracking, we found that the lifetime of individual ligand-induced receptor heterodimers depends on the integrity of the membrane skeleton (MSK), which also proved important for efficient downstream signaling. By pair correlation tracking and localization microscopy as well as by fast QD tracking, we identified a secondary confinement within ~300-nm-sized zones. A quantitative spatial stochastic diffusion-reaction model, entirely parameterized on the basis of experimental data, predicts that transient receptor confinement by the MSK meshwork allows for rapid reassociation of dissociated receptor dimers. Moreover, the experimentally observed apparent stabilization of receptor dimers in the plasma membrane was reproduced by simulations of a refined, hierarchical compartment model. Our simulations further revealed that the two-dimensional association rate constant is a key parameter for controlling the extent of MSK-mediated stabilization of protein complexes, thus ensuring the specificity of this effect. Together, experimental evidence and simulations support the hypothesis that passive receptor confinement by MSK-based microcompartmentalization promotes maintenance of signaling complexes in the plasma membrane. PMID:27957535

Towards sub-nanometer real-space observation of spin and orbital magnetism at the Fe/MgO interface

PubMed Central

Thersleff, Thomas; Muto, Shunsuke; Werwiński, Mirosław; Spiegelberg, Jakob; Kvashnin, Yaroslav; Hjӧrvarsson, Björgvin; Eriksson, Olle; Rusz, Ján; Leifer, Klaus

2017-01-01

While the performance of magnetic tunnel junctions based on metal/oxide interfaces is determined by hybridization, charge transfer, and magnetic properties at the interface, there are currently only limited experimental techniques with sufficient spatial resolution to directly observe these effects simultaneously in real-space. In this letter, we demonstrate an experimental method based on Electron Magnetic Circular Dichroism (EMCD) that will allow researchers to simultaneously map magnetic transitions and valency in real-space over interfacial cross-sections with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. We apply this method to an Fe/MgO bilayer system, observing a significant enhancement in the orbital to spin moment ratio that is strongly localized to the interfacial region. Through the use of first-principles calculations, multivariate statistical analysis, and Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), we explore the extent to which this enhancement can be attributed to emergent magnetism due to structural confinement at the interface. We conclude that this method has the potential to directly visualize spin and orbital moments at buried interfaces in magnetic systems with unprecedented spatial resolution. PMID:28338011

Towards sub-nanometer real-space observation of spin and orbital magnetism at the Fe/MgO interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thersleff, Thomas; Muto, Shunsuke; Werwiński, Mirosław; Spiegelberg, Jakob; Kvashnin, Yaroslav; Hjӧrvarsson, Björgvin; Eriksson, Olle; Rusz, Ján; Leifer, Klaus

2017-03-01

While the performance of magnetic tunnel junctions based on metal/oxide interfaces is determined by hybridization, charge transfer, and magnetic properties at the interface, there are currently only limited experimental techniques with sufficient spatial resolution to directly observe these effects simultaneously in real-space. In this letter, we demonstrate an experimental method based on Electron Magnetic Circular Dichroism (EMCD) that will allow researchers to simultaneously map magnetic transitions and valency in real-space over interfacial cross-sections with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. We apply this method to an Fe/MgO bilayer system, observing a significant enhancement in the orbital to spin moment ratio that is strongly localized to the interfacial region. Through the use of first-principles calculations, multivariate statistical analysis, and Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), we explore the extent to which this enhancement can be attributed to emergent magnetism due to structural confinement at the interface. We conclude that this method has the potential to directly visualize spin and orbital moments at buried interfaces in magnetic systems with unprecedented spatial resolution.

Preparation of nanocrystals and nanocomposites of nanocrystal-conjugated polymer, and their photophysical properties in confined geometries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Jun

2007-01-01

Semiconductors nanocrystals (NCs), also called quantum dots (QDs), have attracted tremendous interest over the past decade in the fields of physics, chemistry, and engineering. Due to the quantum-confined nature of QDs, the variation of particle size provides continuous and predictable changes in fluorescence emission. On the other hand, conjugated polymers (CPs) have been extensively studied for two decades due to their semiconductor-like optical and electronic properties. The electron and energy transfer between NCs and CPs occur in solar cells and light emitting diodes (LEDs), respectively. Placing CPs in direct contact with a NC (i.e., preparing NC-CP nanocomposites) carries advantage overmore » cases where NC aggregation dominates. Such NC-CP nanocomposites possess a well-defined interface that significantly promotes the charge or energy transfer between these two components. However, very few studies have centered on such direct integration. We prepared NCs and NC-CP nanocomposites based on heck coupling and investigated the energy and charge transfer between semiconductor NCs (i.e., CdSe QDs), CPs (i.e., poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT)) in the nanocomposites in confined geometries. Two novel strategies were used to confine NC and/or NC-CP nanocomposites: (a) directly immobilizing nanohybrids, QDs and nanorods in nanoscopic porous alumina membrane (PAM) , and (b) confining the QDs and CPs in sphere-on-flat geometry to induce self-assembly. While investigating the confinement effect, gradient concentric ring patterns of high regularity form spontaneously simply by allowing a droplet of solution containing either conjugated polymer or semiconductor nanocrystal in a consecutive stick-slip mothion in a confined geometry. Such constrained evaporation can be utilized as a simple, cheap, and robust strategy for self-assembling various materials with easily tailored optical and electronic properties into spatially ordered, two-dimensional patterns. These self-organized patterns of functional nanoscale materials over large areas offer a tremendous potential for applications in optoelectronic devices, LEDs, solar cells, and biosensors. Meanwhile, spherical nanocrystals (i.e. CdSe/ZnS core/shell QDs) were placed in a hexagonal array of highly ordered cylindrical nanopores of PAMs by a simple dip-coating method and vacuum suction process, respectively. The fluorescence of CdSe/ZnS QD was retained after being filled inside PAMs and the filling contents were obtained via transmission UV-vis measurements.« less

Fusion Plasma Performance and Confinement Studies on JT-60 and JT-60U

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kamada, Y.; Fujita, T.; Ishida, S.

2002-09-15

Fusion plasma performance and confinement studies on JT-60 and JT-60U are reviewed. With the main aim of providing a physics basis for ITER and the steady-state tokamak reactors, JT-60/JT-60U has been developing and optimizing the operational concepts, and extending the discharge regimes toward sustainment of high integrated performance in the reactor relevant parameter regime. In addition to achievement of high fusion plasma performances such as the equivalent breakeven condition (Q{sub DT}{sup eq} up to 1.25) and a high fusion triple product n{sub D}(0){tau}{sub E}T{sub i}(0) = 1.5 x 10{sup 21} m{sup -3}skeV, JT-60U has demonstrated the integrated performance of highmore » confinement, high {beta}{sub N}, full non-inductive current drive with a large fraction of bootstrap current. These favorable performances have been achieved in the two advanced operation regimes, the reversed magnetic shear (RS) and the weak magnetic shear (high-{beta}{sub p}) ELMy H modes characterized by both internal transport barriers (ITB) and edge transport barriers (ETB). The key factors in optimizing these plasmas towards high integrated performance are control of profiles of current, pressure, rotation, etc. utilizing a variety of heating, current drive, torque input, and particle control capabilities and high triangularity operation. As represented by discovery of ITBs (density ITB in the central pellet mode, ion temperature ITB in the high-{beta}{sub p} mode, and electron temperature ITB in the reversed shear mode), confinement studies in JT-60/JT-60U have been emphasizing freedom and also restriction of radial profiles of temperature and density. In addition to characterization of confinement and analyses of transport properties of the OH, the L-mode, the H-mode, the pellet mode, the high-{beta}{sub p} mode, and the RS mode, JT-60U has clarified formation conditions, spatial structures and dynamics of edge and internal transport barriers, and evaluated effects of repetitive MHD events on confinement such as sawteeth and ELMs. Through these studies, JT-60U has demonstrated applicability of the high confinement modes to ITER and the steady-state tokamak reactors.« less

Spatially distributed multipartite entanglement enables EPR steering of atomic clouds.

PubMed

Kunkel, Philipp; Prüfer, Maximilian; Strobel, Helmut; Linnemann, Daniel; Frölian, Anika; Gasenzer, Thomas; Gärttner, Martin; Oberthaler, Markus K

2018-04-27

A key resource for distributed quantum-enhanced protocols is entanglement between spatially separated modes. However, the robust generation and detection of entanglement between spatially separated regions of an ultracold atomic system remain a challenge. We used spin mixing in a tightly confined Bose-Einstein condensate to generate an entangled state of indistinguishable particles in a single spatial mode. We show experimentally that this entanglement can be spatially distributed by self-similar expansion of the atomic cloud. We used spatially resolved spin read-out to reveal a particularly strong form of quantum correlations known as Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering between distinct parts of the expanded cloud. Based on the strength of EPR steering, we constructed a witness, which confirmed genuine 5-partite entanglement. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Vessel packaging effect in laser speckle contrast imaging and laser Doppler imaging.

PubMed

Fredriksson, Ingemar; Larsson, Marcus

2017-10-01

Laser speckle-based techniques are frequently used to assess microcirculatory blood flow. Perfusion estimates are calculated either by analyzing the speckle fluctuations over time as in laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF), or by analyzing the speckle contrast as in laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI). The perfusion estimates depend on the amount of blood and its speed distribution. However, the perfusion estimates are commonly given in arbitrary units as they are nonlinear and depend on the magnitude and the spatial distribution of the optical properties in the tissue under investigation. We describe how the spatial confinement of blood to vessels, called the vessel packaging effect, can be modeled in LDF and LSCI, which affect the Doppler power spectra and speckle contrast, and the underlying bio-optical mechanisms for these effects. As an example, the perfusion estimate is reduced by 25% for LDF and often more than 50% for LSCI when blood is located in vessels with an average diameter of 40  μm, instead of being homogeneously distributed within the tissue. This significant effect can be compensated for only with knowledge of the average diameter of the vessels in the tissue. (2017) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

Multiphonon Raman scattering and photoluminescence studies of CdS nanocrystals grown by thermal evaporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farid, Sidra; Stroscio, Michael A.; Dutta, Mitra

2018-03-01

Thermal evaporation growth technique is presented as a route to grow cost effective high quality CdS thin films. We have successfully grown high quality CdS thin films on ITO coated glass substrates by thermal evaporation technique and analyzed the effects of annealing and excitation dependent input of CdS thin film using Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy. LO phonon modes have been analyzed quantitatively considering the contributions due to anneal induced effects on film quality using phonon spatial correlation model, line shape and defect state analysis. Asymmetry in the Raman line shape towards the low frequency side is related to the phonon confinement effects and is modeled by spatial correlation model. Calculations of width (FWHM), integrated intensity, and line shape for the longitudinal (LO) optical phonon modes indicate improved crystalline quality for the annealed films as compared to the as grown films. With increase in laser power, intensity ratio of 2-LO to 1-LO optical phonon modes is found to increase while multiple overtones upto fourth order are observed. Power dependent photoluminescence data indicates direct band-to-band transition in CdS thin films.

Terraced-heterostructure large-optical-cavity AlGaAs diode laser - A new type of high-power CW single-mode device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Botez, D.; Connolly, J. C.

1982-01-01

A new terraced lateral wave confining structure is obtained by liquid phase epitaxy over channeled substrates misoriented perpendicular to the channels' direction. Single spatial and longitudinal mode CW operation is achieved to 50 mW from one facet, in large spot sizes (2 x 7.5 micron, 1/e squared points in intensity) and narrow beams (6 deg x 23 deg), full width half-power). At 70 C ambient temperature CW lasing is obtained to 15 mW from one facet. Weak mode confinement in an asymmetric lateral waveguides provides discrimination against high-order mode oscillation.

Single molecule tracking fluorescence microscopy in mitochondria reveals highly dynamic but confined movement of Tom40

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmenko, Anton; Tankov, Stoyan; English, Brian P.; Tarassov, Ivan; Tenson, Tanel; Kamenski, Piotr; Elf, Johan; Hauryliuk, Vasili

2011-12-01

Tom40 is an integral protein of the mitochondrial outer membrane, which as the central component of the Translocase of the Outer Membrane (TOM) complex forms a channel for protein import. We characterize the diffusion properties of individual Tom40 molecules fused to the photoconvertable fluorescent protein Dendra2 with millisecond temporal resolution. By imaging individual Tom40 molecules in intact isolated yeast mitochondria using photoactivated localization microscopy with sub-diffraction limited spatial precision, we demonstrate that Tom40 movement in the outer mitochondrial membrane is highly dynamic but confined in nature, suggesting anchoring of the TOM complex as a whole.

Applications of surface plasmon polaritons in terahertz spectral regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhan, Hui

This thesis presents the experimental work on the applications of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) in terahertz (THz) spectral range. Apertureless near-field optical microscopy (ANSOM) has been widely used to study the localized SPP on various material surfaces. THz ANSOM technique was recently developed to combine the THz time-domain spectroscopy and the ANSOM technique to provide a near-field detection on the localized THz surface waves with improved spatial resolution and signal-noise ratio. We have studied the metal-insulator transition in vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin film using THz ANSOM. We observe a variation of the terahertz amplitude due to the phase transition induced by an applied voltage across the sample. The change of the terahertz signal is related to the abrupt change of the conductivity of the VO2 film at the metal-insulator transition. The subwavelength spatial resolution of this near-field microscopy makes it possible to detect signatures of metallic domains, which exist in the VO2 thin films in the vicinity of the phase transition. We experimentally investigate the propagation of guided waves in finite-width parallel-plate waveguides (PPWGs) in the terahertz spectral range. We observe the propagation of SPPs in this guiding structure, instead of the fundamental transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode. We find that the two-dimensional (2-D) energy confinement within the finite-width PPWG increases exponentially as the plate separation is reduced. We speculate that edge plasmons play an important role in the energy confinement in this open-structure waveguide. For comparison, the infinite-width PPWGs, the plates of which are much wider than the THz beam size, are also studied with several plate separations. The free-space beam diffraction produces a Gaussian profile along the unconfined direction. The unusual electric field profiles along the vertical direction, perpendicular to the plate are observed. The field enhancement near the metal surfaces are also explained by the SPPs coupled to the metal surfaces. Based on the 2-D energy confinement in the finite-width PPWGs, we design the tapered slot waveguide by slowly tapering the plate width and slot gap. We first study the transverse component of the THz electric field, where a subwavelength 2-D energy confinement is observed. The output spot size strongly depends on the output facet size, where the slot gap and the tip width are in the same scale range. Subwavelength confinement is obtained, corresponding to lambda/4. Further confinement is limited by the spatial resolution of the detecting technique. To overcome this problem, we adapt the THz ASNOM setup to scattering-probe imaging technique, which has been proven to obtain deep subwavelength spatial resolution and great signal-noise ratio. Scattering-probe imaging setup measures the longitudinal component of the electric field of SPPs in the tapered slot waveguides. By slowly tapering the tip width and the slot gap, we squeeze a single-cycle THz pulse down to a size of 10 mum (lambda/260) by 18 mum (lambda/145), a mode area of only 2.6 x 10-5lambda2. We also observe a polarity reversal for the electric field between the guiding region near the upper and lower plates of the waveguide. This polarity flip is similar to that associated with the symmetric plasmon mode of slot waveguides.

On the AlGaInP-bulk and AlGaInP/GaAs-superlattice confinement effects for heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tsai, Jung-Hui, E-mail: jhtsai@nknucc.nknu.edu.tw

2015-02-09

The confinement effect and electrical characteristics of heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistors with an AlGaInP bulk-confinement layer and an AlGaInP/GaAs superlattice-confinement layer are first demonstrated and compared by experimentally results. In the two devices, the relatively large valence band discontinuity at AlGaInP/GaAs heterojunction provides excellent confinement effect for holes to enhance current gain. As to the AlGaInP/GaAs superlattice-confinement device, part of thermionic-emission electrons will be trapped in the GaAs quantum wells of the superlattice. This will result in lower collector current and current gain as compared with the bulk-confinement device. Nevertheless, the superlattice-confinement device exhibits a larger current-gain cutoff frequency, which canmore » be attributed that the tunneling behavior is included in the carrier transportation and transporting time across the emitter region could be substantially reduced.« less

Fabric symmetry of low anisotropic rocks inferred from ultrasonic sounding: Implications for the geomechanical models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Přikryl, Richard; Lokajíček, Tomáš; Pros, Zdeněk; Klíma, Karel

2007-02-01

The geomechanical models were established based on the absence or presence of certain rock fabric elements — texture (crystallographic preferred orientation), microstructure (shape preferred orientation) and microcracks (flat voids). The proposed models include both (i) the ideal material showing random texture and structure but no microcracks, i.e. the material which is hardly to be found in nature, and (ii) the materials possessing various combinations of fabric elements that show different spatial arrangements. The mutual relationship between those parameters and seismic and geomechanical properties are discussed. Selected models were experimentally verified during laboratory experiments. These consist of measurement of P-wave velocities in 132 independent directions under several confining pressures in the range 0.1-400 MPa. From measured data 3D P-wave patterns can be constructed and the influence of microcracks and of texture and structure on the rock seismic anisotropy can be determined. The seismic anisotropy established at different levels of confining pressure can be used for the interpretation of rock fabric symmetry of rocks showing low anisotropy in macroscale and for the selection of directions in which the geomechanical test can be performed. The measured P-wave velocities were then mathematically processed by using a fitting function V=V+k·P-v·10 which reflects contribution of P-wave velocity in the mineral skeleton of an ideal sample without microcracks extrapolated to the atmospheric pressure level from high confining pressure interval (ca. 200-400 MPa) ( v0), linear compressibility of the samples ( kv), and confining pressure during which most of the cracks are closed ( P0). These parameters improve the understanding of the response of various rock fabric elements on increasing confinement and corresponding changes in elasticity. The observed seismic and geomechanical anisotropies reflect intensity of the fabric of rock-forming minerals and microcracks. The magnitude of seismic anisotropy measured at atmospheric pressure corresponds to the anisotropy of static elastic modulus and is governed by the spatial arrangement of microcracks. The magnitude of strength anisotropy (uniaxial compressive strength) correlates more likely to the seismic anisotropy determined at high confining pressure and is connected to the preferred orientations (either CPO or SPO or both) of rock-forming minerals.

Nanowire Ice of Phase VI and Distorted VII in Mesoporous Silica Nanotorus Superlattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jinlong; Zhang, Jianzhong; Zhao, Yusheng

2014-03-01

The motivation of nano H2O realization and characterization is the highly polarized nature of H2O molecules and the spatial hydrogen bonded networks both in liquid and solid form. The hydrogen bonding character of water molecules results in a remarkably rich phase diagram in the pressure-temperature space. Water/Ice confined in nanochannels showed novel structures and properties as results of hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions and hydrogen bonding interaction between water molecule and the surface of nanochannel. Studies on nano H2O can provide potential pathway to understand the complicated structure evolutions of ice in the P- T space, because the interplay between nano-confinement and strong intermolecular hydrogen interactions can lead to even richer ice structures which were not found in the none-confined bulk form. The high pressure experiment indicated that the pressure of nanowire ice VI and VII shifted up to 1.7 GPa and 2.5 GPa, and about ~ 0.65 GPa and 0.4 GPa higher than that of normal ice. The nano size effect and the strength of mesoporous silica nanotorus are responsible for the pressure shifts of ice phase regions. More pronounced, the cubic ice VII changed into a tetragonal distorted ``psuedocubic'' structure of the nanowire ice when confined in the mesoporous tubes. The degree of tetragonality increased with increasing pressure, which is resulted from the uniaxial pressure nanowire ice felt, and the anisotropic hydrogen bonding interactions including the H2O-H2O hydrogen bonds in the bulk of the ice and the H2O-silica -OH hydrogen bonds between the interface of nanowire ice and mesoporous silica. The experimental work has benefited from the use of CHESS at Cornell University, which is supported by the NSF award DMR-0936384.

Modeling the Long-term Planform Evolution of Meandering Rivers in Confined Alluvial Valleys: Etsch-Adige River, NE Italy.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zen, S.; Bogoni, M.; Zolezzi, G.; Lanzoni, S.; Scorpio, V.

2016-12-01

We combine the use of a morphodynamic model for river meander planform evolution with a geological dataset to investigate the influence of external confinements on the long-term evolution of a meandering river flowing in an Alpine valley. The analysis focuses on a 100 km reach of the Adige River, NE Italy, which had several sinuous/meandering sections before being extensively channelized in the 1800s. Geological surveys and historical maps revealed that many sections of the study reach impinge on the borders of the valley during its evolution. Moreover, a marked spatial heterogeneity in floodplain vertical accretion rates likely reflects preferential positions of the river channel in the floodplain. Valley confinements are represented by bedrock outcrops and by alluvial fans created by lateral tributaries, and were extracted from the geological and historical maps to build the computational domain for the meander morphodynamic model. The model predicts the long-term planform evolution of a meandering river based on a linear solution of the 2D De St Venant-Exner differential system and can manage changes in floodplain erodibility. Model applications allow to isolate the effects of valley bedrock and of alluvial fans in constraining the lateral channel migration. Modeled river channel persistence maps are compared with the available geological information. The present work allows further insights into the role of external confinements to river meander belts, which have been conducted so far mostly assuming the channel to evolve in unconfined floodplains. Future research shall incorporate model components for floodplain vertical accretion rates and for the advancement of alluvial fans occurring at the same time scale considered for meander evolution.

Assessing spatial uncertainty in reservoir characterization for carbon sequestration planning using public well-log data: A case study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Venteris, E.R.; Carter, K.M.

2009-01-01

Mapping and characterization of potential geologic reservoirs are key components in planning carbon dioxide (CO2) injection projects. The geometry of target and confining layers is vital to ensure that the injected CO2 remains in a supercritical state and is confined to the target layer. Also, maps of injection volume (porosity) are necessary to estimate sequestration capacity at undrilled locations. Our study uses publicly filed geophysical logs and geostatistical modeling methods to investigate the reliability of spatial prediction for oil and gas plays in the Medina Group (sandstone and shale facies) in northwestern Pennsylvania. Specifically, the modeling focused on two targets: the Grimsby Formation and Whirlpool Sandstone. For each layer, thousands of data points were available to model structure and thickness but only hundreds were available to support volumetric modeling because of the rarity of density-porosity logs in the public records. Geostatistical analysis based on this data resulted in accurate structure models, less accurate isopach models, and inconsistent models of pore volume. Of the two layers studied, only the Whirlpool Sandstone data provided for a useful spatial model of pore volume. Where reliable models for spatial prediction are absent, the best predictor available for unsampled locations is the mean value of the data, and potential sequestration sites should be planned as close as possible to existing wells with volumetric data. ?? 2009. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists/Division of Environmental Geosciences. All rights reserved.

Onion-shell model of cosmic ray acceleration in supernova remnants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bogdan, T. J.; Volk, H. J.

1983-01-01

A method is devised to approximate the spatially averaged momentum distribution function for the accelerated particles at the end of the active lifetime of a supernova remnant. The analysis is confined to the test particle approximation and adiabatic losses are oversimplified, but unsteady shock motion, evolving shock strength, and non-uniform gas flow effects on the accelerated particle spectrum are included. Monoenergetic protons are injected at the shock front. It is found that the dominant effect on the resultant accelerated particle spectrum is a changing spectral index with shock strength. High energy particles are produced in early phases, and the resultant distribution function is a slowly varying power law over several orders of magnitude, independent of the specific details of the supernova remnant.

Target structures in the cochlea for infrared neural stimulation (INS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Hunter; Tan, Xiaodong; Richter, Claus-Peter

2014-03-01

Spatial selective infrared neural stimulation has potential to improve neural prostheses, including cochlear implants. The heating of a confined target volume depolarizes the cell membrane and results in an action potential. Tissue heating may also result in the generation of a stress relaxation wave causing mechanical stimulation of hair cells in the cochlea, creating an optoacoustic response. Data are presented that quantify the effect of an acoustical stimulus (noise masker) on the response obtained with INS in normal hearing, and chronic deaf animals. While in normal hearing animals an acoustic masker can reduce the response to INS, in chronic deaf animals this effect has not been detected. The responses to INS remain stable following the different degrees of cochlear damage.

Nitrate variability in groundwater of North Carolina using monitoring and private well data models.

PubMed

Messier, Kyle P; Kane, Evan; Bolich, Rick; Serre, Marc L

2014-09-16

Nitrate (NO3-) is a widespread contaminant of groundwater and surface water across the United States that has deleterious effects to human and ecological health. This study develops a model for predicting point-level groundwater NO3- at a state scale for monitoring wells and private wells of North Carolina. A land use regression (LUR) model selection procedure is developed for determining nonlinear model explanatory variables when they are known to be correlated. Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) is used to integrate the LUR model to create a LUR-BME model of spatial/temporal varying groundwater NO3- concentrations. LUR-BME results in a leave-one-out cross-validation r2 of 0.74 and 0.33 for monitoring and private wells, effectively predicting within spatial covariance ranges. Results show significant differences in the spatial distribution of groundwater NO3- contamination in monitoring versus private wells; high NO3- concentrations in the southeastern plains of North Carolina; and wastewater treatment residuals and swine confined animal feeding operations as local sources of NO3- in monitoring wells. Results are of interest to agencies that regulate drinking water sources or monitor health outcomes from ingestion of drinking water. Lastly, LUR-BME model estimates can be integrated into surface water models for more accurate management of nonpoint sources of nitrogen.

The influence of electrohydrodynamic flow on the distribution of chemical species in positive corona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pontiga, Francisco; Yanallah, Khelifa; Bouazza, R.; Chen, Junhong

2015-09-01

A numerical simulation of positive corona discharge in air, including the effect of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) motion of the gas, has been carried out. Air flow is assumed to be confined between two parallel plates, and corona discharge is produced around a thin wire, midway between the plates. Therefore, fluid dynamics equations, including electrical forces, have been solved together with the continuity equation of each neutral species. The plasma chemical model included 24 chemical reactions and ten neutral species, in addition to electrons and positive ions. The results of the simulation have shown that the influence of EHD flow on the spatial distributions of the species is quite different depending on the species. Hence, reactive species like atomic oxygen and atomic nitrogen are confined to the vicinity of the wire, and they are weakly affected by the EHD gas motion. In contrast, nitrogen oxides and ozone are efficiently dragged outside the active region of the corona discharge by the EHD flow. This work was supported by the Spanish Government Agency ``Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación'' under Contract No. FIS2011-25161.

Microphase separation and the formation of ion conductivity channels in poly(ionic liquid)s: A coarse-grained molecular dynamics study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weyman, Alexander; Bier, Markus; Holm, Christian; Smiatek, Jens

2018-05-01

We study generic properties of poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) via coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations in bulk solution and under confinement. The influence of different side chain lengths on the spatial properties of the PIL systems and on the ionic transport mechanism is investigated in detail. Our results reveal the formation of apolar and polar nanodomains with increasing side chain length in good agreement with previous results for molecular ionic liquids. The ion transport numbers are unaffected by the occurrence of these domains, and the corresponding values highlight the potential role of PILs as single-ion conductors in electrochemical devices. In contrast to bulk behavior, a pronounced formation of ion conductivity channels in confined systems is initiated in close vicinity to the boundaries. We observe higher ion conductivities in these channels for increasing PIL side chain lengths in comparison with bulk values and provide an explanation for this effect. The appearance of these domains points to an improved application of PILs in modern polymer electrolyte batteries.

Exploring photoinactivation of microbial biofilms using laser scanning microscopy and confined two-photon excitation.

PubMed

Thomsen, Hanna; Graf, Fabrice E; Farewell, Anne; Ericson, Marica B

2018-05-21

One pertinent complication in bacterial infection is the growth of biofilms, i.e., communities of surface-adhered bacteria resilient to antibiotics. Photodynamic inactivation has been proposed as an alternative to antibiotic treatment; however, novel techniques complementing standard efficacy measures are required. Herein, we present an approach employing multiphoton microscopy complemented with Airyscan super-resolution microscopy, to visualize the distribution of curcumin in Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms. The effects of complexation of curcumin with hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin (HPγCD) were studied. It was shown that HPγCD-curcumin demonstrated higher bioavailability in the biofilms compared to curcumin, without affecting the subcellular uptake. Spectral quantification following photodynamic inactivation demonstrates a method for monitoring elimination of biofilms in real time using noninvasive 3D imaging. Additionally, spatially confined two-photon inactivation was demonstrated for the first time in biofilms. These results support the feasibility of advanced optical microscopy as a sensitive tool for evaluating treatment efficacy in biofilms towards improved mechanistic studies of photodynamic inactivation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Ion kinetic effects on the ignition and burn of inertial confinement fusion targets: A multi-scale approach

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peigney, B. E.; Larroche, O.; Tikhonchuk, V.

2014-12-15

In this article, we study the hydrodynamics and burn of the thermonuclear fuel in inertial confinement fusion pellets at the ion kinetic level. The analysis is based on a two-velocity-scale Vlasov-Fokker-Planck kinetic model that is specially tailored to treat fusion products (suprathermal α-particles) in a self-consistent manner with the thermal bulk. The model assumes spherical symmetry in configuration space and axial symmetry in velocity space around the mean flow velocity. A typical hot-spot ignition design is considered. Compared with fluid simulations where a multi-group diffusion scheme is applied to model α transport, the full ion-kinetic approach reveals significant non-local effectsmore » on the transport of energetic α-particles. This has a direct impact on hydrodynamic spatial profiles during combustion: the hot spot reactivity is reduced, while the inner dense fuel layers are pre-heated by the escaping α-suprathermal particles, which are transported farther out of the hot spot. We show how the kinetic transport enhancement of fusion products leads to a significant reduction of the fusion yield.« less

NIMROD resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of spheromak physics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hooper, E. B.; Cohen, B. I.; McLean, H. S.

The physics of spheromak plasmas is addressed by time-dependent, three-dimensional, resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations with the NIMROD code [C. R. Sovinec et al., J. Comput. Phys. 195, 355 (2004)]. Included in some detail are the formation of a spheromak driven electrostatically by a coaxial plasma gun with a flux-conserver geometry and power systems that accurately model the sustained spheromak physics experiment [R. D. Wood et al., Nucl. Fusion 45, 1582 (2005)]. The controlled decay of the spheromak plasma over several milliseconds is also modeled as the programmable current and voltage relax, resulting in simulations of entire experimental pulses. Reconnection phenomena andmore » the effects of current profile evolution on the growth of symmetry-breaking toroidal modes are diagnosed; these in turn affect the quality of magnetic surfaces and the energy confinement. The sensitivity of the simulation results addresses variations in both physical and numerical parameters, including spatial resolution. There are significant points of agreement between the simulations and the observed experimental behavior, e.g., in the evolution of the magnetics and the sensitivity of the energy confinement to the presence of symmetry-breaking magnetic fluctuations.« less

NIMROD Resistive Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Spheromak Physics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hooper, E B; Cohen, B I; McLean, H S

The physics of spheromak plasmas is addressed by time-dependent, three-dimensional, resistive magneto-hydrodynamic simulations with the NIMROD code. Included in some detail are the formation of a spheromak driven electrostatically by a coaxial plasma gun with a flux-conserver geometry and power systems that accurately model the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) (R. D. Wood, et al., Nucl. Fusion 45, 1582 (2005)). The controlled decay of the spheromak plasma over several milliseconds is also modeled as the programmable current and voltage relax, resulting in simulations of entire experimental pulses. Reconnection phenomena and the effects of current profile evolution on the growth ofmore » symmetry-breaking toroidal modes are diagnosed; these in turn affect the quality of magnetic surfaces and the energy confinement. The sensitivity of the simulation results address variations in both physical and numerical parameters, including spatial resolution. There are significant points of agreement between the simulations and the observed experimental behavior, e.g., in the evolution of the magnetics and the sensitivity of the energy confinement to the presence of symmetry-breaking magnetic fluctuations.« less

Effect of Aluminium Confinement on ANFO Detonation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Short, Mark; Jackson, Scott; Kiyanda, Charles; Shinas, Mike; Hare, Steve; Briggs, Matt

2013-06-01

Detonations in confined non-ideal high explosives often have velocities below the confiner sound speed. The effect on detonation propagation of the resulting subsonic flow in the confiner (such as confiner stress waves traveling ahead of the main detonation front or upstream wall deflection into the HE) has yet to be fully understood. Previous work by Sharpe and Bdzil (J. Eng. Math, 2006) has shown that for subsonic confiner flow, there is no limiting thickness for which the detonation dynamics are uninfluenced by further increases in wall thickness. The critical parameters influencing detonation behavior are the wall thickness relative to the HE reaction zone size, and the difference in the detonation velocity and confiner sound speed. Additional possible outcomes of subsonic flow are that for increasing thickness, the confiner is increasingly deflected into the HE upstream of the detonation, and that for sufficiently thick confiners, the detonation speed could be driven up to the sound speed in the confiner. We report here on a further series of experiments in which a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) is detonated in aluminum confiners with varying HE charge diameter and confiner thickness, and compare the results with the outcomes suggested by Sharpe and Bdzil.

On the role of spatial position of bridged oxygen atoms as surface passivants on the ground-state gap and photo-absorption spectrum of silicon nano-crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nazemi, Sanaz; Soleimani, Ebrahim Asl; Pourfath, Mahdi, E-mail: pourfath@ut.ac.ir, E-mail: pourfath@iue.tuwien.ac.at

2015-11-28

Silicon nano-crystals (NCs) are potential candidates for enhancing and tuning optical properties of silicon for optoelectronic and photo-voltaic applications. Due to the high surface-to-volume ratio, however, optical properties of NC result from the interplay of quantum confinement and surface effects. In this work, we show that both the spatial position of surface terminants and their relative positions have strong effects on NC properties as well. This is accomplished by investigating the ground-state HOMO-LUMO band-gap, the photo-absorption spectra, and the localization and overlap of HOMO and LUMO orbital densities for prototype ∼1.2 nm Si{sub 32–x}H{sub 42–2x}O{sub x} hydrogenated silicon NC with bridgedmore » oxygen atoms as surface terminations. It is demonstrated that the surface passivation geometry significantly alters the localization center and thus the overlap of frontier molecular orbitals, which correspondingly modifies the electronic and optical properties of NC.« less

Nanofocusing of structured light for quadrupolar light-matter interactions.

PubMed

Sakai, Kyosuke; Yamamoto, Takeaki; Sasaki, Keiji

2018-05-17

The spatial structure of an electromagnetic field can determine the characteristics of light-matter interactions. A strong gradient of light in the near field can excite dipole-forbidden atomic transitions, e.g., electric quadrupole transitions, which are rarely observed under plane-wave far-field illumination. Structured light with a higher-order orbital angular momentum state may also modulate the selection rules in which an atom can absorb two quanta of angular momentum: one from the spin and another from the spatial structure of the beam. Here, we numerically demonstrate a strong focusing of structured light with a higher-order orbital angular momentum state in the near field. A quadrupole field was confined within a gap region of several tens of nanometres in a plasmonic tetramer structure. A plasmonic crystal surrounding the tetramer structure provides a robust antenna effect, where the incident structured light can be strongly coupled to the quadrupole field in the gap region with a larger alignment tolerance. The proposed system is expected to provide a platform for light-matter interactions with strong multipolar effects.

Anatomical and morphogenetic analysis of seismoelectric conversion patterns at geological units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kröger, B.; Kemna, A.

2012-04-01

Characterisation of the hydraulic properties of a reservoir, such as porosity and permeability, and their spatial distribution plays an important role in many subsurface geophysical investigations. A fully developed seismoelectric exploration method is very appealing since it would offer the potential to directly determine these parameters in field-scale applications. In fluid-saturated rocks, seismic waves can generate electromagnetic fields, due to electrokinetic coupling mechanisms at the fluid-mineral interface. Using numerical modelling, we investigated the spatio-temporal occurrence and evolution of the seismoelectric effects that occur in spatially confined lithological units. Such geometries may represent clay lenses embedded in an aquifer or petroleum deposits in a host rock. For the modelling, we use a simplified time-domain formulation of the coupled physical problem and its efficient implementation in a 2D finite-element framework. Two occurring seismoelectric phenomena are investigated: (1) the co-seismic field associated with the seismic displacement at each point and (2) the interface response generated at layer boundaries. To gain insight into the morphogenetic field behaviour of the seismoelectric effects, we run numerical simulations using several material parameter set-ups for various target geometries. Accordingly, we varied both the thickness of the confined units and the value of the electrical bulk conductivity in the considered media. The analysis of the seismoelectric effects revealed an important difference in the generation of the interface response at either electrically conductive or resistive units. We find that the contrast in the electrical bulk conductivity between the host rock and the target geological unit controls the shape and structure of the seismoelectric conversion patterns. Our results show that the seismoelectric interface response captures both the petrophysical and geometrical characteristics of the converting geological unit. The considered models indicate the general potential of using the seismoelectric interface response for reservoir characterisation in hydrogeological or hydrocarbon exploration studies.

Cerebral specialization for spatial processing in adults with Down syndrome.

PubMed

Elliott, D; Pollock, B J; Chua, R; Weeks, D J

1995-05-01

Cerebral specialization for spatial processing in adults with Down syndrome was examined. In the first experiment, both control and right-handed subjects with Down syndrome exhibited no lateral advantage in a dihaptic shape-matching task, whereas left-handed subjects with Down syndrome displayed an expected left-hand advantage. In a visual field dot enumeration task in the second experiment, all groups exhibited left-field superiority. Thus, atypical cerebral organization of function in adults with Down syndrome appears to be confined to speech perception (Elliott & Weeks, 1993).

Heat Transfer of Confined Impinging Air-water Mist Jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Shyy Woei; Su, Lo May

This paper describes the detailed heat transfer distributions of an atomized air-water mist jet impinging orthogonally onto a confined target plate with various water-to-air mass-flow ratios. A transient technique was used to measure the full field heat transfer coefficients of the impinging surface. Results showed that the high momentum mist-jet interacting with the water-film and wall-jet flows created a variety of heat transfer contours on the impinging surface. The trade-off between the competing influences of the different heat transfer mechanisms involving in an impinging mist jet made the nonlinear variation tendency of overall heat transfer against the increase of water-to-air mass-flow ratio and extended the effective cooling region. With separation distances of 10, 8, 6 and 4 jet-diameters, the spatially averaged heat transfer values on the target plate could respectively reach about 2.01, 1.83, 2.43 and 2.12 times of the equivalent air-jet values, which confirmed the applicability of impinging mist-jet for heat transfer enhancement. The optimal choices of water-to-air mass-flow ratio for the atomized mist jet required the considerations of interactive and combined effects of separation distance, air-jet Reynolds number and the water-to-air mass-flow ratio into the atomized nozzle.

Effect of non-parabolicity and confinement potential on exciton binding energy in a quantum well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vignesh, G.; Nithiananthi, P.

2018-04-01

The effect of non-parabolicity(NP) (both conduction and valance band) on the binding energy(EB) of a ground state exciton in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs single Quantum Well(QW) has been calculated using variational method. Confinement of a light hole(LH-CB1-X) and heavy hole(HH-CB1-X) exciton have been numerically evaluated as a function of well width and barrier heights by imposing three different confinement potentials such as square(SQW), parabolic(PQW) and triangular(TQW). Due to NP effects, EB of exciton is increasedin the narrow well region irrespective of the type of exciton, barrier height and nature of the confinement potentials applied. Non-parabolicity effect is prominent in abrupt(SQW) and linearlyvarying(TQW) confinement potentials. All these effects are attributed to be an inter-play between the Coulombic interaction and NP effects among the subband structures.

Effect of laser peening with glycerol as plasma confinement layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsuyama, Miho; Ehara, Naoya; Yamashita, Kazuma; Heya, Manabu; Nakano, Hitoshi

2018-03-01

The effects of controlling the plasma confinement layer on laser peening were investigated by measuring the hardness and residual stress of laser-peened stainless steels. The plasma confinement layer contributes to increasing the pressure of shock waves by suppressing the expansion of the laser-produced plasma. Most previous studies on laser peening have employed water as the plasma confinement layer. In this study, a glycerol solution is used in the context of a large acoustic impedance. It is found that this glycerol solution is superior to water in its ability to confine plasma and that suitable conditions exist for the glycerol solution to act as a plasma confinement layer to achieve efficient laser peening.

A Plasticity Model to Predict the Effects of Confinement on Concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Julie

A plasticity model to predict the behavior of confined concrete is developed. The model is designed to implicitly account for the increase in strength and ductility due to confining a concrete member. The concrete model is implemented into a finite element (FE) model. By implicitly including the change in the strength and ductility in the material model, the confining material can be explicitly included in the FE model. Any confining material can be considered, and the effects on the concrete of failure in the confinement material can be modeled. Test data from a wide variety of different concretes utilizing different confinement methods are used to estimate the model parameters. This allows the FE model to capture the generalized behavior of concrete under multiaxial loading. The FE model is used to predict the results of tests on reinforced concrete members confined by steel hoops and fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets. Loading includes pure axial load and axial load-moment combinations. Variability in the test data makes the model predictions difficult to compare but, overall, the FE model is able to capture the effects of confinement on concrete. Finally, the FE model is used to compare the performance of steel hoop to FRP confined sections, and of square to circular cross sections. As expected, circular sections are better able to engage the confining material, leading to higher strengths. However, higher strains are seen in the confining material for the circular sections. This leads to failure at lower axial strain levels in the case of the FRP confined sections. Significant differences are seen in the behavior of FRP confined members and steel hoop confined members. Failure in the FRP members is always determined by rupture in the composite jacket. As a result, the FRP members continue to take load up to failure. In contrast, the steel hoop confined sections exhibit extensive strain softening before failure. This comparison illustrates the usefulness of the concrete model as a tool for designers. Overall, the concrete model provides a flexible and powerful method to predict the performance of confined concrete.

Strain-induced fundamental optical transition in (In,Ga)As/GaP quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Robert, C., E-mail: cedric.robert@insa-rennes.fr, E-mail: cedric.robert@tyndall.ie; Pedesseau, L.; Cornet, C.

The nature of the ground optical transition in an (In,Ga)As/GaP quantum dot is thoroughly investigated through a million atoms supercell tight-binding simulation. Precise quantum dot morphology is deduced from previously reported scanning-tunneling-microscopy images. The strain field is calculated with the valence force field method and has a strong influence on the confinement potentials, principally, for the conduction band states. Indeed, the wavefunction of the ground electron state is spatially confined in the GaP matrix, close to the dot apex, in a large tensile strain region, having mainly Xz character. Photoluminescence experiments under hydrostatic pressure strongly support the theoretical conclusions.

Intraband Raman laser gain in a boron nitride coupled quantum well

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moorthy, N. Narayana; Peter, A. John, E-mail: a.john.peter@gmail.com

2016-05-23

On-centre impurity related electronic and optical properties are studied in a Boron nitride coupled quantum well. Confined energies for the intraband transition are investigated by studying differential cross section of electron Raman scattering taking into consideration of spatial confinement in a B{sub 0.3}Ga{sub 0.7}N/BN coupled quantum well. Raman gain as a function of incident optical pump intensity is computed for constant well width. The enhancement of Raman gain is observed with the application of pump power. The results can be applied for the potential applications for fabricating some optical devices such as optical switches, infrared photo-detectors and electro-optical modulator.

Note: A well-confined pulsed low-energy ion beam: Test experiments of Ar+

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Jie; Wu, Chun-Xiao; Tian, Shan Xi

2018-06-01

Here we report a pulsed low-energy ion beam source for ion-molecule reaction study, in which the ions produced by the pulsed electron impact are confined well in the spatial size of each bunch. In contrast to the ion focusing method to reduce the transverse section of the beam, the longitudinal section in the translational direction is compressed by introducing a second pulse in the ion time-of-flight system. The test experiments for the low-energy argon ions are performed. The present beam source is ready for applications in the ion-molecule reaction dynamics experiments, in particular, in combination with the ion velocity map imaging technique.

Spatial and Temporal Changes in the Microbial Community in an Anaerobic Swine Waste Treatment Lagoon

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Swine slurry is stored in pits beneath confinement buildings or in adjacent lagoons. This slurry is a valuable resource for crop fertilization and soil conditioning, but may also be a source of unpleasant odors. Microorganisms are crucial to all of the important processes that occur in anaerobic sto...

Musical Example to Visualize Abstract Quantum Mechanical Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eagle, Forrest W.; Seaney, Kyser D.; Grubb, Michael P.

2017-01-01

Quantum mechanics is a notoriously difficult subject to learn, due to a lack of real-world analogies that might help provide an intuitive grasp of the underlying ideas. Discrete energy levels and absorption and emission wavelengths in atoms are sometimes described as uniquely quantum phenomena, but are actually general to spatially confined waves…

Spatial Studies of Ion Beams in an Expanding Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aguirre, Evan; Good, Timothy; Scime, Earl; Thompson, Derek

2017-10-01

We report spatially resolved perpendicular and parallel ion velocity distribution function (IVDF) measurements in an expanding argon helicon plasma. The parallel IVDFs, obtained through laser induced fluorescence (LIF), show an ion beam with v 8 km/s flowing downstream that is confined to the center of the discharge. The ion beam is confined to within a few centimeters radially and is measurable for tens of centimeters axially before the LIF signal fades, likely a result of metastable quenching of the beam ions. The axial ion beam velocity slows in agreement with collisional processes. The perpendicular IVDFs show an ion population with a radially outward flow that increases with radial location. The DC electric field, electron temperature, and the plasma density in the double layer plume are all consistent with magnetic field aligned structures. The upstream and downstream electric field measurements show clear evidence of an ion hole that maps along the magnetic field at the edge of the plasma. Current theories and simulations of double layers, which are one-dimensional, completely miss these critically important two-dimensional features.

Spatial organization and dynamics of RNase E and ribosomes in Caulobacter crescentus.

PubMed

Bayas, Camille A; Wang, Jiarui; Lee, Marissa K; Schrader, Jared M; Shapiro, Lucy; Moerner, W E

2018-04-17

We report the dynamic spatial organization of Caulobacter crescentus RNase E (RNA degradosome) and ribosomal protein L1 (ribosome) using 3D single-particle tracking and superresolution microscopy. RNase E formed clusters along the central axis of the cell, while weak clusters of ribosomal protein L1 were deployed throughout the cytoplasm. These results contrast with RNase E and ribosome distribution in Escherichia coli , where RNase E colocalizes with the cytoplasmic membrane and ribosomes accumulate in polar nucleoid-free zones. For both RNase E and ribosomes in Caulobacter , we observed a decrease in confinement and clustering upon transcription inhibition and subsequent depletion of nascent RNA, suggesting that RNA substrate availability for processing, degradation, and translation facilitates confinement and clustering. Importantly, RNase E cluster positions correlated with the subcellular location of chromosomal loci of two highly transcribed rRNA genes, suggesting that RNase E's function in rRNA processing occurs at the site of rRNA synthesis. Thus, components of the RNA degradosome and ribosome assembly are spatiotemporally organized in Caulobacter , with chromosomal readout serving as the template for this organization.

Dynamical and Microrheological Analysis of Amyloplasts in the Plant Root Gravity-Sensing Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Zhongyu; Zou, Junjie; Li, Hanhai; Xue, Shan; Le, Jie; Wang, Yuren

2015-11-01

Gravitropism in plants is one of the most controversial issues. In the most wildly accepted starch-statolith hypothesis the sedimentation movement of amyloplasts in the gravisensing columella cells primarily triggers the asymmetric distribution of auxin which leads to the differential growth of the plant root. It has been gradually recognized that the inhomogeneous structures in statocytes arising from intracellular components such as cytoskeletons significantly affect the complex movements of amyloplasts and the final gravimorphogenesis. In this letter, we implement a diffusive dynamics measurement and inplanta microrheological analysis of amyloplasts in the wild-type plants and actin cytoskeleton mutants for the first time. We found that the intracellular environment of columella cells exhibits the spatial heterogeneity and the cage-confinement on amyloplasts which is the typically characteristics in colloidal suspensions. By comparing the distinct diffusive dynamics of amyloplasts in different types of plants with the behaviors of colloidal systems in different states, we quantitatively characterized the influence of the actin organization dominated intracellular envoronments on the amyloplast movements. Furthermore, the cage-confinement strength was measured by calculating the spatial fluctuation of local apparent viscosity within the columella cells. Finally, a linear association between the initial mechanical stimulation in the columella cells the subsequent intercellular signal transduction and the final gravity response was observed and a possible gravity sensing mechanism was suggested. It suggests the existence of a potential gravity-sensing mechanism that dictates a linear frustration effect of the actin cytoskeleton on the conversion of the mechanical stimulation of amyloplasts into gravitropic signals.

Media-Augmented Exercise Machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krueger, T.

2002-01-01

Cardio-vascular exercise has been used to mitigate the muscle and cardiac atrophy associated with adaptation to micro-gravity environments. Several hours per day may be required. In confined spaces and long duration missions this kind of exercise is inevitably repetitive and rapidly becomes uninteresting. At the same time, there are pressures to accomplish as much as possible given the cost- per-hour for humans occupying orbiting or interplanetary. Media augmentation provides a the means to overlap activities in time by supplementing the exercise with social, recreational, training or collaborative activities and thereby reducing time pressures. In addition, the machine functions as an interface to a wide range of digital environments allowing for spatial variety in an otherwise confined environment. We hypothesize that the adoption of media augmented exercise machines will have a positive effect on psycho-social well-being on long duration missions. By organizing and supplementing exercise machines, data acquisition hardware, computers and displays into an interacting system this proposal increases functionality with limited additional mass. This paper reviews preliminary work on a project to augment exercise equipment in a manner that addresses these issues and at the same time opens possibilities for additional benefits. A testbed augmented exercise machine uses a specialty built cycle trainer as both input to a virtual environment and as an output device from it using spatialized sound, and visual displays, vibration transducers and variable resistance. The resulting interactivity increases a sense of engagement in the exercise, provides a rich experience of the digital environments. Activities in the virtual environment and accompanying physiological and psychological indicators may be correlated to track and evaluate the health of the crew.

Smooth interface effects on the confinement properties of GaSb/Al xGa 1- xSb quantum wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adib, Artur B.; de Sousa, Jeanlex S.; Farias, Gil A.; Freire, Valder N.

2000-10-01

A theoretical investigation on the confinement properties of GaSb/Al xGa 1- xSb single quantum wells (QWs) with smooth interfaces is performed. Error function ( erf)-like interfacial aluminum molar fraction variations in the QWs, from which it is possible to obtain the carriers effective masses and confinement potential profiles, are assumed. It is shown that the existence of smooth interfaces blue shifts considerably the confined carriers and exciton energies, an effect which is stronger in thin QWs.

Numerical study of the motion of a flagellated swimmer inside a tube in the Stokes regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ji; Jiao, Yusheng; Xu, Xinliang; Ding, Yang

2017-11-01

Confined environments are common to micro-swimmers such bacteria and previous studies have shown that confinements such as a wall can influenced the trajectory of the micro-swimmers. Here we study whether some micro-swimmers can achieve a higher speed and energetic efficiency within a long tube comparing to the free-space case using a numerical model. The swimmer consists of an elliptical head and two helical flagella. To solve the governing Stokes equations inside an infinite tube, we combine the method of fundamental solution (MSF) and the method of Stokeslet. The geometry parameters, including shape and size of head and flagella, and relative spatial position of these components, are varied. Our results show that the geometry of the swimmer and the tube can greatly affect the speed of the micro-swimmer. For certain geometric parameters of the micro-swimmer, a greater confinement leads to a higher speed, which is consistent with the results from our robotic experiments.

Magnetic and Electric Transverse Spin Density of Spatially Confined Light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neugebauer, Martin; Eismann, Jörg S.; Bauer, Thomas; Banzer, Peter

2018-04-01

When a beam of light is laterally confined, its field distribution can exhibit points where the local magnetic and electric field vectors spin in a plane containing the propagation direction of the electromagnetic wave. The phenomenon indicates the presence of a nonzero transverse spin density. Here, we experimentally investigate this transverse spin density of both magnetic and electric fields, occurring in highly confined structured fields of light. Our scheme relies on the utilization of a high-refractive-index nanoparticle as a local field probe, exhibiting magnetic and electric dipole resonances in the visible spectral range. Because of the directional emission of dipole moments that spin around an axis parallel to a nearby dielectric interface, such a probe particle is capable of locally sensing the magnetic and electric transverse spin density of a tightly focused beam impinging under normal incidence with respect to said interface. We exploit the achieved experimental results to emphasize the difference between magnetic and electric transverse spin densities.

One-dimensional self-confinement promotes polymorph selection in large-area organic semiconductor thin films.

PubMed

Giri, Gaurav; Li, Ruipeng; Smilgies, Detlef-M; Li, Er Qiang; Diao, Ying; Lenn, Kristina M; Chiu, Melanie; Lin, Debora W; Allen, Ranulfo; Reinspach, Julia; Mannsfeld, Stefan C B; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T; Clancy, Paulette; Bao, Zhenan; Amassian, Aram

2014-04-16

A crystal's structure has significant impact on its resulting biological, physical, optical and electronic properties. In organic electronics, 6,13(bis-triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TIPS-pentacene), a small-molecule organic semiconductor, adopts metastable polymorphs possessing significantly faster charge transport than the equilibrium crystal when deposited using the solution-shearing method. Here, we use a combination of high-speed polarized optical microscopy, in situ microbeam grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray-scattering and molecular simulations to understand the mechanism behind formation of metastable TIPS-pentacene polymorphs. We observe that thin-film crystallization occurs first at the air-solution interface, and nanoscale vertical spatial confinement of the solution results in formation of metastable polymorphs, a one-dimensional and large-area analogy to crystallization of polymorphs in nanoporous matrices. We demonstrate that metastable polymorphism can be tuned with unprecedented control and produced over large areas by either varying physical confinement conditions or by tuning energetic conditions during crystallization through use of solvent molecules of various sizes.

Fractional Brownian motion and motion governed by the fractional Langevin equation in confined geometries.

PubMed

Jeon, Jae-Hyung; Metzler, Ralf

2010-02-01

Motivated by subdiffusive motion of biomolecules observed in living cells, we study the stochastic properties of a non-Brownian particle whose motion is governed by either fractional Brownian motion or the fractional Langevin equation and restricted to a finite domain. We investigate by analytic calculations and simulations how time-averaged observables (e.g., the time-averaged mean-squared displacement and displacement correlation) are affected by spatial confinement and dimensionality. In particular, we study the degree of weak ergodicity breaking and scatter between different single trajectories for this confined motion in the subdiffusive domain. The general trend is that deviations from ergodicity are decreased with decreasing size of the movement volume and with increasing dimensionality. We define the displacement correlation function and find that this quantity shows distinct features for fractional Brownian motion, fractional Langevin equation, and continuous time subdiffusion, such that it appears an efficient measure to distinguish these different processes based on single-particle trajectory data.

Probing the biology of cell boundary conditions through confinement of Xenopus cell-free cytoplasmic extracts.

PubMed

Bermudez, Jessica G; Chen, Hui; Einstein, Lily C; Good, Matthew C

2017-01-01

Cell-free cytoplasmic extracts prepared from Xenopus eggs and embryos have for decades provided a biochemical system with which to interrogate complex cell biological processes in vitro. Recently, the application of microfabrication and microfluidic strategies in biology has narrowed the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies by enabling formation of cell-size compartments containing functional cytoplasm. These approaches provide numerous advantages over traditional biochemical experiments performed in a test tube. Most notably, the cell-free cytoplasm is confined using a two- or three-dimensional boundary, which mimics the natural configuration of a cell. This strategy enables characterization of the spatial organization of a cell, and the role that boundaries play in regulating intracellular assembly and function. In this review, we describe the marriage of Xenopus cell-free cytoplasm and confinement technologies to generate synthetic cell-like systems, the recent biological insights they have enabled, and the promise they hold for future scientific discovery. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Texture and Elastic Anisotropy of Mantle Olivine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikitin, A. N.; Ivankina, T. I.; Bourilitchev, D. E.; Klima, K.; Locajicek, T.; Pros, Z.

Eight olivine rock samples from different European regions were collected for neu- tron texture analyses and for P-wave velocity measurements by means of ultrasonic sounding at various confining pressures. The orientation distribution functions (ODFs) of olivine were determined and pole figures of the main crystallographic planes were calculated. The spatial P-wave velocity distributions were determined at confining pressures from 0.1 to 400 MPa and modelled from the olivine textures. In dependence upon the type of rock (xenolith or dunite) different behavior of both the P-wave veloc- ity distributions and the anisotropy coefficients with various confining pressures was observed. In order to explain the interdependence of elastic anisotropy and hydrostatic pressure, a model for polycrystalline olivine rocks was suggested, which considers the influence of the crystallographic and the mechanical textures on the elastic behaviour of the polycrystal. Since the olivine texture depends upon the active slip systems and the deformation temperature, neutron texture analyses enable us to estimate depth and thermodynamical conditions during texture formation.

Correlation Between Chain Architecture and Hydration Water Structure in Polysaccharides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossutti, Michael; Dutcher, John

The physical properties of confined water can differ dramatically from those of bulk water. Hydration water associated with polysaccharides provides a particularly important example of confined water, with differences in polysaccharide structure providing different spatially confined environments for water adsorption. We have used attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy to investigate the structure of hydration water in films of three different polysaccharides under controlled relative humidity (RH) conditions. We compare the results obtained for films of highly branched, monodisperse phytoglycogen nanoparticles to those obtained for two unbranched polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan. We find similarities between water structuring in the two linear polysaccharides, and significant differences for phytoglycogen. In particular, the phytoglycogen nanoparticles exhibited high network water connectivity, and a large increase in the fraction of multimer water clusters with increasing RH, whereas the water structure for HA and chitosan was found to be insensitive to changes in RH. These measurements provide unique insight into the relationship between the chain architecture and hydration of polysaccharides.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wei, Guohua; Czaplewski, David A.; Lenferink, Erik J.

Three-dimensional confinement allows semiconductor quantum dots to exhibit size-tunable electronic and optical properties that enable a wide range of opto-electronic applications from displays, solar cells and bio-medical imaging to single-electron devices. Additional modalities such as spin and valley properties in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides provide further degrees of freedom requisite for information processing and spintronics. In nanostructures, however, spatial confinement can cause hybridization that inhibits the robustness of these emergent properties. Here in this paper, we show that laterally-confined excitons in monolayer MoS 2 nanodots can be created through top-down nanopatterning with controlled size tunability. Unlike chemically-exfoliated monolayer nanoparticles, themore » lithographically patterned monolayer semiconductor nanodots down to a radius of 15 nm exhibit the same valley polarization as in a continuous monolayer sheet. The inherited bulk spin and valley properties, the size dependence of excitonic energies, and the ability to fabricate MoS 2 nanostructures using semiconductor-compatible processing suggest that monolayer semiconductor nanodots have potential to be multimodal building blocks of integrated optoelectronics and spintronics systems« less

Confinement Driven by Scalar Field in 4d Non Abelian Gauge Theories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chabab, Mohamed

2007-01-12

We review some of the most recent work on confinement in 4d gauge theories with a massive scalar field (dilaton). Emphasis is put on the derivation of confining analytical solutions to the Coulomb problem versus dilaton effective couplings to gauge terms. It is shown that these effective theories can be relevant to model quark confinement and may shed some light on confinement mechanism. Moreover, the study of interquark potential, derived from Dick Model, in the heavy meson sector proves that phenomenological investigation of tmechanism is more than justified and deserves more efforts.

Enhancing Kondo coupling in alkaline-earth-metal atomic gases with confinement-induced resonances in mixed dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Yanting; Zhang, Ren; Zhang, Peng; Zhai, Hui

2017-12-01

The Kondo effect describes the spin-exchange interaction between localized impurities and itinerant fermions. The ultracold alkaline-earth atomic gas provides a natural platform for quantum simulation of the Kondo model, utilizing its long-lived clock state and the nuclear-spin exchange interaction between clock state and ground state. One of the key issue now is whether the Kondo temperature can be high enough to be reached in current experiments, for which we have proposed to use transverse confinement to confine atoms into a one-dimensional tube and to use the confinement-induced resonance to enhance Kondo coupling. In this work, we further consider the (1 +0 ) -dimensional scattering problem when the clock state is further confined by an axial harmonic confinement. We show that this axial confinement for the clock-state atoms not only plays a role for localizing them, but can also act as an additional control knob to reach the confinement-induced resonance. We show that, in the presence of both the transverse and the axial confinements, the confinement-induced resonance can be reached in the practical conditions and the Kondo effect can be attainable in this system.

The effects of pressure, temperature, and pore water on velocities in Westerly granite. [for seismic wave propagation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spencer, J. W., Jr.; Nur, A. M.

1976-01-01

A description is presented of an experimental assembly which has been developed to conduct concurrent measurements of compressional and shear wave velocities in rocks at high temperatures and confining pressures and with independent control of the pore pressure. The apparatus was used in studies of the joint effects of temperature, external confining pressure, and internal pore water on sonic velocities in Westerly granite. It was found that at a given temperature, confining pressure has a larger accelerating effect on compressional waves in dry rock, whereas at a given confining pressure, temperature has a larger retarding effect on shear waves.

Optimization of the excitation light sheet in selective plane illumination microscopy

PubMed Central

Gao, Liang

2015-01-01

Selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) allows rapid 3D live fluorescence imaging on biological specimens with high 3D spatial resolution, good optical sectioning capability and minimal photobleaching and phototoxic effect. SPIM gains its advantage by confining the excitation light near the detection focal plane, and its performance is determined by the ability to create a thin, large and uniform excitation light sheet. Several methods have been developed to create such an excitation light sheet for SPIM. However, each method has its own strengths and weaknesses, and tradeoffs must be made among different aspects in SPIM imaging. In this work, we present a strategy to select the excitation light sheet among the latest SPIM techniques, and to optimize its geometry based on spatial resolution, field of view, optical sectioning capability, and the sample to be imaged. Besides the light sheets discussed in this work, the proposed strategy is also applicable to estimate the SPIM performance using other excitation light sheets. PMID:25798312

Spatial organization of heterologous metabolic system in vivo based on TALE.

PubMed

Zhu, Lv-yun; Qiu, Xin-Yuan; Zhu, Ling-Yun; Wu, Xiao-Min; Zhang, Yuan; Zhu, Qian-Hui; Fan, Dong-Yu; Zhu, Chu-Shu; Zhang, Dong-Yi

2016-05-17

For years, prokaryotic hosts have been widely applied in bio-engineering. However, the confined in vivo enzyme clustering of heterologous metabolic pathways in these organisms often results in low local concentrations of enzymes and substrates, leading to a low productive efficacy. We developed a new method to accelerate a heterologous metabolic system by integrating a transcription activator-like effector (TALE)-based scaffold system into an Escherichia coli chassis. The binding abilities of the TALEs to the artificial DNA scaffold were measured through ChIP-PCR. The effect of the system was determined through a split GFP study and validated through the heterologous production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) by incorporating TALE-fused IAA biosynthetic enzymes in E. coli. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to use the TALE system as a scaffold for the spatial organization of bacterial metabolism. This technique might be used to establish multi-enzymatic reaction programs in a prokaryotic chassis for various applications.

Modeling of blob-hole correlations in GPI edge turbulence data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myra, J. R.; Russell, D. A.; Zweben, S. J.

2017-10-01

Gas-puff imaging (GPI) observations made on NSTX have revealed two-point spatial correlation patterns in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. A common feature is the occurrence of dipole-like patterns with significant regions of negative correlation. In this work, we explore the possibility that these dipole patterns may be due to blob-hole pairs. Statistical methods are applied to determine the two-point spatial correlation that results from a model of blob-hole pair formation. It is shown that the model produces dipole correlation patterns that are qualitatively similar to the GPI data in many respects. Effects of the reference location (confined surfaces or scrape-off layer), a superimposed random background, hole velocity and lifetime, and background sheared flows are explored. The possibility of using the model to ascertain new information about edge turbulence is discussed. Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-FG02-02ER54678.

Influence of confining layers' heterogeneity on the barometric response functions in semi-confined aquifers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redaelli, Marco; Perulero Serrano, Raul

2017-04-01

It has been shown that Barometric Response Functions (BRFs) can provide a useful tool for detecting the occurrence of highly conducive bodies which span across aquifer confining layers and can potentially give rise to pathways for pollutant migration (Hussein et al 2013, Odling et al 2015). Analytical models employed to estimate BRFs from geological system properties assume homogeneity within the aquifer and its confining layer. These assumptions are rarely satisfied in practice. Our study focusses on the impact on predicted BRFs of heterogeneous distribution of high conductivity geomaterials within the confining layer. The work is grounded on a suite of three-dimensional, transient numerical computations of groundwater flow in a confining layer-aquifer system for i) a perfectly homogeneous two-layer setting where a single highly conducive block is fully penetrating the confining layer and ii) a heterogeneous two-layer system where hydraulic conductivity in the confining layer is modelled as a stochastic process. Our numerical results are interpreted through a comparison against those associated with an analytical model which assumes system homogeneity. Monitoring points located in the middle of the modelled aquifer domain, mimicking screened boreholes in field conditions, are used to extract water level records. The output is used to obtain the corresponding BRFs (in terms of gain and phase components) and compared vis-a-vis the selected analytical solution. The results show a wide variety of BRF responses, especially in the gain component, which vary from almost confined to unconfined scenarios. Our simulations show that the BRFs are a viable tool to improve understanding of the degree of spatial continuity within low permeability heterogeneous geological materials such as glacial till which is frequently found overlying water bearing units across the UK and other localities worldwide. As such, it has the potential to improve groundwater vulnerability assessment protocols. The results are promising and support the merit of additional developments through, e.g., numerical Monte Carlo simulations which can be performed to extract meaningful statistical information on the nature of BRFs as a function of randomly heterogeneous confining layers. Keywords: groundwater vulnerability, numerical modeling, barometric response functions, semi-confined aquifers References Hussein M.E.A., Odling N.E. & Clark R.A. (2013). Borehole water level response to barometric pressure as an indicator of aquifer vulnerability, Water Resources Research, 49: 7102-7119. Odling N.E, Perulero Serrano R., Hussein M.E.A, Riva M. & Guadagnini A. (2015). Detecting the vulnerability of groundwater in semi-confined aquifers using barometric response functions, Journal of Hydrology, 520: 143-156.

Monitoring and Manipulating Motions of Single Molecules/Nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Fang

This dissertation has two main research components: 1. the study of mass transport in confined environments; 2. the effort toward driving a molecular car on a solid surface. Understanding mass transport processes, e.g., diffusion, migration, and adsorption/desorption in confined space is important not only to fundamental sciences but also to advanced applications. So far, they are poorly understood because of technical challenges: insufficient spatial and/or temporal resolutions. In this dissertation, we made efforts toward understanding molecular/particular dynamics in confined space by combining a recently developed super resolution technique, stimulated depletion emission microscopy (STED), with the high temporal resolution technique, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). We first explored the feasibility of using conventional FCS to study diffusion in a model confined space: cylindrical pores. Since there is no analytical solution to solve the autocorrelation function (ACF) in confined space, we simulated single particle diffusion in hundred-nanometer pores using Monte Carlo simulation. We found that confined 2D diffusion and unconfined 1D diffusion dynamics are separated in both intensity traces and autocorrelation functions, which gives a new opportunity to extract the axial diffusion coefficient in cylindrical pores. We then experimentally studied 45 nm particles diffusing in 300 nm alumina pores. The acquired axial diffusion coefficient is consistent with the expected value. Conventional confocal FCS is insufficient to resolve lateral diffusion in confined space because of the diffraction limit in spatial resolution. To pave the way of using STED microscopy to study the anisotropic diffusion in confined space, we theoretically investigated STED-FCS in cylindrical pores. It showed that by reducing the spatial resolution from 250 nm to 50 nm in STED microscopy, we would be able to determine both lateral and axial diffusion coefficients in hundred-nanometer pores in theory. We then experimentally studied nanoparticles diffusing on membrane filters containing 200 nm polyethyleneglycol- or C18-modified pores. Using STED microscopy, we resolved for the first time how small particles are retained by the pores. Trapping by the pore entrances rather than adsorption is responsible for the retention. Further studies on C18-modified pores showed consistency in Gibbs free energy about the retention process. In addition, in order to understand how nanoparticles interact with the surface when they are forced to be on, or very close to, the surface, we studied nanosecond rotation dynamics of gold nanorods with one end attached on the surface. We found that the nanorod motion is dominated by van der Waals interaction-induced immobilization rather Brownian rotational diffusion as previously thought. The actual rotation, during which the nanorod transits from one immobilized state to the other, slows down by 50 times. The second part of the research is the collaboration with Tour's group in Rice University. The ultimate goal is to use light to drive a motorized nanocar at ambient conditions. To fulfill this goal, we first studied the moving kinetics of adamantane-wheeled nanocars on hydroxylated and PEG-modified surfaces using single molecule fluorescence microscopy. We found that nanocars' diffusion slows down on solid surface over time, which is possibly caused by the increased hydrophobicity of the substrate surface due to the adsorbates from the air. A sticky-spots model was proposed to explain the observed slowing down. To find out whether a light-activatable motor works when it is incorporated into a nanocar, we carefully designed a series of molecules containing a regular motor, a slow motor, a nonunidirectional motor, and no motor. We found that a fast unidirectional rotating motor enhanced the diffusion of the molecule in solution upon UV-illumination. Detailed analysis suggested that the unimolecular submersible nanomachine (USN) will give 9-nm step upon each motor actuation. This is the first nanomachine that gives mechanical motion at small molecular scale.

Speckle field as a multiple particle trap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shvedov, V. G.; Rode, A. V.; Izdebskaya, Ya. V.; Desyatnikov, A. S.; Krolikowski, W.; Kivshar, Yu. S.

2010-04-01

We demonstrate that a speckle pattern in the spatially coherent laser field transmitted by a diffuser forms a multitude of three-dimensional bottle-shaped micro-traps. These multiple traps serve as a means for an effective trapping of large number of air-born absorbing particles. Confinement of up to a few thousand particles in air with a single beam has been achieved. The ability to capture light-absorbing particles suspended in gases by optical means opens up rich and diverse practical opportunities, including development of photonic shielding/fencing for environmental protection in nanotechnology industry and new methods of touch-free air transport of particles and small containers, which may hold dangerous substances, or viruses and living cells.

Imaging three-dimensional light propagation through periodic nanohole arrays using scanning aperture microscopy

PubMed Central

Chowdhury, Mustafa H.; Catchmark, Jeffrey M.; Lakowicz, Joseph R.

2009-01-01

The authors introduce a technique for three-dimensional (3D) imaging of the light transmitted through periodic nanoapertures using a scanning probe to perform optical sectioning microscopy. For a 4×4 nanohole array, the transmitted light displays intensity modulations along the propagation axis, with the maximum intensity occurring at 450 μm above the surface. The propagating fields show low divergence, suggesting a beaming effect induced by the array. At distances within 25 μm from the surface, they observe subwavelength confinement of light propagating from the individual nanoholes. Hence, this technique can potentially be used to map the 3D distribution of propagating light, with high spatial resolution. PMID:19696912

Two-dimensional superconducting phase in LaTiO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures induced by high-mobility carrier doping.

PubMed

Biscaras, J; Bergeal, N; Hurand, S; Grossetête, C; Rastogi, A; Budhani, R C; LeBoeuf, D; Proust, C; Lesueur, J

2012-06-15

In this Letter, we show that a superconducting two-dimensional electron gas is formed at the LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interface whose transition temperature can be modulated by a back-gate voltage. The gas consists of two types of carriers: a majority of low-mobility carriers always present, and a few high-mobility ones that can be injected by electrostatic doping. The calculation of the electron spatial distribution in the confinement potential shows that the high-mobility electrons responsible for superconductivity set at the edge of the gas whose extension can be tuned by the field effect.

Interplay of Laser-Plasma Interactions and Inertial Fusion Hydrodynamics.

PubMed

Strozzi, D J; Bailey, D S; Michel, P; Divol, L; Sepke, S M; Kerbel, G D; Thomas, C A; Ralph, J E; Moody, J D; Schneider, M B

2017-01-13

The effects of laser-plasma interactions (LPI) on the dynamics of inertial confinement fusion hohlraums are investigated via a new approach that self-consistently couples reduced LPI models into radiation-hydrodynamics numerical codes. The interplay between hydrodynamics and LPI-specifically stimulated Raman scatter and crossed-beam energy transfer (CBET)-mostly occurs via momentum and energy deposition into Langmuir and ion acoustic waves. This spatially redistributes energy coupling to the target, which affects the background plasma conditions and thus, modifies laser propagation. This model shows reduced CBET and significant laser energy depletion by Langmuir waves, which reduce the discrepancy between modeling and data from hohlraum experiments on wall x-ray emission and capsule implosion shape.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strozzi, D. J.; Bailey, D. S.; Michel, P.

The effects of laser-plasma interactions (LPI) on the dynamics of inertial confinement fusion hohlraums are investigated in this work via a new approach that self-consistently couples reduced LPI models into radiation-hydrodynamics numerical codes. The interplay between hydrodynamics and LPI—specifically stimulated Raman scatter and crossed-beam energy transfer (CBET)—mostly occurs via momentum and energy deposition into Langmuir and ion acoustic waves. This spatially redistributes energy coupling to the target, which affects the background plasma conditions and thus, modifies laser propagation. In conclusion, this model shows reduced CBET and significant laser energy depletion by Langmuir waves, which reduce the discrepancy between modeling andmore » data from hohlraum experiments on wall x-ray emission and capsule implosion shape.« less

A Wet-Lab Approach to Stereochemistry Using [superscript 31]P NMR Spectroscopy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fenton, Owen S.; Sculimbrene, Bianca R.

2011-01-01

Understanding stereochemistry is an important and difficult task for students to master in organic chemistry. In both introductory and advanced courses, students are encouraged to explore the spatial relationships between molecules, but this exploration is often limited either to the lecture hall or the confines of the library. As such, we sought…

Uncertainties and implications of applying aggregated data for spatial modelling of atmospheric ammonia emissions.

PubMed

Hellsten, S; Dragosits, U; Place, C J; Dore, A J; Tang, Y S; Sutton, M A

2018-05-09

Ammonia emissions vary greatly at a local scale, and effects (eutrophication, acidification) occur primarily close to sources. Therefore it is important that spatially distributed emission estimates are located as accurately as possible. The main source of ammonia emissions is agriculture, and therefore agricultural survey statistics are the most important input data to an ammonia emission inventory alongside per activity estimates of emission potential. In the UK, agricultural statistics are collected at farm level, but are aggregated to parish level, NUTS-3 level or regular grid resolution for distribution to users. In this study, the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP), associated with such amalgamation, is investigated in the context of assessing the spatial distribution of ammonia sources for emission inventories. England was used as a test area to study the effects of the MAUP. Agricultural survey data at farm level (point data) were obtained under license and amalgamated to different areal units or zones: regular 1-km, 5-km, 10-km grids and parish level, before they were imported into the emission model. The results of using the survey data at different levels of amalgamation were assessed to estimate the effects of the MAUP on the spatial inventory. The analysis showed that the size and shape of aggregation zones applied to the farm-level agricultural statistics strongly affect the location of the emissions estimated by the model. If the zones are too small, this may result in false emission "hot spots", i.e., artificially high emission values that are in reality not confined to the zone to which they are allocated. Conversely, if the zones are too large, detail may be lost and emissions smoothed out, which may give a false impression of the spatial patterns and magnitude of emissions in those zones. The results of the study indicate that the MAUP has a significant effect on the location and local magnitude of emissions in spatial inventories where amalgamated, zonal data are used. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Magnetic field amplitude and pitch angle measurements using Spectral MSE on EAST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Ken; Rowan, William; Fu, Jia; Li, Ying-Ying; Lyu, Bo; Marchuk, Oleksandr; Ralchenko, Yuri

2017-10-01

We have developed the Spectral Motional Stark Effect technique for measuring magnetic field amplitude and pitch angle on EAST. The experiments were conducted using the tangential co-injection heating beam at A port and Beam Emission Spectroscopy array at D port. A spatial calibration of the observation channels was conducted before the campaign. As a first check, the measured magnetic field amplitude was compared to prediction. Since the toroidal field is dominant, we recovered the expected 1/R shape over the spatial range 1.75

On the spatial distribution of decameter‒scale subauroral ionospheric irregularities observed by SuperDARN radars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larquier, S.; Ponomarenko, P.; Ribeiro, A. J.; Ruohoniemi, J. M.; Baker, J. B. H.; Sterne, K. T.; Lester, M.

2013-08-01

The midlatitude Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars regularly observe nighttime low‒velocity Sub‒Auroral Ionospheric Scatter (SAIS) from decameter‒scale ionospheric density irregularities during quiet geomagnetic conditions. To establish the origin of the density irregularities responsible for low‒velocity SAIS, it is necessary to distinguish between the effects of high frequency (HF) propagation and irregularity occurrence itself on the observed backscatter distribution. We compare range, azimuth, and elevation data from the Blackstone SuperDARN radar with modeling results from ray tracing coupled with the International Reference Ionosphere assuming a uniform irregularity distribution. The observed and modeled distributions are shown to be very similar. The spatial distribution of backscattering is consistent with the requirement that HF rays propagate nearly perpendicular to the geomagnetic field lines (aspect angle ≤1°). For the first time, the irregularities responsible for low‒velocity SAIS are determined to extend between 200 and 300 km altitude, validating previous assumptions that low‒velocity SAIS is an F‒region phenomenon. We find that the limited spatial extent of this category of ionospheric backscatter within SuperDARN radars' fields‒of‒view is a consequence of HF propagation effects and the finite vertical extent of the scattering irregularities. We conclude that the density irregularities responsible for low‒velocity SAIS are widely distributed horizontally within the midlatitude ionosphere but are confined to the bottom‒side F‒region.

Flow characteristics of bounded self-organized dust vortex in a complex plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laishram, Modhuchandra; Sharma, D.; Chattopdhyay, P. K.; Kaw, P. K.

2018-01-01

Dust clouds are often formed in many dusty plasma experiments, when micron size dust particles introduced in the plasma are confined by spatial non-uniformities of the potential. These formations show self-organized patterns like vortex or circulation flows. Steady-state equilibrium dynamics of such dust clouds is analyzed by 2D hydrodynamics for varying Reynolds number, Re, when the cloud is confined in an azimuthally symmetric cylindrical setup by an effective potential and is in a dynamic equilibrium with an unbounded sheared plasma flow. The nonconservative forcing due to ion flow shear generates finite vorticity in the confined dust clouds. In the linear limit (Re ≪ 1), the collective flow is characterized by a single symmetric and elongated vortex with scales correlating with the driving field and those generated by friction with the boundaries. However in the high Re limit, (Re ≥ 1), the nonlinear inertial transport (u . ∇u) is effective and the vortex structure is characterized by an asymmetric equilibrium and emergence of a circular core region with uniform vorticity, over which the viscous stress is negligible. The core domain is surrounded by a virtual boundary of highly convective flow followed by thin shear layers filled with low-velocity co- and counter-rotating vortices, enabling the smooth matching with external boundary conditions. In linear regime, the effective boundary layer thickness is recovered to scale with the dust kinematic viscosity as Δr ≈ μ1/3 and is modified as Δr ≈ (μL∥/u)1/2 in the nonlinear regime through a critical kinematic viscosity μ∗ that signifies a structural bifurcation of the flow field solutions. The flow characteristics recovered are relevant to many microscopic biological processes at lower Re, as well as gigantic vortex flows such as Jovian great red spot and white ovals at higher Re.

Tailoring Magnetic Skyrmions by Geometric Confinement of Magnetic Structures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Steven S.-L.; Phatak, C.; Petford-Long, A K

Nanoscale magnetic skyrmions have interesting static and transport properties that make them candidates for future spintronic devices. Control and manipulation of the size and behavior of skyrmions is thus of crucial importance. Here, using a Ginzburg-Landau approach, we show theoretically that skyrmions and skyrmion lattices can be stabilized by a spatial modulation of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in a thin film of a centro-symmetric ferromagnet. Remarkably, the skyrmion size is determined by the ratio of the exchange length and the period of the spatial modulation of the anisotropy, at variance with conventional skyrmions stabilized by dipolar and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions.

Spatial interference patterns in the dynamics of a 2D Bose-Einstein condensate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bera, Jayanta; Roy, Utpal

2018-05-01

Bose-Einstein condensate has become a highly tunable physical system, which is proven to mimic a number of interesting physical phenomena in condensed matter physics. We study the dynamics of a two-dimensional Bose Einstein condensate (BEC) in the presence of a flat harmonic confinement and time-dependent sharp potential peak. Condensate density can be meticulously controlled with time by tuning the physically relevant parameters: frequency of the harmonic trap, width of the peaks, frequency of their oscillations, initial density etc. By engineering various trap profile, we solve the system, numerically, and explore the resulting spatial interference patters.

Tailoring Magnetic Skyrmions by Geometric Confinement of Magnetic Structures

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Steven S.-L.; Phatak, C.; Petford-Long, A K; ...

2017-12-12

Nanoscale magnetic skyrmions have interesting static and transport properties that make them candidates for future spintronic devices. Control and manipulation of the size and behavior of skyrmions is thus of crucial importance. Here, using a Ginzburg-Landau approach, we show theoretically that skyrmions and skyrmion lattices can be stabilized by a spatial modulation of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in a thin film of a centro-symmetric ferromagnet. Remarkably, the skyrmion size is determined by the ratio of the exchange length and the period of the spatial modulation of the anisotropy, at variance with conventional skyrmions stabilized by dipolar and Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions.

Hydrogen bonding and transportation properties of water confined in the single-walled carbon nanotube in the pulse-field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Min; Hu, Ying; Liu, Jian-chuan; Cheng, Ke; Jia, Guo-zhu

2017-10-01

In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the transportation and hydrogen bonding dynamics of water confined in (6, 6) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) in the absence and presence of time-dependent pulse-field. The effects of pulse-field range from microwave to ultraviolet frequency on the diffusivity and hydrogen bonding of confined water were analyzed. The significant confinement effect due to the narrow space inside SWCNT was observed.

UCLA Tokamak Program Close Out Report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Taylor, Robert John

2014-02-04

The results of UCLA experimental fusion program are summarized. Starting with smaller devices like Microtor, Macrotor, CCT and ending the research on the large (5 m) Electric Tokamak. CCT was the most diagnosed device for H-mode like physics and the effects of rotation induced radial fields. ICRF heating was also studied but plasma heating of University Type Tokamaks did not produce useful results due to plasma edge disturbances of the antennae. The Electric Tokamak produced better confinement in the seconds range. However, it presented very good particle confinement due to an "electric particle pinch". This effect prevented us from reachingmore » a quasi steady state. This particle accumulation effect was numerically explained by Shaing's enhanced neoclassical theory. The PI believes that ITER will have a good energy confinement time but deleteriously large particle confinement time and it will disrupt on particle pinching at nominal average densities. The US fusion research program did not study particle transport effects due to its undue focus on the physics of energy confinement time. Energy confinement time is not an issue for energy producing tokamaks. Controlling the ash flow will be very expensive.« less

Impact of solvent granularity and layering on tracer hydrodynamics in confinement.

PubMed

Bollinger, Jonathan A; Carmer, James; Jain, Avni; Truskett, Thomas M

2016-11-28

Classic hydrodynamic arguments establish that when a spherical tracer particle is suspended between parallel walls, tracer-wall coupling mediated by the solvent will cause the tracer to exhibit position-dependent diffusivity. We investigate how the diffusivity profiles of confined tracers are impacted by the diameter size-ratio of the tracer to solvent: starting from the classic limit of infinite size-ratio (i.e., continuum solvent), we consider size-ratios of four or less to examine how hydrodynamic predictions are disrupted for systems where the tracer and solvent are of similar scale. We use computer simulations and techniques based on the Fokker-Planck formalism to calculate the diffusivity profiles of hard-sphere tracer particles in hard-sphere solvents, focusing on the dynamics perpendicular to the walls. Given wall separations of several tracer diameters, we first consider confinement between hard walls, where anisotropic structuring at the solvent lengthscale generates inhomogeneity in the tracer free-energy landscape and undermines hydrodynamic predictions locally. We then introduce confining planes that we term transparent walls, which restrict tracer and solvent center-accessibilities while completely eliminating static anisotropy, and reveal position-dependent signatures in tracer diffusivity solely attributable to confinement. With or without suppressing static heterogeneity, we find that tracer diffusivity increasingly deviates on a local basis from hydrodynamic predictions at smaller size-ratios. However, hydrodynamic theory still approximately captures spatially-averaged dynamics across the pores even for very small tracer-solvent size-ratios over a wide range of solvent densities and wall separations.

Characterizating Multi-layered Coastal Aquifer using Pneumatic Slug Tests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malama, B.; Abere, M.; Mikenna, M.

2016-12-01

Results of pneumatic slug tests conducted in a monitoring wells of a shallow aquifer on the California Central Coast are presented. The aquifer is in the Los Osos groundwater basin on the California Central Coast, a semi-closed near-triangular groundwater basin bounded to the north and south by impermeable igneousbed rock and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. The groundwater basin is a multi-layered system comprising a perched, near-surface semi-confined, and a deep confined aquifer. The unincorporated community of Los Osos is wholly dependent on the groundwater basin that is threatened with seawater intrusion and nitratecontamination. The slug tests reported here were performed in the perched and semi-confined aquifers as part of a seawater intrusion characterization study. The semi-confined and confined aquifers show evidence of seawater intrusion with upconing in some deep aquifer municipal wells. The upconing has beeninterpreted by previous studies as evidence of preferential flow through a high permeability channel. The objective of the work was to test this hypothesis by mapping the horizontal and vertical spatial variability of hydraulic parameters across the basin and establish the extent of the high permeability unit.Here only preliminary results of slug tests conducted across the basin for vertically averaged hydraulic parameters are reported. The results provide an indication of the horizontal variability of hydraulic parameters. An additional study will be performed to characterize the vertical variability to investigate the probableexistsence of a high permeability channel.

A spatial approach to environmental risk assessment of PAH contamination.

PubMed

Bengtsson, Göran; Törneman, Niklas

2009-01-01

The extent of remediation of contaminated industrial sites depends on spatial heterogeneity of contaminant concentration and spatially explicit risk characterization. We used sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) and indicator kriging (IK) to describe the spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pH, electric conductivity, particle aggregate distribution, water holding capacity, and total organic carbon, and quantitative relations among them, in a creosote polluted soil in southern Sweden. The geostatistical analyses were combined with risk analyses, in which the total toxic equivalent concentration of the PAH mixture was calculated from the soil concentrations of individual PAHs and compared with ecotoxicological effect concentrations and regulatory threshold values in block sizes of 1.8 x 1.8 m. Most PAHs were spatially autocorrelated and appeared in several hot spots. The risk calculated by SGS was more confined to specific hot spot areas than the risk calculated by IK, and 40-50% of the site had PAH concentrations exceeding the threshold values with a probability of 80% and higher. The toxic equivalent concentration of the PAH mixture was dependent on the spatial distribution of organic carbon, showing the importance of assessing risk by a combination of measurements of PAH and organic carbon concentrations. Essentially, the same risk distribution pattern was maintained when Monte Carlo simulations were used for implementation of risk in larger (5 x 5 m), economically more feasible remediation blocks, but a smaller area became of great concern for remediation when the simulations included PAH partitioning to two separate sources, creosote and natural, of organic matter, rather than one general.

Dynamical backaction cooling with free electrons.

PubMed

Niguès, A; Siria, A; Verlot, P

2015-09-18

The ability to cool single ions, atomic ensembles, and more recently macroscopic degrees of freedom down to the quantum ground state has generated considerable progress and perspectives in fundamental and technological science. These major advances have been essentially obtained by coupling mechanical motion to a resonant electromagnetic degree of freedom in what is generally known as laser cooling. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the first self-induced coherent cooling mechanism that is not mediated by an electromagnetic resonance. Using a focused electron beam, we report a 50-fold reduction of the motional temperature of a nanowire. Our result primarily relies on the sub-nanometre confinement of the electron beam and generalizes to any delayed and spatially confined interaction, with important consequences for near-field microscopy and fundamental nanoscale dissipation mechanisms.

Controlling the state of polarization via optical nanoantenna feeding with surface plasmon polaritons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yu-Bo; Liu, Zheng-Yang; Wang, Qian-Jin; Sun, Guang-Hou; Zhang, Xue-Jin; Zhu, Yong-Yuan

2016-03-01

Optical nanoantennas, usually referring to metal structures with localized surface plasmon resonance, could efficiently convert confined optical energy to free-space light, and vice versa. But it is difficult to manipulate the confined visible light energy for its nanoscale spatial extent. Here, a simple method is proposed to solve this problem by controlling surface plasmon polaritons to indirectly manipulate the localized plasmons. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate an optical rotation device which is a grating with central circular polarization optical nanoantenna. It realized the arbitrary optical rotation of linear polarized light by controlling the retard of dual surface plasmon polaritons sources from both side grating structures. Furthermore, we use a two-parameter theoretical model to explain the experimental results.

Size Effects in Nanoscale Structural Phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McElhinny, Kyle Matthew

The creation of nanostructures offers the opportunity to modify and tune properties in ways inaccessible in bulk materials. A key component in this development is the introduction of size effects which reduce the physical size, dimensionality, and increase the contribution of surface effects. The size effects strongly modify the structural dynamics in nanoscale systems and leads to changes in the vibrational, electrical, and optical properties. An increased level of understanding and control of nanoscale structural dynamics will enable more precise control over nanomaterial transport properties. My work has shown that 1D spatial confinement through the creation of semiconducting nanomembranes modifies the phonon population and dispersion. X ray thermal diffuse scattering distributions show an excess in intensity for nanomembranes less than 100 nm in thickness, for phonon modes with wavevectors spanning the entire Brillouin zone. This excess intensity indicates the development of new low energy phonon modes or the softening of elastic constants. Furthermore, an additional anisotropy in the phonon dispersion is observed with a symmetry matching the direction of spatial confinement. This work has also extended x ray thermal diffuse scattering for use in studying nanomaterials. In electro- and photoactive monolayers a structural reconfiguration can be produced by external optical stimuli. I have developed an electro and photoactive molecular monolayers on oxide surfaces. Using x ray reflectivity, I have evaluated the organization and reconfiguration of molecular monolayers deposited by Langmuir Blodgett technique. I have designed and probed the reconfiguration of optically reconfigurable monolayers of azobenzene donor molecules on semiconducting surfaces. These monolayers reconfigure through a cooperative switching process leading to the development of large isomeric domains. This work represents an advancement in the interpretation of x ray reflectivity from molecular monolayers and inhomogeneous surfaces. The growth 2D materials depends on the interactions between the substrate and the 2D material. I have studied the competition between kinetics and surface energetics which lead to a faceted Ge surface during the growth of Graphene nanoribbons. As part of this work, I have developed new methodologies for interpreting x ray reflectivity patterns from surfaces with multiple reflections. A systematic analysis of the temperature dependence of the faceting process indicates that the process is thermodynamically dominated at high temperatures.

Precursor detonation wave development in ANFO due to aluminum confinement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jackson, Scott I; Klyanda, Charles B; Short, Mark

2010-01-01

Detonations in explosive mixtures of ammonium-nitrate-fuel-oil (ANFO) confined by aluminum allow for transport of detonation energy ahead of the detonation front due to the aluminum sound speed exceeding the detonation velocity. The net effect of this energy transport on the detonation is unclear. It could enhance the detonation by precompressing the explosive near the wall. Alternatively, it could decrease the explosive performance by crushing porosity required for initiation by shock compression or destroying confinement ahead of the detonation. At present, these phenomena are not well understood. But with slowly detonating, non-ideal high explosive (NIHE) systems becoming increasing prevalent, proper understandingmore » and prediction of the performance of these metal-confined NIHE systems is desirable. Experiments are discussed that measured the effect of this ANFO detonation energy transported upstream of the front by a 76-mm-inner-diameter aluminum confining tube. Detonation velocity, detonation-front shape, and aluminum response are recorded as a function of confiner wall thickness and length. Detonation shape profiles display little curvature near the confining surface, which is attributed to energy transported upstream modifying the flow. Average detonation velocities were seen to increase with increasing confiner thickness, while wavefront curvature decreased due to the stiffer, subsonic confinement. Significant radial sidewall tube motion was observed immediately ahead of the detonation. Axial motion was also detected, which interfered with the front shape measurements in some cases. It was concluded that the confiner was able to transport energy ahead of the detonation and that this transport has a definite effect on the detonation by modifying its characteristic shape.« less

Tuning the physical properties in strontium iridate heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nichols, John; Meyer, Tricia; Lee, Ho Nyung

2015-03-01

Strontium iridate (Srn+1IrnO3n+1) has received lots of attention recently for its potential to reveal novel physical phenomena due to strong spin-orbital coupling with an interaction energy comparable to that of the on-site Coulomb interaction and crystal field splitting. The coexistence of fundamental interactions has created an exotic Jeff = 1/2 antiferromagnetic insulating ground state in Sr2IrO4. In particular, it is known that this system can be driven into a metallic state with the simultaneous increase in dimensionality (n) and strain. We have investigated the effects of electron confinement by interfacing strontium iridates with other perovskite oxides. We have synthesized thin film heterostructures, SrIrO3/AMO3 (A = Sr, La; B = Ti, Mn, Rh), layer-by-layer with pulsed laser deposition equipped with reflection high-energy electron diffraction. Based on investigations with x-ray diffraction, dc transport, SQUID magnetometry, and various spectroscopic measurements, we will present that the physical properties of the heterostructures are strongly dependent on spatial confinement and epitaxial strain. *This work was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division.

Visualizing deceleration-phase instabilities in inertial confinement fusion implosions using an "enhanced self-emission" technique at the National Ignition Facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pickworth, L. A.; Hammel, B. A.; Smalyuk, V. A.; Robey, H. F.; Benedetti, L. R.; Berzak Hopkins, L.; Bradley, D. K.; Field, J. E.; Haan, S. W.; Hatarik, R.; Hartouni, E.; Izumi, N.; Johnson, S.; Khan, S.; Lahmann, B.; Landen, O. L.; Le Pape, S.; MacPhee, A. G.; Meezan, N. B.; Milovich, J.; Nagel, S. R.; Nikroo, A.; Pak, A. E.; Petrasso, R.; Remington, B. A.; Rice, N. G.; Springer, P. T.; Stadermann, M.; Widmann, K.; Hsing, W.

2018-05-01

High-mode perturbations and low-mode asymmetries were measured in the deceleration phase of indirectly driven, deuterium gas filled inertial confinement fusion capsule implosions at convergence ratios of 10 to 15, using a new "enhanced emission" technique at the National Ignition Facility [E. M. Campbell et al., AIP Conf. Proc. 429, 3 (1998)]. In these experiments, a high spatial resolution Kirkpatrick-Baez microscope was used to image the x-ray emission from the inner surface of a high-density-carbon capsule's shell. The use of a high atomic number dopant in the shell enabled time-resolved observations of shell perturbations penetrating into the hot spot. This allowed the effects of the perturbations and asymmetries on degrading neutron yield to be directly measured. In particular, mix induced radiation losses of ˜400 J from the hot spot resulted in a neutron yield reduction of a factor of ˜2. In a subsequent experiment with a significantly increased level of short-mode initial perturbations, shown through the enhanced imaging technique to be highly organized radially, the neutron yield dropped an additional factor of ˜2.

A Spatial Analysis of the Potato Cyst Nematode Globodera pallida in Idaho.

PubMed

Dandurand, Louise-Marie; Contina, Jean Bertrand; Knudsen, Guy R

2018-03-13

The potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera pallida, is a globally regulated and quarantine potato pest. It was detected for the first time in the U.S. in the state of Idaho in 2006. A spatial analysis was performed to: (i) understand the spatial arrangement of PCN infested fields in southern Idaho using spatial point pattern analysis; and (ii) evaluate the potential threat of PCN for entry to new areas using spatial interpolation techniques. Data point locations, cyst numbers and egg viability values for each infested field were collected by USDA-APHIS during 2006-2014. Results showed the presence of spatially clustered PCN infested fields (P = 0.003). We determined that the spread of PCN grew in diameter from the original center of infestation toward the southwest as an ellipsoidal-shaped cluster. Based on the aggregated spatial pattern of distribution and the low extent level of PCN infested fields in southern Idaho, we determined that PCN spread followed a contagion effect scenario, where nearby infested fields contributed to the infestation of new fields, probably through soil contaminated agricultural equipment or tubers. We determined that the recent PCN presence in southern Idaho is unlikely to be associated with new PCN entry from outside the state of Idaho. The relative aggregation of PCN infested fields, the low number of cysts recovered, and the low values in egg viability facilitate quarantine activities and confine this pest to a small area, which, in 2017, is estimated to be 1,233 hectares. The tools and methods provided in this study should facilitate comprehensive approaches to improve PCN control and eradication programs as well as to raise public awareness about this economically important potato pest.

Multivariate Non-Symmetric Stochastic Models for Spatial Dependence Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haslauer, C. P.; Bárdossy, A.

2017-12-01

A copula based multivariate framework allows more flexibility to describe different kind of dependences than what is possible using models relying on the confining assumption of symmetric Gaussian models: different quantiles can be modelled with a different degree of dependence; it will be demonstrated how this can be expected given process understanding. maximum likelihood based multivariate quantitative parameter estimation yields stable and reliable results; not only improved results in cross-validation based measures of uncertainty are obtained but also a more realistic spatial structure of uncertainty compared to second order models of dependence; as much information as is available is included in the parameter estimation: incorporation of censored measurements (e.g., below detection limit, or ones that are above the sensitive range of the measurement device) yield to more realistic spatial models; the proportion of true zeros can be jointly estimated with and distinguished from censored measurements which allow estimates about the age of a contaminant in the system; secondary information (categorical and on the rational scale) has been used to improve the estimation of the primary variable; These copula based multivariate statistical techniques are demonstrated based on hydraulic conductivity observations at the Borden (Canada) site, the MADE site (USA), and a large regional groundwater quality data-set in south-west Germany. Fields of spatially distributed K were simulated with identical marginal simulation, identical second order spatial moments, yet substantially differing solute transport characteristics when numerical tracer tests were performed. A statistical methodology is shown that allows the delineation of a boundary layer separating homogenous parts of a spatial data-set. The effects of this boundary layer (macro structure) and the spatial dependence of K (micro structure) on solute transport behaviour is shown.

High Explosive Detonation-Confiner Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Short, Mark; Quirk, James J.

2018-01-01

The primary purpose of a detonation in a high explosive (HE) is to provide the energy to drive a surrounding confiner, typically for mining or munitions applications. The details of the interaction between an HE detonation and its confinement are essential to achieving the objectives of the explosive device. For the high pressures induced by detonation loading, both the solid HE and confiner materials will flow. The structure and speed of a propagating detonation, and ultimately the pressures generated in the reaction zone to drive the confiner, depend on the induced flow both within the confiner and along the HE-confiner material interface. The detonation-confiner interactions are heavily influenced by the material properties and, in some cases, the thickness of the confiner. This review discusses the use of oblique shock polar analysis as a means of characterizing the possible range of detonation-confiner interactions. Computations that reveal the fluid mechanics of HE detonation-confiner interactions for finite reaction-zone length detonations are discussed and compared with the polar analysis. This includes cases of supersonic confiner flow; subsonic, shock-driven confiner flow; subsonic, but shockless confiner flow; and sonic flow at the intersection of the detonation shock and confiner material interface. We also summarize recent developments, including the effects of geometry and porous material confinement, on detonation-confiner interactions.

Masking of infrared neural stimulation (INS) in hearing and deaf guinea pigs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadakia, Sama; Young, Hunter; Richter, Claus-Peter

2013-03-01

Spatial selective infrared neural stimulation has potential to improve neural prostheses, including cochlear implants. The heating of a confined target volume depolarizes the cell membrane and results in an action potential. Tissue heating may also results in thermal damage or the generation of a stress relaxation wave. Stress relaxation waves may result in a direct mechanical stimulation of remaining hair cells in the cochlea, so called optophony. Data are presented that quantify the effect of an acoustical stimulus (noise masker) on the response obtained with INS in normal hearing, acutely deafened, and chronic deaf animals. While in normal hearing animals an acoustic masker can reduce the response to INS, in acutely deafened animals the masking effect is reduced, and in chronic deaf animals this effect has not been detected. The responses to INS remain stable following the different degrees of cochlear damage.

Helium like impurity in CdTe/ Cd1-xMnxTe semimagnetic semiconductors under magnetic field: Dimensionality effect on electron - Electron interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalpana, Panneer Selvam; Jayakumar, Kalyanasundaram

2017-11-01

We study the effect of magnetic field on the Coulomb interaction between the two electrons confined inside a CdTe/Cd1-xMnxTe Quantum Well (QW), Quantum Well Wire (QWW) and Quantum Dot (QD) for the composition of Mn2+ ion, x = 0.3. The two particle Schrodinger equation has been solved using variational technique in the effective mass approximation. The results show that the applied magnetic field tremendously alters the Coulomb interaction of the electrons and their binding to the donor impurity by shrinking the spatial extension of the two particle wavefunction and leads to tunnelling through the barrier. The qualitative phenomenon involved in such variation of electron - electron interaction with the magnetic field has also been explained through the 3D - plot of the probability density function.

Coherent fluorescence emission by using hybrid photonic–plasmonic crystals

PubMed Central

Shi, Lei; Yuan, Xiaowen; Zhang, Yafeng; Hakala, Tommi; Yin, Shaoyu; Han, Dezhuan; Zhu, Xiaolong; Zhang, Bo; Liu, Xiaohan; Törmä, Päivi; Lu, Wei; Zi, Jian

2014-01-01

The spatial and temporal coherence of the fluorescence emission controlled by a quasi-two-dimensional hybrid photonic–plasmonic crystal structure covered with a thin fluorescent-molecular-doped dielectric film is investigated experimentally. A simple theoretical model to describe how a confined quasi-two-dimensional optical mode may induce coherent fluorescence emission is also presented. Concerning the spatial coherence, it is experimentally observed that the coherence area in the plane of the light source is in excess of 49 μm2, which results in enhanced directional fluorescence emission. Concerning temporal coherence, the obtained coherence time is 4 times longer than that of the normal fluorescence emission in vacuum. Moreover, a Young's double-slit interference experiment is performed to directly confirm the spatially coherent emission. This smoking gun proof of spatial coherence is reported here for the first time for the optical-mode-modified emission. PMID:25793015

I. Excitonic Phase Diagram in Silicon: Evidence for Two Condensed Phases. I. Motion of Photoexcited Carriers in GALLIUM-ARSENIDE/ALUMINUM(X)GALLIUM(1-X)ARSENIDE Multiple Quantum Wells-Anomalous Confinement at High Densities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Leigh Morris

This thesis describes work on the thermodynamics and transport properties of photoexcited carriers in bulk and two-dimensional semiconductors. Two major topics are addressed. I. Photoluminescence experiments of excitons in unstressed silicon are presented which indicate the existence of a new non-degenerate condensed phase of plasma. This new liquid has a density one-tenth that of the ground state electron-hole liquid and is observed both above and below the liquid-gas critical point (~24.5K). A new phase diagram of excitons in silicon is presented which includes these two condensed plasmas. Consistent with the Gibbs phase rule, a triple point at 18.5 K is inferred from the luminescence data as the only temperature where the exciton gas, condensed plasma (CP) and electron-hole liquid (EHL) coexist. The low density condensed plasma persists up to a second critical point at 45 +/- 5K, above which the photoexcited carriers are observed to continuously decay into a partially ionized excitonic gas. II. We have measured the in-plane motion of photoexcited carriers in semiconductor quantum wells with 5 μm spatial and 10 ps temporal resolution and have discovered several surprising results. The effective diffusivity of the carriers at densities below n = 2 times 10^{11}cm ^{-2} is found to depend upon excitation level, possibly indicating defect-limited diffusion or phonon-wind effects. Above this density the spatial profiles exhibit two distinct components with widely differing diffusivities. This remarkable behavior may be understood with consideration of the interactions of non-equilibrium phonons with the photoexcited carriers. We postulate that the slowly diffusing component represents carriers which are "thermally confined" to a phonon hot spot, while the rapidly moving component is driven by the flux of non-equilibrium phonons away from the excitation region.

Effect of an offshore sinkhole perforation in a coastal confined aquifer on submarine groundwater discharge

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fratesi, S.E.; Leonard, V.; Sanford, W.E.

2007-01-01

In order to explore submarine groundwater discharge in the vicinity of karst features that penetrate the confining layer of an offshore, partially confined aquifer, we constructed a three-dimensional groundwater model using the SUTRA (Saturated-Unsaturated TRAnsport) variable-density groundwater flow model. We ran a parameter sensitivity analysis, testing the effects of recharge rates, permeabilities of the aquifer and confining layer, and thickness of the confining layer. In all simulations, less than 20% of the freshwater recharge for the entire model exits through the sinkhole. Recirculated seawater usually accounts for 10-30% of the total outflow from the model. Often, the sinkhole lies seaward of the transition zone and acts as a recharge feature for recirculating seawater. The permeability ratio between aquifer and confining layer influences the configuration of the freshwater wedge the most; as confining layer permeability decreases, the wedge lengthens and the fraction of total discharge exiting through the sinkhole increases. Copyright ?? 2007 IAHS Press.

The role of remote sensing and GIS for spatial prediction of vector-borne diseases transmission: a systematic review.

PubMed

Palaniyandi, M

2012-12-01

There have been several attempts made to the appreciation of remote sensing and GIS for the study of vectors, biodiversity, vector presence, vector abundance and the vector-borne diseases with respect to space and time. This study was made for reviewing and appraising the potential use of remote sensing and GIS applications for spatial prediction of vector-borne diseases transmission. The nature of the presence and the abundance of vectors and vector-borne diseases, disease infection and the disease transmission are not ubiquitous and are confined with geographical, environmental and climatic factors, and are localized. The presence of vectors and vector-borne diseases is most complex in nature, however, it is confined and fueled by the geographical, climatic and environmental factors including man-made factors. The usefulness of the present day availability of the information derived from the satellite data including vegetation indices of canopy cover and its density, soil types, soil moisture, soil texture, soil depth, etc. is integrating the information in the expert GIS engine for the spatial analysis of other geoclimatic and geoenvironmental variables. The present study gives the detailed information on the classical studies of the past and present, and the future role of remote sensing and GIS for the vector-borne diseases control. The ecological modeling directly gives us the relevant information to understand the spatial variation of the vector biodiversity, vector presence, vector abundance and the vector-borne diseases in association with geoclimatic and the environmental variables. The probability map of the geographical distribution and seasonal variations of horizontal and vertical distribution of vector abundance and its association with vector -borne diseases can be obtained with low cost remote sensing and GIS tool with reliable data and speed.

Assessment of ion kinetic effects in shock-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions using fusion burn imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rosenberg, M. J.; Séguin, F. H.; Amendt, P. A.

The significance and nature of ion kinetic effects in D³He-filled, shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions are assessed through measurements of fusion burn profiles. Over this series of experiments, the ratio of ion-ion mean free path to minimum shell radius (the Knudsen number, N K) was varied from 0.3 to 9 in order to probe hydrodynamic-like to strongly kinetic plasma conditions; as the Knudsen number increased, hydrodynamic models increasingly failed to match measured yields, while an empirically-tuned, first-step model of ion kinetic effects better captured the observed yield trends [Rosenberg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 185001 (2014)]. Here, spatially resolvedmore » measurements of the fusion burn are used to examine kinetic ion transport effects in greater detail, adding an additional dimension of understanding that goes beyond zero-dimensional integrated quantities to one-dimensional profiles. In agreement with the previous findings, a comparison of measured and simulated burn profiles shows that models including ion transport effects are able to better match the experimental results. In implosions characterized by large Knudsen numbers (N K ~ 3), the fusion burn profiles predicted by hydrodynamics simulations that exclude ion mean free path effects are peaked far from the origin, in stark disagreement with the experimentally observed profiles, which are centrally peaked. In contrast, a hydrodynamics simulation that includes a model of ion diffusion is able to qualitatively match the measured profile shapes. Therefore, ion diffusion or diffusion-like processes are identified as a plausible explanation of the observed trends, though further refinement of the models is needed for a more complete and quantitative understanding of ion kinetic effects.« less

Assessment of ion kinetic effects in shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions using fusion burn imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosenberg, M. J.; Séguin, F. H.; Amendt, P. A.; Atzeni, S.; Rinderknecht, H. G.; Hoffman, N. M.; Zylstra, A. B.; Li, C. K.; Sio, H.; Gatu Johnson, M.; Frenje, J. A.; Petrasso, R. D.; Glebov, V. Yu.; Stoeckl, C.; Seka, W.; Marshall, F. J.; Delettrez, J. A.; Sangster, T. C.; Betti, R.; Wilks, S. C.; Pino, J.; Kagan, G.; Molvig, K.; Nikroo, A.

2015-06-01

The significance and nature of ion kinetic effects in D3He-filled, shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions are assessed through measurements of fusion burn profiles. Over this series of experiments, the ratio of ion-ion mean free path to minimum shell radius (the Knudsen number, NK) was varied from 0.3 to 9 in order to probe hydrodynamic-like to strongly kinetic plasma conditions; as the Knudsen number increased, hydrodynamic models increasingly failed to match measured yields, while an empirically-tuned, first-step model of ion kinetic effects better captured the observed yield trends [Rosenberg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 185001 (2014)]. Here, spatially resolved measurements of the fusion burn are used to examine kinetic ion transport effects in greater detail, adding an additional dimension of understanding that goes beyond zero-dimensional integrated quantities to one-dimensional profiles. In agreement with the previous findings, a comparison of measured and simulated burn profiles shows that models including ion transport effects are able to better match the experimental results. In implosions characterized by large Knudsen numbers (NK ˜ 3), the fusion burn profiles predicted by hydrodynamics simulations that exclude ion mean free path effects are peaked far from the origin, in stark disagreement with the experimentally observed profiles, which are centrally peaked. In contrast, a hydrodynamics simulation that includes a model of ion diffusion is able to qualitatively match the measured profile shapes. Therefore, ion diffusion or diffusion-like processes are identified as a plausible explanation of the observed trends, though further refinement of the models is needed for a more complete and quantitative understanding of ion kinetic effects.

Assessment of ion kinetic effects in shock-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions using fusion burn imaging

DOE PAGES

Rosenberg, M. J.; Séguin, F. H.; Amendt, P. A.; ...

2015-06-02

The significance and nature of ion kinetic effects in D³He-filled, shock-driven inertial confinement fusion implosions are assessed through measurements of fusion burn profiles. Over this series of experiments, the ratio of ion-ion mean free path to minimum shell radius (the Knudsen number, N K) was varied from 0.3 to 9 in order to probe hydrodynamic-like to strongly kinetic plasma conditions; as the Knudsen number increased, hydrodynamic models increasingly failed to match measured yields, while an empirically-tuned, first-step model of ion kinetic effects better captured the observed yield trends [Rosenberg et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 185001 (2014)]. Here, spatially resolvedmore » measurements of the fusion burn are used to examine kinetic ion transport effects in greater detail, adding an additional dimension of understanding that goes beyond zero-dimensional integrated quantities to one-dimensional profiles. In agreement with the previous findings, a comparison of measured and simulated burn profiles shows that models including ion transport effects are able to better match the experimental results. In implosions characterized by large Knudsen numbers (N K ~ 3), the fusion burn profiles predicted by hydrodynamics simulations that exclude ion mean free path effects are peaked far from the origin, in stark disagreement with the experimentally observed profiles, which are centrally peaked. In contrast, a hydrodynamics simulation that includes a model of ion diffusion is able to qualitatively match the measured profile shapes. Therefore, ion diffusion or diffusion-like processes are identified as a plausible explanation of the observed trends, though further refinement of the models is needed for a more complete and quantitative understanding of ion kinetic effects.« less

Full-Scale Linear Cutting Tests in Chongqing Sandstone to Study the Influence of Confining Stress on Rock Cutting Forces by TBM Disc Cutter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Yucong; Liu, Quansheng; Liu, Jianping; Peng, Xingxin; Kong, Xiaoxuan

2018-06-01

In order to study the influence of confining stress on rock cutting forces by tunnel boring machine (TBM) disc cutter, full-scale linear cutting tests are conducted in Chongqing Sandstone (uniaxial compressive strength 60.76 MPa) using five equal biaxial confining stressed conditions, i.e. 0-0, 5-5, 10-10, 15-15 and 20-20 MPa; disc cutter normal force, rolling force, cutting coefficient and normalized resultant force are analysed. It is found that confining stress can greatly affect disc cutter resultant force, its proportion in normal and rolling directions and its acting point for the hard Chongqing Sandstone and the confining stress range used in this study. For every confining stressed condition, as cutter penetration depth increases, disc cutter normal force increases with decreasing speed, rolling force and cutting coefficient both increase linearly, and acting point of the disc cutter resultant force moves downward at some extent firstly and then upward back to its initial position. For same cutter penetration depth, as confining stress increases, disc cutter normal force, rolling force, cutting coefficient and normalized resultant force all increase at some extent firstly and then decrease rapidly to very small values (quite smaller than those obtained under the non-stressed condition) after some certain confining stress thresholds. The influence of confining stress on rock cutting by TBM disc cutter can be generally divided into three stages as confining stress increases, i.e. strengthening effect stage, damaging effect stage and rupturing effect stage. In the former two stages (under low confining stress), rock remains intact and rock cutting forces are higher than those obtained under the non-stressed condition, and thus rock cutting by TBM disc cutter is restrained; in the last stage (under high confining stress), rock becomes non-intact and rock slabbing failure is induced by confining stress before disc cutting, and thus rock cutting by TBM disc cutter is facilitated. Meanwhile, some critical values of confining stress and cutter penetration depth are identified to represent the changes of rock cutting state. This study provides better understanding of the influence of confining stress on disc cutter performance and can guide to optimize the TBM operation under stressed condition.

Identifying and Measuring Dimensions of Urban Deprivation in Montreal: An Analysis of the 1996 Census Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langlois, Andre; Kitchen, Peter

2001-01-01

Used 1996 Canadian census data to examine the spatial structure and intensity of urban deprivation in Montreal. Analysis of 20 indicators of urban deprivation identified 6 main types of deprivation in the city and found that they were most visible on the Island of Montreal. Urban deprivation was not confined to the inner city. (SM)

Synthesis of TiC Nanoparticles Anchored on Hollow Carbon Nanospheres for Enhanced Polysulfide Adsorption in Li-S Batteries.

PubMed

Cao, Bokai; Chen, Yong; Li, De; Yin, Lihong; Mo, Yan

2016-12-08

A novel spatial confinement strategy based on a carbon/TiO 2 /carbon sandwich structure is proposed to synthesize TiC nanoparticles anchored on hollow carbon nanospheres (TiC@C) through a carbothermal reduction reaction. During the synthesis process, two carbon layers not only serve as reductant to convert TiO 2 into TiC nanoparticles, but also create a spatial confinement to suppress the aggregation of TiO 2 , resulting in the formation of well-dispersed TiC nanoparticles. This unique TiC@C structure shows an outstanding long-term cycling stability at high rates owing to the strong physical and chemical adsorption of lithium polysulfides (i.e., a high capacity of 732.6 mA h g -1 at 1600 mA g -1 ) and it retains a capacity of 443.2 mA h g -1 after 1000 cycles, corresponding to a decay rate of only 0.0395 % per cycle. Therefore, this unique TiC@C composite could be considered as an important candidate for the cathode material in Li-S batteries. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Design of Transverse Spinning of Light with Globally Unique Handedness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piao, Xianji; Yu, Sunkyu; Park, Namkyoo

2018-05-01

Access to the transverse spin of light has unlocked new regimes in topological photonics. To achieve the transverse spin from nonzero longitudinal fields, various platforms that derive transversely confined waves based on focusing, interference, or evanescent waves have been suggested. Nonetheless, because of the transverse confinement inherently accompanying sign reversal of the field derivative, the resulting transverse spin handedness of each field experiences spatial inversion, which leads to a mismatch between the intensities of the field and its spin component and hinders the global observation of the transverse spin. Here, we reveal a globally pure transverse spin of the electric field in which the field intensity signifies the spin distribution. Starting from the target spin mode for the inverse design of required spatial profiles of anisotropic permittivities, we show that the elliptic-hyperbolic transition around the epsilon-near-zero permittivity allows for the global conservation of transverse spin handedness of the electric field across the topological interface between anisotropic metamaterials. Extending to the non-Hermitian regime, we develop annihilated transverse spin modes to cover the entire Poincaré sphere of the meridional plane. This result realizes the complete optical analogy of three-dimensional quantum spin states.

Molecular environment and an X-ray study of the double-shell supernova remnant Kes 79

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Ping; Chen, Yang; Safi-Harb, Samar; Ming, Sun

Kes 79 is a remarkable middle-age supernova remnant (SNR) with double shells in radio band and many structures in X-rays, harbouring a CCO and with a transient magnetar to the south. We have performed new 12CO J=1-0, 13CO J=1-0, 12CO J=2-1 observations towards this remnant to investigate its molecular environment. SNR Kes 79 is found to be associated with the molecular cloud in LSR velocity 100-115 km/s, which deformed the SNR's shell in the east. The inner radio shell appears to be well confined by a molecular shell at V_{LSR}˜113 km/s. We also revisited the 380 ks XMM-Newton data of Kes 79, which reveal many bright filamentary structures well coincident with infrared features and an X-ray faint halo confined by the outer radio shell. We performed a spatially resolved spectroscopic analysis for the X-ray filaments and the halo emission. We also studied the spatial distribution of the overabundant metal species that may be related to the asymmetric ejecta. Finally, we will discuss the evolution of Kes 79 combining the molecular line and X-ray properties.

Spatially confined photoinactivation of bacteria: towards novel tools for detailed mechanistic studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomsen, Hanna; James, Jeemol; Farewell, Anne; Ericson, Marica B.

2018-02-01

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious global threat fueling an accelerated field of research aimed at developing novel antimicrobial therapies. A particular challenge is the treatment of microbial biofilms formed upon bacterial growth and often associated with chronic infections. Biofilms comprise bacteria that have adhered to a surface and formed 3D microcolonies, and demonstrate significantly increased antimicrobial resistance compared to the planktonic counterpart. A challenge in developing novel strategies for fighting these chronic infections is a lack of mechanistic understanding of what primarily contributes to enhanced drug resistance. Tools for noninvasive study of live biofilms are necessary to begin to understand these mechanisms on both a single cell and 3D level. Herein, a method by which multiphoton microscopy is implemented to study a biofilm model of Staphylococcus epidermidis to noninvasively visualize and measure penetration of compounds in 3D biofilm structure and two photon excitation was exploited for spatially confined photoinactivation and microscopy optimized for evaluation of microbiological viability at a microscopic level. Future studies are aimed at future development of the proposed techniques for detailed studies of, e.g., quorum sensing and mechanisms contributing to antimicrobial resistance.

Direct observation of growth and collapse of a Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerton, Jordan M.; Strekalov, Dmitry; Prodan, Ionut; Hulet, Randall G.

2000-12-01

Quantum theory predicts that Bose-Einstein condensation of a spatially homogeneous gas with attractive interactions is precluded by a conventional phase transition into either a liquid or solid. When confined to a trap, however, such a condensate can form, provided that its occupation number does not exceed a limiting value. The stability limit is determined by a balance between the self-attractive forces and a repulsion that arises from position-momentum uncertainty under conditions of spatial confinement. Near the stability limit, self-attraction can overwhelm the repulsion, causing the condensate to collapse. Growth of the condensate is therefore punctuated by intermittent collapses that are triggered by either macroscopic quantum tunnelling or thermal fluctuation. Previous observations of growth and collapse dynamics have been hampered by the stochastic nature of these mechanisms. Here we report direct observations of the growth and subsequent collapse of a 7Li condensate with attractive interactions, using phase-contrast imaging. The success of the measurement lies in our ability to reduce the stochasticity in the dynamics by controlling the initial number of condensate atoms using a two-photon transition to a diatomic molecular state.

2D Space-Confined Synthesis of Few-Layer MoS2 Anchored on Carbon Nanosheet for Lithium-Ion Battery Anode.

PubMed

Zhou, Jingwen; Qin, Jian; Zhang, Xiang; Shi, Chunsheng; Liu, Enzuo; Li, Jiajun; Zhao, Naiqin; He, Chunnian

2015-04-28

A facile and scalable 2D spatial confinement strategy is developed for in situ synthesizing highly crystalline MoS2 nanosheets with few layers (≤5 layers) anchored on 3D porous carbon nanosheet networks (3D FL-MoS2@PCNNs) as lithium-ion battery anode. During the synthesis, 3D self-assembly of cubic NaCl particles is adopted to not only serve as a template to direct the growth of 3D porous carbon nanosheet networks, but also create a 2D-confined space to achieve the construction of few-layer MoS2 nanosheets robustly lain on the surface of carbon nanosheet walls. In the resulting 3D architecture, the intimate contact between the surfaces of MoS2 and carbon nanosheets can effectively avoid the aggregation and restacking of MoS2 as well as remarkably enhance the structural integrity of the electrode, while the conductive matrix of 3D porous carbon nanosheet networks can ensure fast transport of both electrons and ions in the whole electrode. As a result, this unique 3D architecture manifests an outstanding long-life cycling capability at high rates, namely, a specific capacity as large as 709 mAh g(-1) is delivered at 2 A g(-1) and maintains ∼95.2% even after 520 deep charge/discharge cycles. Apart from promising lithium-ion battery anode, this 3D FL-MoS2@PCNN composite also has immense potential for applications in other areas such as supercapacitor, catalysis, and sensors.

Noise-induced modulation of the relaxation kinetics around a non-equilibrium steady state of non-linear chemical reaction networks.

PubMed

Ramaswamy, Rajesh; Sbalzarini, Ivo F; González-Segredo, Nélido

2011-01-28

Stochastic effects from correlated noise non-trivially modulate the kinetics of non-linear chemical reaction networks. This is especially important in systems where reactions are confined to small volumes and reactants are delivered in bursts. We characterise how the two noise sources confinement and burst modulate the relaxation kinetics of a non-linear reaction network around a non-equilibrium steady state. We find that the lifetimes of species change with burst input and confinement. Confinement increases the lifetimes of all species that are involved in any non-linear reaction as a reactant. Burst monotonically increases or decreases lifetimes. Competition between burst-induced and confinement-induced modulation may hence lead to a non-monotonic modulation. We quantify lifetime as the integral of the time autocorrelation function (ACF) of concentration fluctuations around a non-equilibrium steady state of the reaction network. Furthermore, we look at the first and second derivatives of the ACF, each of which is affected in opposite ways by burst and confinement. This allows discriminating between these two noise sources. We analytically derive the ACF from the linear Fokker-Planck approximation of the chemical master equation in order to establish a baseline for the burst-induced modulation at low confinement. Effects of higher confinement are then studied using a partial-propensity stochastic simulation algorithm. The results presented here may help understand the mechanisms that deviate stochastic kinetics from its deterministic counterpart. In addition, they may be instrumental when using fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) or fluorescence-correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to measure confinement and burst in systems with known reaction rates, or, alternatively, to correct for the effects of confinement and burst when experimentally measuring reaction rates.

A comment on the position dependent diffusion coefficient representation of structural heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfson, Molly; Liepold, Christopher; Lin, Binhua; Rice, Stuart A.

2018-05-01

Experimental studies of the variation of the mean square displacement (MSD) of a particle in a confined colloid suspension that exhibits density variations on the scale length of the particle diameter are not in agreement with the prediction that the spatial variation in MSD should mimic the spatial variation in density. The predicted behavior is derived from the expectation that the MSD of a particle depends on the system density and the assumption that the force acting on a particle is a point function of position. The experimental data are obtained from studies of the MSDs of particles in narrow ribbon channels and between narrowly spaced parallel plates and from new data, reported herein, of the radial and azimuthal MSDs of a colloid particle in a dense colloid suspension confined to a small circular cavity. In each of these geometries, a dense colloid suspension exhibits pronounced density oscillations with spacing of a particle diameter. We remove the discrepancy between prediction and experiment using the Fisher-Methfessel interpretation of how local equilibrium in an inhomogeneous system is maintained to argue that the force acting on a particle is delocalized over a volume with radius equal to a particle diameter. Our interpretation has relevance to the relationship between the scale of inhomogeneity and the utility of translation of the particle MSD into a position dependent diffusion coefficient and to the use of a spatially dependent diffusion coefficient to describe mass transport in a heterogeneous system.

Single-Molecule Sensing with Nanopore Confinement: From Chemical Reactions to Biological Interactions.

PubMed

Lin, Yao; Ying, Yi-Lun; Gao, Rui; Long, Yi-Tao

2018-03-25

The nanopore can generate an electrochemical confinement for single-molecule sensing that help understand the fundamental chemical principle in nanoscale dimensions. By observing the generated ionic current, individual bond-making and bond-breaking steps, single biomolecule dynamic conformational changes and electron transfer processes that occur within pore can be monitored with high temporal and current resolution. These single-molecule studies in nanopore confinement are revealing information about the fundamental chemical and biological processes that cannot be extracted from ensemble measurements. In this Concept article, we introduce and discuss the electrochemical confinement effects on single-molecule covalent reactions, conformational dynamics of individual molecules and host-guest interactions in protein nanopores. Then, we extend the concept of nanopore confinement effects to confine electrochemical redox reactions in solid-state nanopores for developing new sensing mechanisms. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Angular dependence of EWS time delay for photoionization of @Xe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, Ankur; Deshmukh, Pranawa; Kheifets, Anatoli; Dolmatov, Valeriy; Manson, Steven

2017-04-01

Interference between photoionization channels leads to angular dependence in photoionization time delay. Angular dependence is found to be a common effect for two-photon absorption experiments very recently. The effect of confinement on the time delay where each partial wave contributions to the ionization are studied. In this work we report angular dependence and confinement effects on Eisenbud-Wigner-Smith (EWS) time delay in atomic photoionization. Using and we computed the EWS time delay for free and confined Xe atom for photoionization from inner 4d3/2 and 4d5/2 and outer 5p1/2 and 5p3/2 subshells at various angles. The calculated EWS time delay is few tens to few hundreds of attoseconds (10-18 second). The photoionization time delay for @Xe follows that in the free Xe atom on which the confinement oscillations are built. The present work reveals the effect of confinement on the photoionization time delay at different angles between photoelectron ejection and the photon polarization.

People's perception and cost-effectiveness of home confinement during an influenza pandemic: evidence from the French case.

PubMed

Orset, Caroline

2018-04-23

In France, home confinement is not a common preventive measure against an influenza pandemic, although it is used around the world. Based on a stated method approach, we analyze the attitude that the French would adopt if this measure were put in place. Next, we propose a cost-benefit analysis to discuss the cost-effectiveness of this measure. We find that over three-quarters of respondents report complying with home confinement. Their choice depends on their individual characteristics, the interaction they may have with an infected person and home confinement conditions, but not their experience with preventive measures. We find that behaviors such as sensitivity to certainty, selfishness and altruism emerge. As far as cost-effectiveness is concerned, our study shows that home confinement is a prevention path that should not be neglected and should even be prescribed.

Numerical simulation of rock fragmentation during cutting by conical picks under confining pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xuefeng; Wang, Shibo; Ge, Shirong; Malekian, Reza; Li, Zhixiong

2017-12-01

In this article, the effect of confining pressure on rock fragmentation process during cutting was investigated by numerical simulation with a discrete element method (DEM). Four kinds of sandstones with different physical properties were simulated in the rock cutting models under different confining pressures. The rock fragmentation process, the cutting force, and the specific energy under different confining pressures were analyzed. With the increase in confining pressure and rock strength, the vertical propagation of cracks was restrained. Rock samples were compacted and strengthened by confining pressure resulting in the increase of the cutting force. The specific energy of rock cutting linearly increased with the increase of the confining pressure ratio.

Correlation Between Chain Architecture and Hydration Water Structure in Polysaccharides.

PubMed

Grossutti, Michael; Dutcher, John R

2016-03-14

The physical properties of confined water can differ dramatically from those of bulk water. Hydration water associated with polysaccharides provides a particularly interesting example of confined water, because differences in polysaccharide structure provide different spatially confined environments for water sorption. We have used attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy to investigate the structure of hydration water in films of three different polysaccharides under controlled relative humidity (RH) conditions. We compare the results obtained for films of highly branched, dendrimer-like phytoglycogen nanoparticles to those obtained for two unbranched polysaccharides, hyaluronic acid (HA), and chitosan. We find similarities between the water structuring in the two linear polysaccharides and significant differences for phytoglycogen. In particular, the results suggest that the high degree of branching in phytoglycogen leads to a much more well-ordered water structure (low density, high connectivity network water), indicating the strong influence of chain architecture on the structuring of water. These measurements provide unique insight into the relationship between the structure and hydration of polysaccharides, which is important for understanding and exploiting these sustainable nanomaterials in a wide range of applications.

Experiments with planar inductive ion source meant for creation of H+ beams.

PubMed

Vainionpaa, J H; Kalvas, T; Hahto, S K; Reijonen, J

2007-06-01

In this article the effects of different engineering parameters of rf-driven ion sources with an external spiral antenna and a quartz rf window are studied. This article consists of three main topics: the effect of source geometry on the operation gas pressure, the effect of source materials and magnetic confinement on extracted current density and ion species, and the effect of different antenna geometries on the extracted current density. The effect of source geometry was studied using three cylindrical plasma chambers with different inner diameters. The chamber materials were studied using two materials, aluminum (Al) and alumina (Al(2)O(3)). The removable 14 magnet multicusp confinement arrangement enabled us to compare the effects of the two wall materials with and without the magnetic confinement. The highest measured proton fractions were measured using Al(2)O(3) plasma chamber and no multicusp confinement. For the compared ion sources the source with multicusp confinement and Al(2)O(3) plasma chamber yields the highest current densities. Multicusp confinement increased the maximum extracted current by up to a factor of 2. Plasma production with different antenna geometries were also studied. The highest current density was achieved using 4.5 loop solenoid antenna with 6.0 cm diameter. A slightly lower current density with lower pressure was achieved using a tightly wound 3 loop spiral antenna with 3.3 cm inner diameter and 6 cm outer diameter.

Pressure signature and evaluation of hammer pulses during underwater implosion in confining environments.

PubMed

Gupta, Sachin; Matos, Helio; Shukla, Arun; LeBlanc, James M

2016-08-01

The fluid structure interaction phenomenon occurring in confined implosions is investigated using high-speed three-dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) experiments. Aluminum tubular specimens are placed inside a confining cylindrical structure that is partially open to a pressurized environment. These specimens are hydrostatically loaded until they naturally implode. The implosion event is viewed, and recorded, through an acrylic window on the confining structure. The velocities captured through DIC are synchronized with the pressure histories to understand the effects of confining environment on the implosion process. Experiments show that collapse of the implodable volume inside the confining tube leads to strong oscillating water hammer waves. The study also reveals that the increasing collapse pressure leads to faster implosions. Both peak and average structural velocities increase linearly with increasing collapse pressure. The effects of the confining environment are better seen in relatively lower collapse pressure implosion experiments in which a long deceleration phase is observed following the peak velocity until wall contact initiates. Additionally, the behavior of the confining environment can be viewed and understood through classical water hammer theory. A one-degree-of-freedom theoretical model was created to predict the impulse pressure history for the particular problem studied.

Hydropower application of confined space regulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Franseen, H.W.

1995-12-31

OSHA`s {open_quotes}Permit Required Confined Space{close_quotes} rules, 1910.146, became effective April 15, 1993. Their rules define a {open_quotes}confined space{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}permit required confined space{close_quotes}; provide general requirements for those entering the confined space, for the attendant and entry supervisor; define what a confined space program and permit system should be; and describe training requirements and rescue considerations. Tapoco Inc., began preparing confined space procedures in 1992 using Alcoa Engineering Standards and OSHA`s proposed rules. A joint union management team was formed, and this team began evaluating spaces which meet the confined space definition. In 1993, employees were trained, and all entriesmore » into spaces were done according to Alcoa`s and OSHA`s proposed rules. Rescue teams have been trained at each site. Some unique confined spaces and or unique entry conditions have been encountered which have required extensive evaluation.« less

First-principles theoretical assessment of catalysis by confinement: NO-O2 reactions within voids of molecular dimensions in siliceous crystalline frameworks.

PubMed

Maestri, Matteo; Iglesia, Enrique

2018-06-01

Density functional theory methods that include dispersive forces are used to show how voids of molecular dimensions enhance reaction rates by the mere confinement of transition states analogous to those involved in homogeneous routes and without requiring specific binding sites or structural defects within confining voids. These van der Waals interactions account for the observed large rate enhancements for NO oxidation in the presence of purely siliceous crystalline frameworks. The minimum free energy paths for NO oxidation within chabazite (CHA) and silicalite (SIL) frameworks involve intermediates similar in stoichiometry, geometry, and kinetic relevance to those involved in the homogeneous route. The termolecular transition state for the kinetically-relevant cis-NOO2NO isomerization to trans-NOO2NO is strongly stabilized by confinement within CHA (by 36.3 kJ mol-1 in enthalpy) and SIL (by 39.2 kJ mol-1); such enthalpic stabilization is compensated, in part, by concomitant entropy losses brought forth by confinement (CHA: 44.9; SIL: 45.3, J mol-1 K-1 at 298 K). These enthalpy and entropy changes upon confinement agree well with those measured and combine to significantly decrease activation free energies and are consistent with the rate enhancements that become larger as temperature decreases because of the more negative apparent activation energies in confined systems compared with homogeneous routes. Calculated free energies of confinement are in quantitative agreement with measured rate enhancements and with their temperature sensitivity. Such quantitative agreements reflect preeminent effects of geometry in determining the van der Waals contributions from contacts between the transition states (TS) and the confining walls and the weak effects of the level of theory on TS geometries. NO oxidation reactions are chosen here to illustrate these remarkable effects of confinement because detailed kinetic analysis of rate data are available, but also because of their critical role in the treatment of combustion effluents and in the synthesis of nitric acid and nitrates. Similar effects are evident from rate enhancements by confinement observed for Diels-Alder and alkyne oligomerization reactions. These reactions also occur in gaseous media at near ambient temperatures, for which enthalpic stabilization upon confinement of their homogeneous transition states becomes the preeminent component of activation free energies.

Observation of magnetic fluctuations and rapid density decay of magnetospheric plasma in Ring Trap 1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saitoh, H.; Yoshida, Z.; Morikawa, J.; Yano, Y.; Mikami, H.; Kasaoka, N.; Sakamoto, W.

2012-06-01

The Ring Trap 1 device, a magnetospheric configuration generated by a levitated dipole field magnet, has created high-β (local β ˜ 70%) plasma by using electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH). When a large population of energetic electrons is generated at low neutral gas pressure operation, high frequency magnetic fluctuations are observed. When the fluctuations are strongly excited, rapid loss of plasma was simultaneously observed especially in a quiet decay phase after the ECH microwave power is turned off. Although the plasma is confined in a strongly inhomogeneous dipole field configuration, the frequency spectra of the fluctuations have sharp frequency peaks, implying spatially localized sources of the fluctuations. The fluctuations are stabilized by decreasing the hot electron component below approximately 40%, realizing stable high-β confinement.

Initial experimental test of a helicon plasma based mass filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gueroult, R.; Evans, E. S.; Zweben, S. J.; Fisch, N. J.; Levinton, F.

2016-06-01

High throughput plasma mass separation requires rotation control in a high density multi-species plasmas. A preliminary mass separation device based on a helicon plasma operating in gas mixtures and featuring concentric biasable ring electrodes is introduced. Plasma profile shows strong response to electrode biasing. In light of floating potential measurements, the density response is interpreted as the consequence of a reshaping of the radial electric field in the plasma. This field can be made confining or de-confining depending on the imposed potential at the electrodes, in a way which is consistent with single particle orbit radial stability. Concurrent spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements suggest ion separation, with heavy to light ion emission line ratio increasing with radius when a specific potential gradient is applied to the electrodes.

Dynamical backaction cooling with free electrons

PubMed Central

Niguès, A.; Siria, A.; Verlot, P.

2015-01-01

The ability to cool single ions, atomic ensembles, and more recently macroscopic degrees of freedom down to the quantum ground state has generated considerable progress and perspectives in fundamental and technological science. These major advances have been essentially obtained by coupling mechanical motion to a resonant electromagnetic degree of freedom in what is generally known as laser cooling. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the first self-induced coherent cooling mechanism that is not mediated by an electromagnetic resonance. Using a focused electron beam, we report a 50-fold reduction of the motional temperature of a nanowire. Our result primarily relies on the sub-nanometre confinement of the electron beam and generalizes to any delayed and spatially confined interaction, with important consequences for near-field microscopy and fundamental nanoscale dissipation mechanisms. PMID:26381454

Tunneling-Electron-Induced Light Emission from Single Gold Nanoclusters.

PubMed

Yu, Arthur; Li, Shaowei; Czap, Gregory; Ho, W

2016-09-14

The coupling of tunneling electrons with the tip-nanocluster-substrate junction plasmon was investigated by monitoring light emission in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Gold atoms were evaporated onto the ∼5 Å thick Al2O3 thin film grown on the NiAl (110) surface where they formed nanoclusters 3-7 nm wide. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) of these nanoclusters revealed quantum-confined electronic states. Spatially resolved photon imaging showed localized emission hot spots. Size dependent study and light emission from nanocluster dimers further support the viewpoint that coupling of tunneling electrons to the junction plasmon is the main radiative mechanism. These results showed the potential of the STM to reveal the electronic and optical properties of nanoscale metallic systems in the confined geometry of the tunnel junction.

Thermodynamics of photons on fractals.

PubMed

Akkermans, Eric; Dunne, Gerald V; Teplyaev, Alexander

2010-12-03

A thermodynamical treatment of a massless scalar field (a photon) confined to a fractal spatial manifold leads to an equation of state relating pressure to internal energy, PV(s) = U/d(s), where d(s) is the spectral dimension and V(s) defines the "spectral volume." For regular manifolds, V(s) coincides with the usual geometric spatial volume, but on a fractal this is not necessarily the case. This is further evidence that on a fractal, momentum space can have a different dimension than position space. Our analysis also provides a natural definition of the vacuum (Casimir) energy of a fractal. We suggest ways that these unusual properties might be probed experimentally.

Analytical electron microscopy in the study of biological systems.

PubMed

Johnson, D E

1986-01-01

The AEM is a powerful tool in biological research, capable of providing information simply not available by other means. The use of a field emission STEM for this application can lead to a significant improvement in spatial resolution in most cases now allowed by the quality of the specimen preparation but perhaps ultimately limited by the effects of radiation damage. Increased elemental sensitivity is at least possible in selected cases with electron energy-loss spectrometry, but fundamental aspects of ELS will probably confine its role to that of a limited complement to EDS. The considerable margin for improvement in sensitivity of the basic analytical technique means that the search for technological improvement will continue. Fortunately, however, current technology can also continue to answer important biological questions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Braun, Efrem; Chen, Joseph J.; Schnell, Sondre K.

Molecular simulations and NMR relaxometry experiments demonstrate that pure benzene or xylene confined in isoreticular metal–organic frameworks (IRMOFs) exhibit true vapor–liquid phase equilibria where the effective critical point may be reduced by tuning the structure of the MOF. Our results are consistent with vapor and liquid phases extending over many MOF unit cells. These results are counterintuitive since the MOF pore diameters are approximately the same length scale as the adsorbate molecules. As applications of these materials in catalysis, separations, and gas storage rely on the ability to tune the properties of adsorbed molecules, we anticipate that the ability tomore » systematically control the critical point, thereby preparing spatially inhomogeneous local adsorbate densities, could add a new design tool for MOF applications.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Braun, Efrem; Chen, Joseph J.; Schnell, Sondre K.

Molecular simulations and NMR relaxometry experiments demonstrate that pure benzene or xylene confined in isoreticular metal–organic frameworks (IRMOFs) exhibit true vapor–liquid phase equilibria where the effective critical point may be reduced by tuning the structure of the MOF. Our results are consistent with vapor and liquid phases extending over many MOF unit cells. These results are counterintuitive since the MOF pore diameters are approximately the same length scale as the adsorbate molecules. Lastly, as applications of these materials in catalysis, separations, and gas storage rely on the ability to tune the properties of adsorbed molecules, we anticipate that the abilitymore » to systematically control the critical point, thereby preparing spatially inhomogeneous local adsorbate densities, could add a new design tool for MOF applications.« less

Interplay of Laser-Plasma Interactions and Inertial Fusion Hydrodynamics

DOE PAGES

Strozzi, D. J.; Bailey, D. S.; Michel, P.; ...

2017-01-12

The effects of laser-plasma interactions (LPI) on the dynamics of inertial confinement fusion hohlraums are investigated in this work via a new approach that self-consistently couples reduced LPI models into radiation-hydrodynamics numerical codes. The interplay between hydrodynamics and LPI—specifically stimulated Raman scatter and crossed-beam energy transfer (CBET)—mostly occurs via momentum and energy deposition into Langmuir and ion acoustic waves. This spatially redistributes energy coupling to the target, which affects the background plasma conditions and thus, modifies laser propagation. In conclusion, this model shows reduced CBET and significant laser energy depletion by Langmuir waves, which reduce the discrepancy between modeling andmore » data from hohlraum experiments on wall x-ray emission and capsule implosion shape.« less

Impeding hohlraum plasma stagnation in inertial-confinement fusion.

PubMed

Li, C K; Séguin, F H; Frenje, J A; Rosenberg, M J; Rinderknecht, H G; Zylstra, A B; Petrasso, R D; Amendt, P A; Landen, O L; Mackinnon, A J; Town, R P J; Wilks, S C; Betti, R; Meyerhofer, D D; Soures, J M; Hund, J; Kilkenny, J D; Nikroo, A

2012-01-13

This Letter reports the first time-gated proton radiography of the spatial structure and temporal evolution of how the fill gas compresses the wall blowoff, inhibits plasma jet formation, and impedes plasma stagnation in the hohlraum interior. The potential roles of spontaneously generated electric and magnetic fields in the hohlraum dynamics and capsule implosion are discussed. It is shown that interpenetration of the two materials could result from the classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability occurring as the lighter, decelerating ionized fill gas pushes against the heavier, expanding gold wall blowoff. This experiment showed new observations of the effects of the fill gas on x-ray driven implosions, and an improved understanding of these results could impact the ongoing ignition experiments at the National Ignition Facility.

Sonic black holes in a one-dimensional relativistic flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbonaro, P.

2015-09-01

The analogy between sound propagation in a fluid background and light propagation in a curved spacetime, discovered by Unruh in 1981, does not work in general when considering the motion of a fluid which is confined in one spatial dimension being unable in (1+1) dimensions to introduce in a coherent manner an effective acoustic metric, barring some exceptional cases. In this paper a relativistic fluid is considered and the general condition for the existence of an acoustic metric in strictly one-dimensional systems is found. Attention is also paid to the physical meaning of the equations of state characterizing such systems and to the remarkable symmetry of structure taken by the basic equations. Finally the Hawking temperature is calculated in an artificial de Laval nozzle.

Magnetic quadrupoles lens for hot spot proton imaging in inertial confinement fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, J.; Gu, Y. Q.; Chen, J.; Zhu, B.; Zhang, B.; Zhang, T. K.; Tan, F.; Hong, W.; Zhang, B. H.; Wang, X. Q.

2016-08-01

Imaging of DD-produced protons from an implosion hot spot region by miniature permanent magnetic quadrupole (PMQ) lens is proposed. Corresponding object-image relation is deduced and an adjust method for this imaging system is discussed. Ideal point-to-point imaging demands a monoenergetic proton source; nevertheless, we proved that the blur of image induced by proton energy spread is a second order effect therefore controllable. A proton imaging system based on miniature PMQ lens is designed for 2.8 MeV DD-protons and the adjust method in case of proton energy shift is proposed. The spatial resolution of this system is better than 10 μm when proton yield is above 109 and the spectra width is within 10%.

Trajectory and Mixing Scaling Laws for Confined and Unconfined Transverse Jets

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-01

engines , issues of confinement, very large density ratio, and super/transcritical effects complicate the utility of the ...opposite wall at a streamwise position that is one -half pipe diameter downstream of the injection location (termed moderate impaction). This...BD, and Eq. 10 scaling laws are 0.97 and 0.90, respectively. One of the primary effects of the confinement is that the

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: First prediction of the direct effect of a confined atom on photoionization of the confining fullerene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCune, Matthew A.; De, Ruma; Madjet, Mohamed E.; Chakraborty, Himadri S.

2010-09-01

We predict that the confined atom can qualitatively modify the energetic photoionization of some cage levels, even though these levels are of very dominant fullerene character. The effect imposes strong new oscillations in the cross sections which are forbidden to the ionization of empty fullerenes. Results are presented for the Ar@C60 endofullerene compound.

Effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kausik, S. S.; Kakati, B.; Saikia, B. K.

2013-05-01

The effect of confining wall potential on charged collimated dust beam in low-pressure plasma has been studied in a dusty plasma experimental setup by applying electrostatic field to each channel of a multicusp magnetic cage. Argon plasma is produced by hot cathode discharge method at a pressure of 5×10-4 millibars and is confined by a full line cusped magnetic field confinement system. Silver dust grains are produced by gas-evaporation technique and move upward in the form of a collimated dust beam due to differential pressure maintained between the dust and plasma chambers. The charged grains in the beam after coming out from the plasma column enter into the diagnostic chamber and are deflected by a dc field applied across a pair of deflector plates at different confining potentials. Both from the amount of deflection and the floating potential, the number of charges collected by the dust grains is calculated. Furthermore, the collimated dust beam strikes the Faraday cup, which is placed above the deflector plates, and the current (˜pA) so produced is measured by an electrometer at different confining potentials. The experimental results demonstrate the significant effect of confining wall potential on charging of dust grains.

Perceptual Learning Improves Contrast Sensitivity of V1 Neurons in Cats

PubMed Central

Hua, Tianmiao; Bao, Pinglei; Huang, Chang-Bing; Wang, Zhenhua; Xu, Jinwang

2010-01-01

Summary Background Perceptual learning has been documented in adult humans over a wide range of tasks. Although the often observed specificity of learning is generally interpreted as evidence for training-induced plasticity in early cortical areas, physiological evidence for training-induced changes in early visual cortical areas is modest, despite reports of learning-induced changes of cortical activities in fMRI studies. To reveal the physiological bases of perceptual learning, we combined psychophysical measurements with extracellular single-unit recording under anesthetized preparations, and examined the effects of training in grating orientation identification on both perceptual and neuronal contrast sensitivity functions of cats. Results We have found that training significantly improved perceptual contrast sensitivity of the cats to gratings with the spatial frequencies near the ‘trained’ spatial frequency, with stronger effects in the trained eye. Consistent with behavioral assessments, the mean contrast sensitivity of neurons recorded from V1 of the trained cats was significantly higher than that of neurons recorded from the untrained cats. Furthermore, in the trained cats, the contrast sensitivity of V1 neurons responding preferentially to stimuli presented via the trained eyes was significantly greater than that of neurons responding preferentially to stimuli presented via the ‘untrained’ eyes. The effect was confined to the trained spatial frequencies. In both trained and untrained cats, the neuronal contrast sensitivity functions derived from the contrast sensitivity of the individual neurons were highly correlated with behaviorally determined perceptual contrast sensitivity functions. Conclusions We suggest that training-induced neuronal contrast-gain in area V1 underlies behaviorally determined perceptual contrast sensitivity improvements. PMID:20451388

Confinement effects on glass transition temperature, transition breadth, and expansivity: comparison of ellipsometry and fluorescence measurements on polystyrene films.

PubMed

Kim, S; Hewlett, S A; Roth, C B; Torkelson, J M

2009-09-01

Using ellipsometry, we characterized the nanoconfinement effect on the glass transition temperature (T (g)of supported polystyrene (PS) films employing two methods: the intersection of fits to the temperature (Tdependences of rubbery- and glassy-state thicknesses, and the transition mid-point between rubbery- and glassy-state expansivities. The results demonstrate a strong effect of thickness: T(g) (bulk) - T(g)(23 nm) = 10 degrees C. The T -range needed for accurate measurement increases significantly with decreasing thickness, an effect that arises from the broadening of the transition with confinement and a region below T (g) where expansivity slowly decreases with decreasing T . As determined from expansivities, the T (g) breadth triples in going from bulk films to a 21-nm-thick film; this broadening of the transition may be a more dramatic effect of confinement than the T (g) reduction itself. In contrast, there is little effect of confinement on the rubbery- and glassy-state expansivities. Compared with ellipsometry, T (g) 's from fluorescence agree well in bulk films but yield lower values in nanoconfined films: T (g)(bulk) - T (g)(23 nm) = 15( degrees ) C via fluorescence. This small difference in the T (g) confinement effect reflects differences in how fluorescence and ellipsometry report "average T (g) " with confinement. With decreasing nanoscale thickness, fluorescence may slightly overweight the contribution of the free-surface layer while ellipsometry may evenly weight or underweight its contribution.

Confinement effects on glass transition temperature, transition breadth, and expansivity: Comparison of ellipsometry and fluorescence measurements on polystyrene films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, S.; Hewlett, S. A.; Roth, C. B.; Torkelson, J. M.

2009-09-01

Using ellipsometry, we characterized the nanoconfinement effect on the glass transition temperature (T gof supported polystyrene (PS) films employing two methods: the intersection of fits to the temperature (Tdependences of rubbery- and glassy-state thicknesses, and the transition mid-point between rubbery- and glassy-state expansivities. The results demonstrate a strong effect of thickness: ensuremath Tg(bulk)-Tg(23{ nm})= 10 circ C. The T -range needed for accurate measurement increases significantly with decreasing thickness, an effect that arises from the broadening of the transition with confinement and a region below T g where expansivity slowly decreases with decreasing T . As determined from expansivities, the T g breadth triples in going from bulk films to a 21-nm-thick film; this broadening of the transition may be a more dramatic effect of confinement than the T g reduction itself. In contrast, there is little effect of confinement on the rubbery- and glassy-state expansivities. Compared with ellipsometry, T g ’s from fluorescence agree well in bulk films but yield lower values in nanoconfined films: T g(bulk) - T g(23 nm) = 15° C via fluorescence. This small difference in the T g confinement effect reflects differences in how fluorescence and ellipsometry report “average T g ” with confinement. With decreasing nanoscale thickness, fluorescence may slightly overweight the contribution of the free-surface layer while ellipsometry may evenly weight or underweight its contribution. in here

Assessing the relationship between groundwater nitrate and animal feeding operations in Iowa (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zirkle, Keith W.; Nolan, Bernard T.; Jones, Rena R.; Weyer, Peter J.; Ward, Mary H.; Wheeler, David C.

2016-01-01

Nitrate-nitrogen is a common contaminant of drinking water in many agricultural areas of the United States of America (USA). Ingested nitrate from contaminated drinking water has been linked to an increased risk of several cancers, specific birth defects, and other diseases. In this research, we assessed the relationship between animal feeding operations (AFOs) and groundwater nitrate in private wells in Iowa. We characterized AFOs by swine and total animal units and type (open, confined, or mixed), and we evaluated the number and spatial intensities of AFOs in proximity to private wells. The types of AFO indicate the extent to which a facility is enclosed by a roof. Using linear regression models, we found significant positive associations between the total number of AFOs within 2 km of a well (p trend < 0.001), number of open AFOs within 5 km of a well (p trend < 0.001), and number of mixed AFOs within 30 km of a well (p trend < 0.001) and the log nitrate concentration. Additionally, we found significant increases in log nitrate in the top quartiles for AFO spatial intensity, open AFO spatial intensity, and mixed AFO spatial intensity compared to the bottom quartile (0.171 log(mg/L), 0.319 log(mg/L), and 0.541 log(mg/L), respectively; all p < 0.001). We also explored the spatial distribution of nitrate-nitrogen in drinking wells and found significant spatial clustering of high-nitrate wells (> 5 mg/L) compared with low-nitrate (≤ 5 mg/L) wells (p = 0.001). A generalized additive model for high-nitrate status identified statistically significant areas of risk for high levels of nitrate. Adjustment for some AFO predictor variables explained a portion of the elevated nitrate risk. These results support a relationship between animal feeding operations and groundwater nitrate concentrations and differences in nitrate loss from confined AFOs vs. open or mixed types.

Physical stratigraphy and hydrostratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments, Burke and Screven Counties, Georgia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Falls, W.F.; Baum, J.S.; Prowell, D.C.

1997-01-01

Six geologic units are recognized in the Cretaceous and the Paleocene sediments of eastern Burke and Screven Counties in Georgia on the basis of lithologic, geophysical, and paleontologic data collected from three continuously cored testholes in Georgia and one testhole in South Carolina. The six geologic units are separated by regional unconformities and are designated from oldest to youngest as the Cape Fear Formation, the Middendorf Formation, the Black Creek Group (undivided), and the Steel Creek Formation in the Upper Cretaceous section, and the Ellenton and the Snapp Formations in the Paleocene section. The geologic units provide a spatial and temporal framework for the identification and correlation of a basal confining unit beneath the Midville aquifer system and five aquifers and five confining units in the Dublin and the Midville aquifer systems. The Dublin aquifer system is divided hydrostratigraphically into the Millers Pond, the upper Dublin, and the lower Dublin aquifers. The Midville aquifer system is divided hydrostratigraphically into the upper and the lower Midville aquifers. The fine-grained sediments of the Millers Pond, the lower Dublin, and the lower Midville confining units are nonmarine deposits and are present in the upper part of the Snapp Formation, the Black Creek Group (undivided), and the Middendorf Formation, respectively. Hydrologic data for specific sets of monitoring wells at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina and the Millers Pond site in Georgia confirm that these three units are leaky confining units and locally impede vertical ground-water flow between adjacent aquifers. The fine-grained sediments of the upper Dublin and the upper Midville confining units are marine-deltaic deposits of the Ellenton Formation and the Black Creek Group (undivided), respectively. Hydrologic data confirm that the upper Dublin confining unit regionally impedes vertical ground-water flow on both sides of the Savannah River. The upper Midville confining unit impedes vertical ground-water flow in the middle and downdip parts of the study area and is a leaky confining unit in the updip part of the study area. Recognition of the upper Dublin confining unit as a regional confining unit between the Millers Pond and the upper Dublin aquifers also confirms that the Millers Pond aquifer is a separate hydrologic unit from the rest of the Dublin aquifer system. This multi-aquifer framework increases the vertical hydrostratigraphic resolution of hydraulic properties and gradients in the Dublin and Midville aquifer systems for the investigation of ground-water flow beneath the Savannah River in the vicinity of the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Site.

Role of “Hard” and “Soft” Confinement on Polymer Dynamics at the Nanoscale

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharma, Ravi P.; Green, Peter F.

2017-08-11

We investigated the segmental dynamics of asymmetrically confined polymer films and report an unusual phenomenon in which the presence and thickness of a soft confining layer are responsible for significant changes in the segmental dynamics of the confined films. Specifically, the segmental dynamics of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) thin films asymmetrically confined between hard aluminum (Al), and soft polystyrene (PS) films are shown to shift by as much as half an order of magnitude upon changes in the thicknesses of the confining PS layer. These effects are more significant than those due to symmetric confinement between hard Al substrates or exposuremore » to a free surface. These observations, partially rationalized in terms of recent simulations and theory, implicate the role of the moduli of the confining layers.« less

5 CFR 890.605 - Persons confined on effective date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM Transfers From Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Program § 890.605 Persons confined on effective date. Benefits may not be limited for...

5 CFR 890.605 - Persons confined on effective date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM Transfers From Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Program § 890.605 Persons confined on effective date. Benefits may not be limited for...

Adsorbed molecules in external fields: Effect of confining potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyagi, Ashish; Silotia, Poonam; Maan, Anjali; Prasad, Vinod

2016-12-01

We study the rotational excitation of a molecule adsorbed on a surface. As is well known the interaction potential between the surface and the molecule can be modeled in number of ways, depending on the molecular structure and the geometry under which the molecule is being adsorbed by the surface. We explore the effect of change of confining potential on the excitation, which is largely controlled by the static electric fields and continuous wave laser fields. We focus on dipolar molecules and hence we restrict ourselves to the first order interaction in field-molecule interaction potential either through permanent dipole moment or/and the molecular polarizability parameter. It is shown that confining potential shapes, strength of the confinement, strongly affect the excitation. We compare our results for different confining potentials.

The space-math link in preschool boys and girls: Importance of mental transformation, targeting accuracy, and spatial anxiety.

PubMed

Wong, Wang I

2017-06-01

Spatial abilities are pertinent to mathematical competence, but evidence of the space-math link has largely been confined to older samples and intrinsic spatial abilities (e.g., mental transformation). The roles of gender and affective factors are also unclear. This study examined the correlations between counting ability, mental transformation, and targeting accuracy in 182 Hong Kong preschoolers, and whether these relationships were weaker at higher spatial anxiety levels. Both spatial abilities related with counting similarly for boys and girls. Targeting accuracy also mediated the male advantage in counting. Interestingly, spatial anxiety moderated the space-math links, but differently for boys and girls. For boys, spatial abilities were irrelevant to counting at high anxiety levels; for girls, the role of anxiety on the space-math link is less clear. Results extend the evidence base of the space-math link to include an extrinsic spatial ability (targeting accuracy) and have implications for intervention programmes. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Much evidence of a space-math link in adolescent and adult samples and for intrinsic spatial abilities. What does this study add? Extended the space-math link to include both intrinsic and extrinsic spatial abilities in a preschool sample. Showed how spatial anxiety moderated the space-math link differently for boys and girls. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

The confining effectiveness of NiTiNb and NiTi SMA wire jackets for concrete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Eunsoo; Chung, Young-Soo; Choi, Jun-Hyeok; Kim, Hong-Taek; Lee, Hacksoo

2010-03-01

The purpose of this study is to assess the confining effectiveness of shape memory alloy (SMA) wire jackets for concrete. The performance of SMA wire jackets was compared to that of steel jackets. A prestrained martensitic SMA wire was wrapped around a concrete cylinder and then heated by a heating jacket. In the process, a confining stress around the cylinder was developed in the SMA wire due to the shape memory effect; this jacketing method can increase the strength and ductility of the cylinder under an axial compressive load. In this study, NiTi and NiTiNb SMA wires of 1.0 mm in diameter were used for the confinement. Recovery tests were conducted on the wires to assess their recovery and residual stress. The confinement by SMA wire jackets increased the strength slightly and greatly increased the ductility compared to the strength and ductility of plain concrete cylinders. The NiTiNb SMA wire jacket showed better performance than that of the NiTi SMA wire jacket. The confining effectiveness of the SMA wire jackets of this study was estimated to be similar to that of the steel jackets. This study showed the potential of the SMA wire jacketing method to retrofit reinforced concrete columns and protect them from seismic risks.

Influence of chemistry, interfacial width, and non-isothermal conditions on spatially heterogeneous activated relaxation and elasticity in glass-forming free standing films

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mirigian, Stephen; Schweizer, Kenneth S.

Here, we employ the Elastically Collective Nonlinear Langevin Equation (ECNLE) theory of activated relaxation to study several questions in free standing thin films of glass-forming molecular and polymer liquids. The influence of non-universal chemical aspects on dynamical confinement effects is found to be relatively weak, but with the caveat that for the systems examined, the bulk ECNLE polymer theory does not predict widely varying fragilities. Allowing the film model to have a realistic vapor interfacial width significantly enhances the reduction of the film-averaged glass transition temperature, T g, in a manner that depends on whether a dynamic or pseudo-thermodynamic averagingmore » of the spatial mobility gradient is adopted. The nature of film thickness effects on the spatial profiles of the alpha relaxation time and elastic modulus is studied under non-isothermal conditions and contrasted with the corresponding isothermal behavior. Modest differences are found if a film-thickness dependent T g is defined in a dynamical manner. But, adopting a pseudo-thermodynamic measure of T g leads to a qualitatively new form of the alpha relaxation time gradient where highly mobile layers near the film surface coexist with strongly vitrified regions in the film interior. Consequently, the film-averaged shear modulus can increase with decreasing film thickness, despite the T g reduction and presence of a mobile surface layer. Such a behavior stands in qualitative contrast to the predicted mechanical softening under isothermal conditions. Spatial gradients of the elastic modulus are studied as a function of temperature, film thickness, probing frequency, and experimental protocol, and a rich behavior is found.« less

Influence of chemistry, interfacial width, and non-isothermal conditions on spatially heterogeneous activated relaxation and elasticity in glass-forming free standing films

DOE PAGES

Mirigian, Stephen; Schweizer, Kenneth S.

2017-02-02

Here, we employ the Elastically Collective Nonlinear Langevin Equation (ECNLE) theory of activated relaxation to study several questions in free standing thin films of glass-forming molecular and polymer liquids. The influence of non-universal chemical aspects on dynamical confinement effects is found to be relatively weak, but with the caveat that for the systems examined, the bulk ECNLE polymer theory does not predict widely varying fragilities. Allowing the film model to have a realistic vapor interfacial width significantly enhances the reduction of the film-averaged glass transition temperature, T g, in a manner that depends on whether a dynamic or pseudo-thermodynamic averagingmore » of the spatial mobility gradient is adopted. The nature of film thickness effects on the spatial profiles of the alpha relaxation time and elastic modulus is studied under non-isothermal conditions and contrasted with the corresponding isothermal behavior. Modest differences are found if a film-thickness dependent T g is defined in a dynamical manner. But, adopting a pseudo-thermodynamic measure of T g leads to a qualitatively new form of the alpha relaxation time gradient where highly mobile layers near the film surface coexist with strongly vitrified regions in the film interior. Consequently, the film-averaged shear modulus can increase with decreasing film thickness, despite the T g reduction and presence of a mobile surface layer. Such a behavior stands in qualitative contrast to the predicted mechanical softening under isothermal conditions. Spatial gradients of the elastic modulus are studied as a function of temperature, film thickness, probing frequency, and experimental protocol, and a rich behavior is found.« less

Squeezing the Efimov effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandoval, J. H.; Bellotti, F. F.; Yamashita, M. T.; Frederico, T.; Fedorov, D. V.; Jensen, A. S.; Zinner, N. T.

2018-03-01

The quantum mechanical three-body problem is a source of continuing interest due to its complexity and not least due to the presence of fascinating solvable cases. The prime example is the Efimov effect where infinitely many bound states of identical bosons can arise at the threshold where the two-body problem has zero binding energy. An important aspect of the Efimov effect is the effect of spatial dimensionality; it has been observed in three dimensional systems, yet it is believed to be impossible in two dimensions. Using modern experimental techniques, it is possible to engineer trap geometry and thus address the intricate nature of quantum few-body physics as function of dimensionality. Here we present a framework for studying the three-body problem as one (continuously) changes the dimensionality of the system all the way from three, through two, and down to a single dimension. This is done by considering the Efimov favorable case of a mass-imbalanced system and with an external confinement provided by a typical experimental case with a (deformed) harmonic trap.

Angle-resolved Wigner time delay in atomic photoionization: The 4 d subshell of free and confined Xe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, A.; Deshmukh, P. C.; Kheifets, A. S.; Dolmatov, V. K.; Manson, S. T.

2017-11-01

The angular dependence of photoemission time delay for the inner n d3 /2 and n d5 /2 subshells of free and confined Xe is studied in the dipole relativistic random phase approximation. A finite spherical annular well potential is used to model the confinement due to fullerene C60 cage. Near cancellations in a variety of the dipole amplitudes, Cooper-like minima, are found. The effects of confinement on the angular dependence, primarily confinement resonances, are demonstrated and detailed.

Experimental Evidence of Weak Excluded Volume Effects for Nanochannel Confined DNA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Damini; Miller, Jeremy J.; Muralidhar, Abhiram; Mahshid, Sara; Reisner, Walter; Dorfman, Kevin D.

In the classical de Gennes picture of weak polymer nanochannel confinement, the polymer contour is envisioned as divided into a series of isometric blobs. Strong excluded volume interactions are present both within a blob and between blobs. In contrast, for semiflexible polymers like DNA, excluded volume interactions are of borderline strength within a blob but appreciable between blobs, giving rise to a chain description consisting of a string of anisometric blobs. We present experimental validation of this subtle effect of excluded volume for DNA nanochannel confinement by performing measurements of variance in chain extension of T4 DNA molecules as a function of effective nanochannel size (305-453 nm). Additionally, we show an approach to systematically reduce the effect of molecular weight dispersity of DNA samples, a typical experimental artifact, by combining confinement spectroscopy with simulations.

High magnetic field theory for the local density of states in graphene with smooth arbitrary potential landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Champel, Thierry; Florens, Serge

2010-07-01

We study theoretically the energy and spatially resolved local density of states (LDoS) in graphene at high perpendicular magnetic field. For this purpose, we extend from the Schrödinger to the Dirac case a semicoherent-state Green’s-function formalism, devised to obtain in a quantitative way the lifting of the Landau-level degeneracy in the presence of smooth confinement and smooth disordered potentials. Our general technique, which rigorously describes quantum-mechanical motion in a magnetic field beyond the semiclassical guiding center picture of vanishing magnetic length (both for the ordinary two-dimensional electron gas and graphene), is connected to the deformation (Weyl) quantization theory in phase space developed in mathematical physics. For generic quadratic potentials of either scalar (i.e., electrostatic) or mass (i.e., associated with coupling to the substrate) types, we exactly solve the regime of large magnetic field (yet at finite magnetic length, formally, this amounts to considering an infinite Fermi velocity) where Landau-level mixing becomes negligible. Hence, we obtain a closed-form expression for the graphene Green’s function in this regime, providing analytically the discrete energy spectra for both cases of scalar and mass parabolic confinement. Furthermore, the coherent-state representation is shown to display a hierarchy of local energy scales ordered by powers of the magnetic length and successive spatial derivatives of the local potential, which allows one to devise controlled approximation schemes at finite temperature for arbitrary and possibly disordered potential landscapes. As an application, we derive general analytical nonperturbative expressions for the LDoS, which may serve as a good starting point for interpreting experimental studies. For instance, we are able to account for many puzzling features of the LDoS recently observed by high magnetic field scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiments on graphene, such as a roughly m increase in the mth Landau-level linewidth in the LDoS peaks at low temperatures, together with a flattening of the spatial variations in the Landau-level effective energies at increasing m .

Comparison of one- and two-photon optical beam-induced current imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Chris; Denk, Winfried

1999-08-01

Optical beam induced current (OBIC) imaging through the backside of integrated circuits was investigated in the wavelength λ region from 1.15 to 1.26 μm. With a subpicosecond excitation source and approximately 1 mW at the sample, the two-photon contribution to the generated photocurrent dominates at λ=1.25 μm but becomes negligible for λ<1.18 μm. One-photon- (1P-) and two-photon- (2P-) OBIC images are very different. In the 1P case a strong contribution by scattered light to the carrier generation leads to an edge enhancement effect that is entirely missing when 2P excitation dominates. 2P-OBIC images often show supply-voltage dependent intensity steps that are much sharper than the optical resolution permits. The advantages of 2P-OBIC lie in the spatial confinement of the free carrier generation, a more relevant contrast mechanism, and the promise of a substantial increase in spatial resolution because of the quadratic intensity dependence and the possibility of using silicon solid immersion lenses, which could eventually provide resolution sufficient for circuits made by deep UV lithography.

Learning on Jupiter, learning on the Moon: the dark side of the G-force. Effects of gravity changes on neurovascular unit and modulation of learning and memory

PubMed Central

Porte, Yves; Morel, Jean-Luc

2012-01-01

On earth, gravity vector conditions the development of all living beings by physically imposing an axis along which to build their organism. Thus, during their whole life, they have to fight against this force not only to maintain their architectural organization but also to coordinate the communication between organs and keep their physiology in a balanced steady-state. In space, astronauts show physiological, psychological, and cognitive deregulations, ranging from bone decalcification or decrease of musculature, to depressive-like disorders, and spatial disorientation. Nonetheless, they are confronted to a great amount of physical changes in their environment such as solar radiations, loss of light-dark cycle, lack of spatial landmarks, confinement, and obviously a dramatic decrease of gravity force. It is thus very hard to selectively discriminate the strict role of gravity level alterations on physiological, and particularly cerebral, dysfunction. To this purpose, it is important to design autonomous models and apparatuses for behavioral phenotyping utilizable under modified gravity environments. Our team actually aims at working on this area of research. PMID:23015785

Spatial shape of avalanches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Zhaoxuan; Wiese, Kay Jörg

2017-12-01

In disordered elastic systems, driven by displacing a parabolic confining potential adiabatically slowly, all advance of the system is in bursts, termed avalanches. Avalanches have a finite extension in time, which is much smaller than the waiting time between them. Avalanches also have a finite extension ℓ in space, i.e., only a part of the interface of size ℓ moves during an avalanche. Here we study their spatial shape 〈S(x ) 〉 ℓ given ℓ , as well as its fluctuations encoded in the second cumulant 〈S2(x ) 〉 ℓ c. We establish scaling relations governing the behavior close to the boundary. We then give analytic results for the Brownian force model, in which the microscopic disorder for each degree of freedom is a random walk. Finally, we confirm these results with numerical simulations. To do this properly we elucidate the influence of discretization effects, which also confirms the assumptions entering into the scaling ansatz. This allows us to reach the scaling limit already for avalanches of moderate size. We find excellent agreement for the universal shape and its fluctuations, including all amplitudes.

Real-space imaging of a topologically protected edge state with ultracold atoms in an amplitude-chirped optical lattice

PubMed Central

Leder, Martin; Grossert, Christopher; Sitta, Lukas; Genske, Maximilian; Rosch, Achim; Weitz, Martin

2016-01-01

To describe a mobile defect in polyacetylene chains, Su, Schrieffer and Heeger formulated a model assuming two degenerate energy configurations that are characterized by two different topological phases. An immediate consequence was the emergence of a soliton-type edge state located at the boundary between two regions of different configurations. Besides giving first insights in the electrical properties of polyacetylene materials, interest in this effect also stems from its close connection to states with fractional charge from relativistic field theory. Here, using a one-dimensional optical lattice for cold rubidium atoms with a spatially chirped amplitude, we experimentally realize an interface between two spatial regions of different topological order in an atomic physics system. We directly observe atoms confined in the edge state at the intersection by optical real-space imaging and characterize the state as well as the size of the associated energy gap. Our findings hold prospects for the spectroscopy of surface states in topological matter and for the quantum simulation of interacting Dirac systems. PMID:27767054

Interrogating Surface Functional Group Heterogeneity of Activated Thermoplastics Using Super-Resolution Fluorescence Microscopy.

PubMed

ONeil, Colleen E; Jackson, Joshua M; Shim, Sang-Hee; Soper, Steven A

2016-04-05

We present a novel approach for characterizing surfaces utilizing super-resolution fluorescence microscopy with subdiffraction limit spatial resolution. Thermoplastic surfaces were activated by UV/O3 or O2 plasma treatment under various conditions to generate pendant surface-confined carboxylic acids (-COOH). These surface functional groups were then labeled with a photoswitchable dye and interrogated using single-molecule, localization-based, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to elucidate the surface heterogeneity of these functional groups across the activated surface. Data indicated nonuniform distributions of these functional groups for both COC and PMMA thermoplastics with the degree of heterogeneity being dose dependent. In addition, COC demonstrated relative higher surface density of functional groups compared to PMMA for both UV/O3 and O2 plasma treatment. The spatial distribution of -COOH groups secured from super-resolution imaging were used to simulate nonuniform patterns of electroosmotic flow in thermoplastic nanochannels. Simulations were compared to single-particle tracking of fluorescent nanoparticles within thermoplastic nanoslits to demonstrate the effects of surface functional group heterogeneity on the electrokinetic transport process.

Effects of model layer simplification using composite hydraulic properties

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sepúlveda, Nicasio; Kuniansky, Eve L.

2010-01-01

The effects of simplifying hydraulic property layering within an unconfined aquifer and the underlying confining unit were assessed. The hydraulic properties of lithologic units within the unconfined aquifer and confining unit were computed by analyzing the aquifer-test data using radial, axisymmetric two-dimensional (2D) flow. Time-varying recharge to the unconfined aquifer and pumping from the confined Upper Floridan aquifer (USA) were simulated using 3D flow. Conceptual flow models were developed by gradually reducing the number of lithologic units in the unconfined aquifer and confining unit by calculating composite hydraulic properties for the simplified lithologic units. Composite hydraulic properties were calculated using either thickness-weighted averages or inverse modeling using regression-based parameter estimation. No significant residuals were simulated when all lithologic units comprising the unconfined aquifer were simulated as one layer. The largest residuals occurred when the unconfined aquifer and confining unit were aggregated into a single layer (quasi-3D), with residuals over 100% for the leakage rates to the confined aquifer and the heads in the confining unit. Residuals increased with contrasts in vertical hydraulic conductivity between the unconfined aquifer and confining unit. Residuals increased when the constant-head boundary at the bottom of the Upper Floridan aquifer was replaced with a no-flow boundary.

Environmental light color affects the stress response of Nile tilapia.

PubMed

Maia, Caroline Marques; Volpato, Gilson Luiz

2013-02-01

We investigated the effects of environmental light colors (blue, yellow and white) on the stress responses (measured by changes in ventilatory frequency - VF) of Nile tilapia to confinement. After 7 days of light treatment, the VF was similar for fish in each color. On the 8th day, fish were confined for 15 min. After release, the post-confinement VF was measured six times (first period: 0, 2 and 4 min; second period: 6, 8 and 10 min). Irrespective of the light color treatment, confinement increased the VF to higher levels during the first post-confinement period than during the second one. When color was analyzed, irrespective of time, fish under white light increased their VF post-confinement, and blue light prevented this effect. We conclude that blue light is the preferred color for Nile tilapia in terms of reducing stress. This finding is in contrast to previous choice test studies that indicated that yellow is their preferred color. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Geometric effects resulting from square and circular confinements for a particle constrained to a space curve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yong-Long; Lai, Meng-Yun; Wang, Fan; Zong, Hong-Shi; Chen, Yan-Feng

2018-04-01

Investigating the geometric effects resulting from the detailed behaviors of the confining potential, we consider square and circular confinements to constrain a particle to a space curve. We find a torsion-induced geometric potential and a curvature-induced geometric momentum just in the square case, while a geometric gauge potential solely in the circular case. In the presence of electromagnetic field, a geometrically induced magnetic moment couples with magnetic field as an induced Zeeman coupling only for the circular confinement also. As spin-orbit interaction is considered, we find some additional terms for the spin-orbit coupling, which are induced not only by torsion, but also curvature. Moreover, in the circular case, the spin also couples with an intrinsic angular momentum, which describes the azimuthal motions mapped on the space curve. As an important conclusion for the thin-layer quantization approach, some substantial geometric effects result from the confinement boundaries. Finally, these results are proved on a helical wire.

Distinct Thermophysical and Interfacial Properties Associated with Low Molecular Weight Cyclic Polystyrene in Bulk and Confined States: Tg and Fragility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lanhe; Elupula, Ravinder; Grayson, Scott; Torkelson, John

Cyclic or ring polymers represent an exciting class of topologically distinctive polymers. The influence of ``end-to-end'' tethering and the unusual conformational properties associated with cyclic topologies have led to polymer dynamics significantly different from the linear counterpart. Bulk cyclic polystyrene (c-PS) exhibits very weak Tg- and fragility-molecular weight (MW) dependences compared to linear PS. In stark contrast to the substantial Tg-confinement effects in linear PS, a nearly completely suppressed confinement effect is discovered in low MW c-PS. The cyclic topology strongly restricts polymer-substrate interactions. Therefore, the near elimination of the Tg-confinement effect in c-PS originates mainly from a very weak perturbation to Tg near the free surface. Upon nanoscale confinement, linear PS films have been shown to have significantly reduced fragility compared to bulk. Despite having similar bulk fragility as high MW linear PS, low MW c-PS films show major suppression in fragility reduction with decreasing thickness. Due to a lack of chain ends, properties associated with the ring structure are not prone to be perturbed by either MW reduction or confinement. This result indicates a strong correlation between the susceptibility of fragility perturbation and the susceptibility of Tg perturbation, caused by chain topology and/or by confinement. This work was supported by The Dow Chemical Company, a McCormick School of Engineering Fellowship, and the NSF.

Influence of the nanoparticles agglomeration state in the quantum-confinement effects: Experimental evidences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lorite, I., E-mail: lorite@physik.uni-leipzig.de; Division of Superconductivity and Magnetism, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Linnestrasse 5, D-04103 Leipzig; Romero, J. J.

2015-03-15

The agglomeration state facilitates particle-particle interaction which produces important effects in the phonon confinement effects at the nanoscale. A partial phonon transmission between close nanoparticles yields a lower momentum conservation relaxation than in a single isolated nanoparticle. It means a larger red shift and broadening of the Raman modes than the expected ones for Raman quantum confinement effects. This particle-particle interaction can drive to error when Raman responses are used to estimate the size of the nanoscaled materials. In this work different corrections are suggested to overtake this source of error.

Inductively guided circuits for ultracold dressed atoms

PubMed Central

Sinuco-León, German A.; Burrows, Kathryn A.; Arnold, Aidan S.; Garraway, Barry M.

2014-01-01

Recent progress in optics, atomic physics and material science has paved the way to study quantum effects in ultracold atomic alkali gases confined to non-trivial geometries. Multiply connected traps for cold atoms can be prepared by combining inhomogeneous distributions of DC and radio-frequency electromagnetic fields with optical fields that require complex systems for frequency control and stabilization. Here we propose a flexible and robust scheme that creates closed quasi-one-dimensional guides for ultracold atoms through the ‘dressing’ of hyperfine sublevels of the atomic ground state, where the dressing field is spatially modulated by inductive effects over a micro-engineered conducting loop. Remarkably, for commonly used atomic species (for example, 7Li and 87Rb), the guide operation relies entirely on controlling static and low-frequency fields in the regimes of radio-frequency and microwave frequencies. This novel trapping scheme can be implemented with current technology for micro-fabrication and electronic control. PMID:25348163

Exciton States in a Gaussian Confining Potential Well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Wen-Fang; Gu, Juan

2003-11-01

We consider the problem of an electron-hole pair in a Gaussian confining potential well. This problem is treated within the effective-mass approximation framework using the method of numerical matrix diagonalization. The energy levels of the low-lying states are calculated as a function of the electron-hole effective mass ratio and the size of the confining potential. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 10275014

An enhanced droplet-based liquid microjunction surface sampling system coupled with HPLC-ESI-MS/MS for spatially resolved analysis

DOE PAGES

Van Berkel, Gary J.; Weiskittel, Taylor M.; Kertesz, Vilmos

2014-11-07

Droplet-based liquid microjunction surface sampling coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-electrospray ionization (ESI)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for spatially resolved analysis provides the possibility of effective analysis of complex matrix samples and can provide a greater degree of chemical information from a single spot sample than is typically possible with a direct analysis of an extract. Described here is the setup and enhanced capabilities of a discrete droplet liquid microjunction surface sampling system employing a commercially available CTC PAL autosampler. The system enhancements include incorporation of a laser distance sensor enabling unattended analysis of samples and sample locations of dramatically disparatemore » height as well as reliably dispensing just 0.5 μL of extraction solvent to make the liquid junction to the surface, wherein the extraction spot size was confined to an area about 0.7 mm in diameter; software modifications improving the spatial resolution of sampling spot selection from 1.0 to 0.1 mm; use of an open bed tray system to accommodate samples as large as whole-body rat thin tissue sections; and custom sample/solvent holders that shorten sampling time to approximately 1 min per sample. Lastly, the merit of these new features was demonstrated by spatially resolved sampling, HPLC separation, and mass spectral detection of pharmaceuticals and metabolites from whole-body rat thin tissue sections and razor blade (“crude”) cut mouse tissue.« less

An enhanced droplet-based liquid microjunction surface sampling system coupled with HPLC-ESI-MS/MS for spatially resolved analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Berkel, Gary J.; Weiskittel, Taylor M.; Kertesz, Vilmos

Droplet-based liquid microjunction surface sampling coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-electrospray ionization (ESI)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) for spatially resolved analysis provides the possibility of effective analysis of complex matrix samples and can provide a greater degree of chemical information from a single spot sample than is typically possible with a direct analysis of an extract. Described here is the setup and enhanced capabilities of a discrete droplet liquid microjunction surface sampling system employing a commercially available CTC PAL autosampler. The system enhancements include incorporation of a laser distance sensor enabling unattended analysis of samples and sample locations of dramatically disparatemore » height as well as reliably dispensing just 0.5 μL of extraction solvent to make the liquid junction to the surface, wherein the extraction spot size was confined to an area about 0.7 mm in diameter; software modifications improving the spatial resolution of sampling spot selection from 1.0 to 0.1 mm; use of an open bed tray system to accommodate samples as large as whole-body rat thin tissue sections; and custom sample/solvent holders that shorten sampling time to approximately 1 min per sample. Lastly, the merit of these new features was demonstrated by spatially resolved sampling, HPLC separation, and mass spectral detection of pharmaceuticals and metabolites from whole-body rat thin tissue sections and razor blade (“crude”) cut mouse tissue.« less

Adsorbed molecules in external fields: Effect of confining potential.

PubMed

Tyagi, Ashish; Silotia, Poonam; Maan, Anjali; Prasad, Vinod

2016-12-05

We study the rotational excitation of a molecule adsorbed on a surface. As is well known the interaction potential between the surface and the molecule can be modeled in number of ways, depending on the molecular structure and the geometry under which the molecule is being adsorbed by the surface. We explore the effect of change of confining potential on the excitation, which is largely controlled by the static electric fields and continuous wave laser fields. We focus on dipolar molecules and hence we restrict ourselves to the first order interaction in field-molecule interaction potential either through permanent dipole moment or/and the molecular polarizability parameter. It is shown that confining potential shapes, strength of the confinement, strongly affect the excitation. We compare our results for different confining potentials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An analytical approach for the simulation of flow in a heterogeneous confined aquifer with a parameter zonation structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ching-Sheng; Yeh, Hund-Der

2016-11-01

This study introduces an analytical approach to estimate drawdown induced by well extraction in a heterogeneous confined aquifer with an irregular outer boundary. The aquifer domain is divided into a number of zones according to the zonation method for representing the spatial distribution of a hydraulic parameter field. The lateral boundary of the aquifer can be considered under the Dirichlet, Neumann or Robin condition at different parts of the boundary. Flow across the interface between two zones satisfies the continuities of drawdown and flux. Source points, each of which has an unknown volumetric rate representing the boundary effect on the drawdown, are allocated around the boundary of each zone. The solution of drawdown in each zone is expressed as a series in terms of the Theis equation with unknown volumetric rates from the source points. The rates are then determined based on the aquifer boundary conditions and the continuity requirements. The estimated aquifer drawdown by the present approach agrees well with a finite element solution developed based on the Mathematica function NDSolve. As compared with the existing numerical approaches, the present approach has a merit of directly computing the drawdown at any given location and time and therefore takes much less computing time to obtain the required results in engineering applications.

Extraordinary Effects in Quasi-Periodic Gold Nanocavities: Enhanced Transmission and Polarization Control of Cavity Modes.

PubMed

Dhama, Rakesh; Caligiuri, Vincenzo; Petti, Lucia; Rashed, Alireza R; Rippa, Massimo; Lento, Raffaella; Termine, Roberto; Caglayan, Humeyra; De Luca, Antonio

2018-01-23

Plasmonic quasi-periodic structures are well-known to exhibit several surprising phenomena with respect to their periodic counterparts, due to their long-range order and higher rotational symmetry. Thanks to their specific geometrical arrangement, plasmonic quasi-crystals offer unique possibilities in tailoring the coupling and propagation of surface plasmons through their lattice, a scenario in which a plethora of fascinating phenomena can take place. In this paper we investigate the extraordinary transmission phenomenon occurring in specifically patterned Thue-Morse nanocavities, demonstrating noticeable enhanced transmission, directly revealed by near-field optical experiments, performed by means of a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM). SNOM further provides an intuitive picture of confined plasmon modes inside the nanocavities and confirms that localization of plasmon modes is based on size and depth of nanocavities, while cross talk between close cavities via propagating plasmons holds the polarization response of patterned quasi-crystals. Our performed numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results. Thus, the control on cavity size and incident polarization can be used to alter the intensity and spatial properties of confined cavity modes in such structures, which can be exploited in order to design a plasmonic device with customized optical properties and desired functionalities, to be used for several applications in quantum plasmonics.

Calibration of Fuji BAS-SR type imaging plate as high spatial resolution x-ray radiography recorder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Ji; Zheng, Jianhua; Zhang, Xing; Chen, Li; Wei, Minxi

2017-05-01

Image Plates as x-ray recorder have advantages including reusable, high dynamic range, large active area, and so on. In this work, Fuji BAS-SR type image plate combined with BAS-5000 scanner is calibrated. The fade rates of Image Plates has been measured using x-ray diffractometric in different room temperature; the spectral response of Image Plates has been measured using 241Am radioactive sealed source and fitting with linear model; the spatial resolution of Image Plates has been measured using micro-focus x-ray tube. The results show that Image Plates has an exponent decade curve and double absorption edge response curve. The spatial resolution of Image Plates with 25μ/50μ scanner resolution is 6.5lp/mm, 11.9lp/mm respectively and gold grid radiography is collected with 80lp/mm spatial resolution using SR-type Image Plates. BAS-SR type Image Plates can do high spatial resolution and quantitative radiographic works. It can be widely used in High energy density physics (HEDP), inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and laboratory astronomy physics.

Temporal focusing-based widefield multiphoton microscopy with spatially modulated illumination for biotissue imaging.

PubMed

Chang, Chia-Yuan; Lin, Cheng-Han; Lin, Chun-Yu; Sie, Yong-Da; Hu, Yvonne Yuling; Tsai, Sheng-Feng; Chen, Shean-Jen

2018-01-01

A developed temporal focusing-based multiphoton excitation microscope (TFMPEM) has a digital micromirror device (DMD) which is adopted not only as a blazed grating for light spatial dispersion but also for patterned illumination simultaneously. Herein, the TFMPEM has been extended to implement spatially modulated illumination at structured frequency and orientation to increase the beam coverage at the back-focal aperture of the objective lens. The axial excitation confinement (AEC) of TFMPEM can be condensed from 3.0 μm to 1.5 μm for a 50 % improvement. By using the TFMPEM with HiLo technique as two structured illuminations at the same spatial frequency but different orientation, reconstructed biotissue images according to the condensed AEC structured illumination are shown obviously superior in contrast and better scattering suppression. Picture: TPEF images of the eosin-stained mouse cerebellar cortex by conventional TFMPEM (left), and the TFMPEM with HiLo technique as 1.09 μm -1 spatially modulated illumination at 90° (center) and 0° (right) orientations. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Bayesian Decision Tree for the Classification of the Mode of Motion in Single-Molecule Trajectories

PubMed Central

Türkcan, Silvan; Masson, Jean-Baptiste

2013-01-01

Membrane proteins move in heterogeneous environments with spatially (sometimes temporally) varying friction and with biochemical interactions with various partners. It is important to reliably distinguish different modes of motion to improve our knowledge of the membrane architecture and to understand the nature of interactions between membrane proteins and their environments. Here, we present an analysis technique for single molecule tracking (SMT) trajectories that can determine the preferred model of motion that best matches observed trajectories. The method is based on Bayesian inference to calculate the posteriori probability of an observed trajectory according to a certain model. Information theory criteria, such as the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), the Akaike information criterion (AIC), and modified AIC (AICc), are used to select the preferred model. The considered group of models includes free Brownian motion, and confined motion in 2nd or 4th order potentials. We determine the best information criteria for classifying trajectories. We tested its limits through simulations matching large sets of experimental conditions and we built a decision tree. This decision tree first uses the BIC to distinguish between free Brownian motion and confined motion. In a second step, it classifies the confining potential further using the AIC. We apply the method to experimental Clostridium Perfingens -toxin (CPT) receptor trajectories to show that these receptors are confined by a spring-like potential. An adaptation of this technique was applied on a sliding window in the temporal dimension along the trajectory. We applied this adaptation to experimental CPT trajectories that lose confinement due to disaggregation of confining domains. This new technique adds another dimension to the discussion of SMT data. The mode of motion of a receptor might hold more biologically relevant information than the diffusion coefficient or domain size and may be a better tool to classify and compare different SMT experiments. PMID:24376584

Effective structural descriptors for natural and engineered radioactive waste confinement barriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemmens, Laurent; Rogiers, Bart; De Craen, Mieke; Laloy, Eric; Jacques, Diederik; Huysmans, Marijke; Swennen, Rudy; Urai, Janos L.; Desbois, Guillaume

2017-04-01

The microstructure of a radioactive waste confinement barrier strongly influences its flow and transport properties. Numerical flow and transport simulations for these porous media at the pore scale therefore require input data that describe the microstructure as accurately as possible. To date, no imaging method can resolve all heterogeneities within important radioactive waste confinement barrier materials as hardened cement paste and natural clays at the micro scale (nm-cm). Therefore, it is necessary to merge information from different 2D and 3D imaging methods using porous media reconstruction techniques. To qualitatively compare the results of different reconstruction techniques, visual inspection might suffice. To quantitatively compare training-image based algorithms, Tan et al. (2014) proposed an algorithm using an analysis of distance. However, the ranking of the algorithm depends on the choice of the structural descriptor, in their case multiple-point or cluster-based histograms. We present here preliminary work in which we will review different structural descriptors and test their effectiveness, for capturing the main structural characteristics of radioactive waste confinement barrier materials, to determine the descriptors to use in the analysis of distance. The investigated descriptors are particle size distributions, surface area distributions, two point probability functions, multiple point histograms, linear functions and two point cluster functions. The descriptor testing consists of stochastically generating realizations from a reference image using the simulated annealing optimization procedure introduced by Karsanina et al. (2015). This procedure basically minimizes the differences between pre-specified descriptor values associated with the training image and the image being produced. The most efficient descriptor set can therefore be identified by comparing the image generation quality among the tested descriptor combinations. The assessment of the quality of the simulations will be made by combining all considered descriptors. Once the set of the most efficient descriptors is determined, they can be used in the analysis of distance, to rank different reconstruction algorithms in a more objective way in future work. Karsanina MV, Gerke KM, Skvortsova EB, Mallants D (2015) Universal Spatial Correlation Functions for Describing and Reconstructing Soil Microstructure. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0126515. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126515 Tan, Xiaojin, Pejman Tahmasebi, and Jef Caers. "Comparing training-image based algorithms using an analysis of distance." Mathematical Geosciences 46.2 (2014): 149-169.

Structure and Dynamics of Confined C-O-H Fluids Relevant to the Subsurface: Application of Magnetic Resonance, Neutron Scattering and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gautam, Siddharth S.; Ok, Salim; Cole, David R.

2017-06-01

Geo-fluids consisting of C-O-H volatiles are the main mode of transport of mass and energy throughout the lithosphere and are commonly found confined in pores, grain boundaries and fractures. The confinement of these fluids by porous media at the length scales of a few nanometers gives rise to numerous physical and chemical properties that deviate from the bulk behavior. Studying the structural and dynamical properties of these confined fluids at the length and time scales of nanometers and picoseconds respectively forms an important component of understanding their behavior. To study confined fluids, non-destructive penetrative probes are needed. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) by virtue of its ability to monitor longitudinal and transverse magnetization relaxations of spins, and chemical shifts brought about by the chemical environment of a nucleus, and measuring diffusion coefficient provides a good opportunity to study dynamics and chemical structure at the molecular length and time scales. Another technique that gives insights into the dynamics and structure at these length and time scales is neutron scattering (NS). This is because the wavelength and energies of cold and thermal neutrons used in scattering experiments are in the same range as the spatial features and energies involved in the dynamical processes occurring at the molecular level. Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations on the other hand help with the interpretation of the NMR and NS data. Simulations can also supplement the experiments by calculating quantities not easily accessible to experiments. Thus using NMR, NS and MD simulations in conjunction, a complete description of the molecular structure and dynamics of confined geo-fluids can be obtained. In the current review, our aim is to show how a synergistic use of these three techniques has helped shed light on the complex behavior of water, CO2, and low molecular weight hydrocarbons. After summarizing the theoretical backgrounds of the techniques, we will discuss some recent examples of the use of NMR, NS, and MD simulations to the study of confined fluids.

The quantitative modelling of human spatial habitability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wise, James A.

1988-01-01

A theoretical model for evaluating human spatial habitability (HuSH) in the proposed U.S. Space Station is developed. Optimizing the fitness of the space station environment for human occupancy will help reduce environmental stress due to long-term isolation and confinement in its small habitable volume. The development of tools that operationalize the behavioral bases of spatial volume for visual kinesthetic, and social logic considerations is suggested. This report further calls for systematic scientific investigations of how much real and how much perceived volume people need in order to function normally and with minimal stress in space-based settings. The theoretical model presented in this report can be applied to any size or shape interior, at any scale of consideration, for the Space Station as a whole to an individual enclosure or work station. Using as a point of departure the Isovist model developed by Dr. Michael Benedikt of the U. of Texas, the report suggests that spatial habitability can become as amenable to careful assessment as engineering and life support concerns.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sadovnikov, A. V., E-mail: sadovnikovav@gmail.com; Nikitov, S. A.; Kotel'nikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 125009

Using the space-resolved Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy we study the transformation of dynamic magnetization patterns in a bilayer multiferroic structure. We show that in the comparison with a single yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film magnetization distribution is transformed in the bilayer structure due to the coupling of waves propagating both in an YIG film (magnetic layer) and in a barium strontium titanate slab (ferroelectric layer). We present a simple electrodynamic model using the numerical finite element method to show the transformation of eigenmode spectrum of confined multiferroic. In particular, we demonstrate that the control over the dynamic magnetization and themore » transformation of spatial profiles of transverse modes in magnetic film of the bilayer structure can be performed by the tuning of the wavevectors of transverse modes. The studied confined multiferroic stripe can be utilized for fabrication of integrated dual tunable functional devices for magnonic applications.« less

Revealing the subfemtosecond dynamics of orbital angular momentum in nanoplasmonic vortices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spektor, G.; Kilbane, D.; Mahro, A. K.; Frank, B.; Ristok, S.; Gal, L.; Kahl, P.; Podbiel, D.; Mathias, S.; Giessen, H.; Meyer zu Heringdorf, F.-J.; Orenstein, M.; Aeschlimann, M.

2017-03-01

The ability of light to carry and deliver orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the form of optical vortices has attracted much interest. The physical properties of light with a helical wavefront can be confined onto two-dimensional surfaces with subwavelength dimensions in the form of plasmonic vortices, opening avenues for thus far unknown light-matter interactions. Because of their extreme rotational velocity, the ultrafast dynamics of such vortices remained unexplored. Here we show the detailed spatiotemporal evolution of nanovortices using time-resolved two-photon photoemission electron microscopy. We observe both long- and short-range plasmonic vortices confined to deep subwavelength dimensions on the scale of 100 nanometers with nanometer spatial resolution and subfemtosecond time-step resolution. Finally, by measuring the angular velocity of the vortex, we directly extract the OAM magnitude of light.

Mapping Nanoscale Hotspots with Single-Molecule Emitters Assembled into Plasmonic Nanocavities Using DNA Origami.

PubMed

Chikkaraddy, Rohit; Turek, V A; Kongsuwan, Nuttawut; Benz, Felix; Carnegie, Cloudy; van de Goor, Tim; de Nijs, Bart; Demetriadou, Angela; Hess, Ortwin; Keyser, Ulrich F; Baumberg, Jeremy J

2018-01-10

Fabricating nanocavities in which optically active single quantum emitters are precisely positioned is crucial for building nanophotonic devices. Here we show that self-assembly based on robust DNA-origami constructs can precisely position single molecules laterally within sub-5 nm gaps between plasmonic substrates that support intense optical confinement. By placing single-molecules at the center of a nanocavity, we show modification of the plasmon cavity resonance before and after bleaching the chromophore and obtain enhancements of ≥4 × 10 3 with high quantum yield (≥50%). By varying the lateral position of the molecule in the gap, we directly map the spatial profile of the local density of optical states with a resolution of ±1.5 nm. Our approach introduces a straightforward noninvasive way to measure and quantify confined optical modes on the nanoscale.

Simultaneous large band gaps and localization of electromagnetic and elastic waves in defect-free quasicrystals.

PubMed

Yu, Tianbao; Wang, Zhong; Liu, Wenxing; Wang, Tongbiao; Liu, Nianhua; Liao, Qinghua

2016-04-18

We report numerically large and complete photonic and phononic band gaps that simultaneously exist in eight-fold phoxonic quasicrystals (PhXQCs). PhXQCs can possess simultaneous photonic and phononic band gaps over a wide range of geometric parameters. Abundant localized modes can be achieved in defect-free PhXQCs for all photonic and phononic polarizations. These defect-free localized modes exhibit multiform spatial distributions and can confine simultaneously electromagnetic and elastic waves in a large area, thereby providing rich selectivity and enlarging the interaction space of optical and elastic waves. The simulated results based on finite element method show that quasiperiodic structures formed of both solid rods in air and holes in solid materials can simultaneously confine and tailor electromagnetic and elastic waves; these structures showed advantages over the periodic counterparts.

Interaction of laser pulse with confined plasma during exit surface nanosecond laser damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubenchik, Alexander M.; Feit, Michael D.; Demos, Stavros G.

2013-12-01

Interpretation of spatial and time resolved images of rear surface ns laser damage in dielectrics requires understanding of the dynamic interaction of the incoming laser beam with the confined expanding plasma in the material. The detailed kinetics of the plasma, involving both expansion and retraction, depends on details of reflection and absorption in the hot material. The growth of the hot region is treated using a model previously developed to understand laser peening. The pressure is found to scale as the square root of laser intensity and drops off slowly after energy deposition is complete. For the conditions of our experimental observations in fused silica, our model predicts a pressure of about 9 GPa and a surface expansion velocity of about 1.5 km/sec, in good agreement with experimental observation.

Initial experimental test of a helicon plasma based mass filter

DOE PAGES

Gueroult, R.; Evans, E. S.; Zweben, S. J.; ...

2016-05-12

High throughput plasma mass separation requires rotation control in a high density multi-species plasmas. A preliminary mass separation device based on a helicon plasma operating in gas mixtures and featuring concentric biasable ring electrodes is introduced. Plasma profile shows strong response to electrode biasing. In light of floating potential measurements, the density response is interpreted as the consequence of a reshaping of the radial electric field in the plasma. This field can be made confining or de-confining depending on the imposed potential at the electrodes, in a way which is consistent with single particle orbit radial stability. In conclusion, concurrentmore » spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements suggest ion separation, with heavy to light ion emission line ratio increasing with radius when a specific potential gradient is applied to the electrodes.« less

Energy-resolved neutron imaging for inertial confinement fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moran, M. J.; Haan, S. W.; Hatchett, S. P.; Izumi, N.; Koch, J. A.; Lerche, R. A.; Phillips, T. W.

2003-03-01

The success of the National Ignition Facility program will depend on diagnostic measurements which study the performance of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. Neutron yield, fusion-burn time history, and images are examples of important diagnostics. Neutron and x-ray images will record the geometries of compressed targets during the fusion-burn process. Such images provide a critical test of the accuracy of numerical modeling of ICF experiments. They also can provide valuable information in cases where experiments produce unexpected results. Although x-ray and neutron images provide similar data, they do have significant differences. X-ray images represent the distribution of high-temperature regions where fusion occurs, while neutron images directly reveal the spatial distribution of fusion-neutron emission. X-ray imaging has the advantage of a relatively straightforward path to the imaging system design. Neutron imaging, by using energy-resolved detection, offers the intriguing advantage of being able to provide independent images of burning and nonburning regions of the nuclear fuel. The usefulness of energy-resolved neutron imaging depends on both the information content of the data and on the quality of the data that can be recorded. The information content will relate to the characteristic neutron spectra that are associated with emission from different regions of the source. Numerical modeling of ICF fusion burn will be required to interpret the corresponding energy-dependent images. The exercise will be useful only if the images can be recorded with sufficient definition to reveal the spatial and energy-dependent features of interest. Several options are being evaluated with respect to the feasibility of providing the desired simultaneous spatial and energy resolution.

Effects of acute temperature change, confinement and housing on plasma corticosterone in water snakes, Nerodia sipedon (Colubridae: Natricinae).

PubMed

Sykes, Kyle Lea; Klukowski, Matthew

2009-03-01

Body temperature affects many aspects of reptilian behavior and physiology, but its effect on hormonal secretion has been little studied, especially in snakes. Major objectives of this study were to determine if acute changes in body temperature during confinement influenced plasma corticosterone levels and if initial body temperatures upon capture in the field were related to baseline corticosterone levels in water snakes (Nerodia sipedon). Water snakes were bled upon capture in the field and after one hour of confinement in a cooled, control, or heated incubator. Since little is known about the potential metabolic changes in response to stress in reptiles, plasma triglyceride levels were also measured. Upon completion of the field study, snakes were housed for 5-8 days without food to determine the effect of chronic stress on both corticosterone and triglyceride levels. Plasma corticosterone concentrations were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) and plasma triglycerides were determined enzymatically. In the field, experimental alterations of body temperature during confinement had no effect on corticosterone levels. Similarly, there was no correlation between initial body temperature and baseline plasma corticosterone concentrations. However, post-confinement corticosterone levels were approximately three-times greater in females than males. Plasma triglyceride levels were not affected by temperature treatment, confinement, or sex. Compared to field values, both baseline and post-confinement corticosterone levels were elevated after the chronic stress of short-term laboratory housing but triglyceride levels decreased. Overall, these results indicate that sex but not body temperature has a major influence on the adrenocortical stress response in Nerodia sipedon.

Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Spectroscopy Of The Carrier Dynamics In GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs Quantum Wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polland, Hans J.; Kuhl, Jurgen; Gobel, Ernst O.

1988-08-01

Picosecond photoluminescence experiments at low temperature (6K) have been employed to study the trapping dynamics of photoexcited carriers in GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum wells for different shapes of the AlxGai_xAs confinement layers. We have obtained the following results by analyzing the spectral and temporal distribution of the photoluminescence after picosecond pulse excitation: Trapping efficiency is ==, 40% for a standard ungraded cladding layer (A10.3G1.7As with constant band gap and 5nm thick wells) but increases to ,-, 60% and 100% for samp es with a spatially parabolic or linear band gap profile of the confinement layers, respectively. Trapping times are appreciably shorter than the luminescence risetime which is between 60ps to 100ps. Thus carrier trapping does not impose severe limitations on the modulation speed of single quantum well devices up to frequencies in the order of 10GHz. Similar results are obtained for a well with a width of 1.2nm. Inhomogeneities in the carrier trapping mechanism due to well width fluctuations are not observed in our samples. In the second part we describe the photoluminescence properties of GaAs/A1,Gai_x As quantum wells (x=0.3) under the influence of electric fields perpendicular to the layers. We observe a drastic red shift and a concomitant strong increase of the electron-hole recombination lifetime for well widths > lOnm due to the quantum-confined Stark effect. At high fields (50-100kV/cm) field ionization due to tunneling leads to a decrease of both the photoluminescence yield and decay time, in accordance with a simple WKB theory

Study of quantum confinement effects in ZnO nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Movlarooy, Tayebeh

2018-03-01

Motivation to fact that zinc oxide nanowires and nanotubes with successful synthesis and the mechanism of formation, stability and electronic properties have been investigated; in this study the structural, electronic properties and quantum confinement effects of zinc oxide nanotubes and nanowires with different diameters are discussed. The calculations within density functional theory and the pseudo potential approximation are done. The electronic structure and energy gap for Armchair and zigzag ZnO nanotubes with a diameter of about 4 to 55 Angstrom and ZnO nanowires with a diameter range of 4 to 23 Å is calculated. The results revealed that due to the quantum confinement effects, by reducing the diameter of nanowires and nanotubes, the energy gap increases. Zinc oxide semiconductor nanostructures since having direct band gap with size-dependent and quantum confinement effect are recommended as an appropriate candidate for making nanoscale optoelectronic devices.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jeon, J., E-mail: jaechun1@ualberta.ca; Alagoz, H. S.; Jung, J., E-mail: jjung@ualberta.ca

Colossal in-plane anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of >16 000% has been engineered in spatially confined La{sub 0.3}Pr{sub 0.4}Ca{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} films. Recalling that typical AMR values in films are only a few percent, these results mark an astonishing increase that might potentially lead to fabrication of manganite-based switching and sensor devices. The unique colossal behavior is discussed within the context of anisotropic domain growth.

APPARATUS FOR HEATING A PLASMA

DOEpatents

Stix, T.H.

1962-01-01

The system contemplates the use of ion cyclotron motions for transferring energy to a plasma immersed in a confining magnetic field such as is found in thermonuclear reactors of the stellarator class. Oppositely directed windings are provided for producing ion-accelerating fields having a time and spatial periodicity and these have the advantage of producing ion cyclotron motions without the development of space charges which preclude the efficient energy transfer to the plasma. (AEC)

INTEGRAL detection of hard X-ray emission from NGC 1566

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ducci, L.; Siegert, T.; Diehl, R.; Sanchez-Fernandez, C.; Ferrigno, C.; Savchenko, V.; Bozzo, E.

2018-06-01

During the observations of the Reticulum II region carried out from 2018 June 12 to 2018 June 19 (total exposure time of 208 ks), the IBIS/ISGRI instrument on board INTEGRAL detected significant hard X-ray emission from a source with coordinates: RA: 4:19:49 Dec: -54:56:28, with 3.5 arcmin 90% confinement radius and spatially coincident with the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1566.

DLocalMotif: a discriminative approach for discovering local motifs in protein sequences.

PubMed

Mehdi, Ahmed M; Sehgal, Muhammad Shoaib B; Kobe, Bostjan; Bailey, Timothy L; Bodén, Mikael

2013-01-01

Local motifs are patterns of DNA or protein sequences that occur within a sequence interval relative to a biologically defined anchor or landmark. Current protein motif discovery methods do not adequately consider such constraints to identify biologically significant motifs that are only weakly over-represented but spatially confined. Using negatives, i.e. sequences known to not contain a local motif, can further increase the specificity of their discovery. This article introduces the method DLocalMotif that makes use of positional information and negative data for local motif discovery in protein sequences. DLocalMotif combines three scoring functions, measuring degrees of motif over-representation, entropy and spatial confinement, specifically designed to discriminatively exploit the availability of negative data. The method is shown to outperform current methods that use only a subset of these motif characteristics. We apply the method to several biological datasets. The analysis of peroxisomal targeting signals uncovers several novel motifs that occur immediately upstream of the dominant peroxisomal targeting signal-1 signal. The analysis of proline-tyrosine nuclear localization signals uncovers multiple novel motifs that overlap with C2H2 zinc finger domains. We also evaluate the method on classical nuclear localization signals and endoplasmic reticulum retention signals and find that DLocalMotif successfully recovers biologically relevant sequence properties. http://bioinf.scmb.uq.edu.au/dlocalmotif/

Ionic Driven Embedment of Hyaluronic Acid Coated Liposomes in Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films for Local Therapeutic Delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayward, Stephen L.; Francis, David M.; Sis, Matthew J.; Kidambi, Srivatsan

2015-10-01

The ability to control the spatial distribution and temporal release of a therapeutic remains a central challenge for biomedical research. Here, we report the development and optimization of a novel substrate mediated therapeutic delivery system comprising of hyaluronic acid covalently functionalized liposomes (HALNPs) embedded into polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) platform via ionic stabilization. The PEM platform was constructed from sequential deposition of Poly-L-Lysine (PLL) and Poly(Sodium styrene sulfonate) (SPS) “(PLL/SPS)4.5” followed by adsorption of anionic HALNPs. An adsorption affinity assay and saturation curve illustrated the preferential HALNP deposition density for precise therapeutic loading. (PLL/SPS)2.5 capping layer on top of the deposited HALNP monolayer further facilitated complete nanoparticle immobilization, cell adhesion, and provided nanoparticle confinement for controlled linear release profiles of the nanocarrier and encapsulated cargo. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the successful embedment of a translatable lipid based nanocarrier into a substrate that allows for temporal and spatial release of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs. Specifically, we have utilized our platform to deliver chemotherapeutic drug Doxorubicin from PEM confined HALNPs. Overall, we believe the development of our HALNP embedded PEM system is significant and will catalyze the usage of substrate mediated delivery platforms in biomedical applications.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, J. P.; Wang, Y. D.; Hao, Y. L.

Two main explanations exist for the deformation mechanisms in Ti-Nb-based gum metals, i.e. the formation of reversible nanodisturbance and reversible stress-induced martensitic transformation. In this work, we used the in situ synchrotron-based high-energy X-ray diffuse-scattering technique to reveal the existence of a specific deformation mechanism, i.e. deformation-induced spatially confined martensitic transformations, in Ti-24Nb-4Zr-8Sn-0.10O single crystals with cubic 13 parent phase, which explains well some anomalous mechanical properties of the alloy such as low elastic modulus and nonlinear superelasticity. Two kinds of nanosized martensites with different crystal structures were found during uniaxial tensile loading along the [11 0](beta) axis at roommore » temperature and 190 K, respectively. The detailed changes in the martensitic phase transformation characteristics and the transformation kinetics were experimentally observed at different temperatures. The domain switch from non-modulated martensite to a modulated one occurred at 190 K, with its physical origin attributed to the heterogeneity of local phonon softening depending on temperature and inhomogeneous composition in the parent phase. An in-depth understanding of the formation of stress-induced spatially confined nanosized martensites with a large gradient in chemical composition may benefit designs of high-strength and high-ductility alloys. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.« less

Pattern formation in Dictyostelium discoideum aggregates in confined microenvironments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hallou, Adrien; Hersen, Pascal; di Meglio, Jean-Marc; Kabla, Alexandre

Dictyostelium Discoideum (Dd) is often viewed as a model system to study the complex collective cell behaviours which shape an embryo. Under starvation, Dd cells form multicellular aggregates which soon elongate, starting to display an anterior-posterior axis by differentiating into two distinct cell populations; prestalk (front) and prespore (rear) cells zones. Different models, either based on positional information or on differentiation followed up by cell sorting, have been proposed to explain the origin and the regulation of this spatial pattern.To decipher between the proposed hypotheses, we have developed am experimental platform where aggregates, made of genetically engineered Dd cells to express fluorescent reporters of cell differentiation in either prestalk or prespore cells, are allowed to develop in 20 to 400 μm wide hydrogel channels. Such a setup allows us to both mimic Dd confined natural soil environment and to follow the patterning dynamics using time-lapse microscopy. Tracking cell lineage commitments and positions in space and time, we demonstrate that Dd cells differentiate first into prestalk and prespore cells prior to sorting into an organized spatial pattern on the basis of collective motions based on differential motility and adhesion mechanisms. A. Hallou would like to thank the University of Cambridge for the Award of an ``Oliver Gatty Studentship in Biophysical and Colloid Science''.

Spatial strategies for managing visitor impacts in National Parks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leung, Y.-F.; Marion, J.L.

1999-01-01

Resource and social impacts caused by recreationists and tourists have become a management concern in national parks and equivalent protected areas. The need to contain visitor impacts within acceptable limits has prompted park and protected area managers to implement a wide variety of strategies and actions, many of which are spatial in nature. This paper classifies and illustrates the basic spatial strategies for managing visitor impacts in parks and protected areas. A typology of four spatial strategies was proposed based on the recreation and park management literature. Spatial segregation is a common strategy for shielding sensitive resources from visitor impacts or for separating potentially conflicting types of use. Two forms of spatial segregation are zoning and closure. A spatial containment strategy is intended to minimize the aggregate extent of visitor impacts by confining use to limited designated or established Iocations. In contrast, a spatial dispersal strategy seeks to spread visitor use, reducing the frequency of use to levels that avoid or minimize permanent resource impacts or visitor crowding and conflict. Finally, a spatial configuration strategy minimizes impacting visitor behavior though the judicious spatial arrangement of facilities. These four spatial strategics can be implemented separately or in combination at varying spatial scales within a single park. A survey of national park managers provides an empirical example of the diversity of implemented spatial strategies in managing visitor impacts. Spatial segregation is frequently applied in the form of camping restrictions or closures to protect sensitive natural or cultural resources and to separate incompatible visitor activities. Spatial containment is the most widely applied strategy for minimizing the areal extent of resource impacts. Spatial dispersal is commonly applied to reduce visitor crowding or conflicts in popular destination areas but is less frequently applied or effective in minimizing resource impacts. Spatial configuration was only minimally evaluated, as it was not included in the survey. The proposed typology of spatial strategies offers a useful means of organizing and understanding the wide variety of management strategies and actions applied in managing visitor impacts in parks and protected areas. Examples from U.S. national parks demonstrate the diversity of these basic strategies and their flexibility in implementation at various spatial scales. Documentation of these examples helps illustrate their application and inform managers of the multitude of options. Further analysis from the spatial perspective is needed Io extend the applicability of this typology to other recreational activities and management issues.

Role of Confinement on Adsorption and Dynamics of Ethane and an Ethane–CO 2 Mixture in Mesoporous CPG Silica

DOE PAGES

Patankar, Sumant; Gautam, Siddharth; Rother, Gernot; ...

2016-02-10

It was found that ethane is confined to mineral and organic pores in certain shale formations. Effects of confinement on structural and dynamic properties of ethane in mesoporous controlled pore glass (CPG) were studied by gravimetric adsorption and quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) measurements. The obtained isotherms and scattering data complement each other by quantifying the relative strength of the solid–fluid interactions and the transport properties of the fluid under confinement, respectively. We used a magnetic suspension balance to measure the adsorption isotherms at two temperatures and over a range of pressures corresponding to a bulk density range of 0.01–0.35 g/cmmore » 3. Key confinement effects were highlighted through differences between isotherms for the two pore sizes. A comparison was made with previously published isotherms for CO 2 on the same CPG materials. Behavior of ethane in the smaller pore size was probed further using quasi-elastic neutron scattering. By extracting the self-diffusivity and residence time, we were able to study the effect of pressure and transition from gaseous to supercritical densities on the dynamics of confined ethane. Moreover, a temperature variation QENS study was also completed with pure ethane and a CO 2–ethane mixture. Activation energies extracted from the Arrhenius plots show the effects of CO 2 addition on ethane mobility.« less

Tactile agnosia. Underlying impairment and implications for normal tactile object recognition.

PubMed

Reed, C L; Caselli, R J; Farah, M J

1996-06-01

In a series of experimental investigations of a subject with a unilateral impairment of tactile object recognition without impaired tactile sensation, several issues were addressed. First, is tactile agnosia secondary to a general impairment of spatial cognition? On tests of spatial ability, including those directed at the same spatial integration process assumed to be taxed by tactile object recognition, the subject performed well, implying a more specific impairment of high level, modality specific tactile perception. Secondly, within the realm of high level tactile perception, is there a distinction between the ability to derive shape ('what') and spatial ('where') information? Our testing showed an impairment confined to shape perception. Thirdly, what aspects of shape perception are impaired in tactile agnosia? Our results indicate that despite accurate encoding of metric length and normal manual exploration strategies, the ability tactually to perceive objects with the impaired hand, deteriorated as the complexity of shape increased. In addition, asymmetrical performance was not found for other body surfaces (e.g. her feet). Our results suggest that tactile shape perception can be disrupted independent of general spatial ability, tactile spatial ability, manual shape exploration, or even the precise perception of metric length in the tactile modality.

Elevated-Confined Phase-Change Random Access Memory Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee; Koon, Hock; Shi; Luping; Zhao; Rong; Yang; Hongxin; Lim; Guan, Kian; Li; Jianming; Chong; Chong, Tow

2010-04-01

A new elevated-confined phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) cell structure to reduce power consumption was proposed. In this proposed structure, the confined phase-change region is sitting on top of a small metal column enclosed by a dielectric at the sides. Hence, more heat can be effectively sustained underneath the phase-change region. As for the conventional structure, the confined phase-change region is sitting directly above a large planar bottom metal electrode, which can easily conduct most of the induced heat away. From simulations, a more uniform temperature profile around the active region and a higher peak temperature at the phase-change layer (PCL) in an elevated-confined structure were observed. Experimental results showed that the elevated-confined PCRAM cell requires a lower programming power and has a better scalability than a conventional confined PCRAM cell.

THERMAL COOK-OFF EXPERIMENTS OF THE HMX BASED HIGH EXPLOSIVE LX-04 TO CHARACTERIZE VIOLENCE WITH VARYING CONFINEMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garcia, F; Vandersall, K S; Forbes, J W

Thermal cook-off experiments were carried out using LX-04 explosive (85% HMX and 15% Viton by weight) with different levels of confinement to characterize the effect of confinement on the reaction violence. These experiments involved heating a porous LX-04 sample in a stainless steel container with varying container end plate thickness and assembly bolt diameter to control overall confinement. As expected, detonation did not occur and reducing the overall confinement lowered the reaction violence. This is consistent with modeling results that predict that a lower confinement will act to lower the cook-off pressure and thus the overall burn rate which lowersmore » the overall violence. These results suggest that controlling the overall system confinement can modify the relative safety in a given scenario.« less

Efficient Multi-Dimensional Simulation of Quantum Confinement Effects in Advanced MOS Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biegel, Bryan A.; Rafferty, Conor S.; Ancona, Mario G.; Yu, Zhi-Ping

2000-01-01

We investigate the density-gradient (DG) transport model for efficient multi-dimensional simulation of quantum confinement effects in advanced MOS devices. The formulation of the DG model is described as a quantum correction to the classical drift-diffusion model. Quantum confinement effects are shown to be significant in sub-100nm MOSFETs. In thin-oxide MOS capacitors, quantum effects may reduce gate capacitance by 25% or more. As a result, the inclusion or quantum effects in simulations dramatically improves the match between C-V simulations and measurements for oxide thickness down to 2 nm. Significant quantum corrections also occur in the I-V characteristics of short-channel (30 to 100 nm) n-MOSFETs, with current drive reduced by up to 70%. This effect is shown to result from reduced inversion charge due to quantum confinement of electrons in the channel. Also, subthreshold slope is degraded by 15 to 20 mV/decade with the inclusion of quantum effects via the density-gradient model, and short channel effects (in particular, drain-induced barrier lowering) are noticeably increased.

Analytical Versus Numerical Estimates of Water-Level Declines Caused by Pumping, and a Case Study of the Iao Aquifer, Maui, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oki, Delwyn S.; Meyer, William

2001-01-01

Comparisons were made between model-calculated water levels from a one-dimensional analytical model referred to as RAM (Robust Analytical Model) and those from numerical ground-water flow models using a sharp-interface model code. RAM incorporates the horizontal-flow assumption and the Ghyben-Herzberg relation to represent flow in a one-dimensional unconfined aquifer that contains a body of freshwater floating on denser saltwater. RAM does not account for the presence of a low-permeability coastal confining unit (caprock), which impedes the discharge of fresh ground water from the aquifer to the ocean, nor for the spatial distribution of ground-water withdrawals from wells, which is significant because water-level declines are greatest in the vicinity of withdrawal wells. Numerical ground-water flow models can readily account for discharge through a coastal confining unit and for the spatial distribution of ground-water withdrawals from wells. For a given aquifer hydraulic-conductivity value, recharge rate, and withdrawal rate, model-calculated steady-state water-level declines from RAM can be significantly less than those from numerical ground-water flow models. The differences between model-calculated water-level declines from RAM and those from numerical models are partly dependent on the hydraulic properties of the aquifer system and the spatial distribution of ground-water withdrawals from wells. RAM invariably predicts the greatest water-level declines at the inland extent of the aquifer where the freshwater body is thickest and the potential for saltwater intrusion is lowest. For cases in which a low-permeability confining unit overlies the aquifer near the coast, however, water-level declines calculated from numerical models may exceed those from RAM even at the inland extent of the aquifer. Since 1990, RAM has been used by the State of Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management for establishing sustainable-yield values for the State?s aquifers. Data from the Iao aquifer, which lies on the northeastern flank of the West Maui Volcano and which is confined near the coast by caprock, are now available to evaluate the predictive capability of RAM for this system. In 1995 and 1996, withdrawal from the Iao aquifer reached the 20 million gallon per day sustainable-yield value derived using RAM. However, even before 1996, water levels in the aquifer had declined significantly below those predicted by RAM, and continued to decline in 1997. To halt the decline of water levels and to preclude the intrusion of salt-water into the four major well fields in the aquifer, it was necessary to reduce withdrawal from the aquifer system below the sustainable-yield value derived using RAM. In the Iao aquifer, the decline of measured water levels below those predicted by RAM is consistent with the results of the numerical model analysis. Relative to model-calculated water-level declines from numerical ground-water flow models, (1) RAM underestimates water-level declines in areas where a low-permeability confining unit exists, and (2) RAM underestimates water-level declines in the vicinity of withdrawal wells.

Determination of shift in energy of band edges and band gap of ZnSe spherical quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siboh, Dutem; Kalita, Pradip Kumar; Sarma, Jayanta Kumar; Nath, Nayan Mani

2018-04-01

We have determined the quantum confinement induced shifts in energy of band edges and band gap with respect to size of ZnSe spherical quantum dot employing an effective confinement potential model developed in our earlier communication "arXiv:1705.10343". We have also performed phenomenological analysis of our theoretical results in comparison with available experimental data and observe a very good agreement in this regard. Phenomenological success achieved in this regard confirms validity of the confining potential model as well as signifies the capability and applicability of the ansatz for the effective confining potential to have reasonable information in the study of real nano-structured spherical systems.

Diffusion, Absorbing States, and Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions in Range Expansions and Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavrentovich, Maxim Olegovich

The spatial organization of a population plays a key role in its evolutionary dynamics and growth. In this thesis, we study the dynamics of range expansions, in which populations expand into new territory. Focussing on microbes, we first consider how nutrients diffuse and are absorbed in a population, allowing it to grow. These nutrients may be absorbed before reaching the population interior, and this "nutrient shielding'' can confine the growth to a thin region on the population periphery. A thin population front implies a small local effective population size and enhanced number fluctuations (or genetic drift). We then study evolutionary dynamics under these growth conditions. In particular, we calculate the survival probability of mutations with a selective advantage occurring at the population front for two-dimensional expansions (e.g., along the surface of an agar plate), and three-dimensional expansions (e.g., an avascular tumor). We also consider the effects of irreversible, deleterious mutations which can lead to the loss of the advantageous mutation in the population via a "mutational meltdown,'' or non-equilibrium phase transition. We examine the effects of an inflating population frontier on the phase transition. Finally, we discuss how spatial dimension and frontier roughness influence range expansions of mutualistic, cross-feeding variants. We find here universal features of the phase diagram describing the onset of a mutualistic phase in which the variants remain mixed at long times.

The acoustic and instability waves of jets confined inside an acoustically lined rectangular duct

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hu, Fang Q.

1993-01-01

An analysis of linear wave modes associated with supersonic jets confined inside an acoustically lined rectangular duct is presented. Mathematical formulations are given for the vortex-sheet model and continuous mean flow model of the jet flow profiles. Detailed dispersion relations of these waves in a two-dimensional confined jet as well as an unconfined free jet are computed. Effects of the confining duct and the liners on the jet instability and acoustic waves are studied numerically. It is found that the effect of the liners is to attenuate waves that have supersonic phase velocities relative to the ambient flow. Numerical results also show that the growth rates of the instability waves could be reduced significantly by the use of liners. In addition, it is found that the upstream propagating neutral waves of an unconfined jet could become attenuated when the jet is confined.

Spontaneous ordering and vortex states of active fluids in circular confinement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Theillard, Maxime; Ezhilan, Barath; Saintillan, David

2015-11-01

Recent experimental, theoretical and simulation studies have shown that confinement can profoundly affect self-organization in active suspensions leading to striking features such as directed fluid pumping in planar confinement, formation of steady and spontaneous vortices in radial confinement. Motivated by this, we study the dynamics in a suspension of biologically active particles confined in spherical geometries using a mean-field kinetic theory for which we developed a novel numerical solver. In the case of circular confinement, we conduct a systematic exploration of the entire parameter space and distinguish 3 broad states: no-flow, stable vortex and chaotic and several interesting sub-states. Our efficient numerical framework is also employed to study 3D effects and dynamics in more complex geometries.

Nanoporous Materials Can Tune the Critical Point of a Pure Substance

DOE PAGES

Braun, Efrem; Chen, Joseph J.; Schnell, Sondre K.; ...

2015-09-30

Molecular simulations and NMR relaxometry experiments demonstrate that pure benzene or xylene confined in isoreticular metal–organic frameworks (IRMOFs) exhibit true vapor–liquid phase equilibria where the effective critical point may be reduced by tuning the structure of the MOF. Our results are consistent with vapor and liquid phases extending over many MOF unit cells. These results are counterintuitive since the MOF pore diameters are approximately the same length scale as the adsorbate molecules. Lastly, as applications of these materials in catalysis, separations, and gas storage rely on the ability to tune the properties of adsorbed molecules, we anticipate that the abilitymore » to systematically control the critical point, thereby preparing spatially inhomogeneous local adsorbate densities, could add a new design tool for MOF applications.« less

Insights into a microwave susceptible agent for minimally invasive microwave tumor thermal therapy.

PubMed

Shi, Haitang; Liu, Tianlong; Fu, Changhui; Li, Linlin; Tan, Longfei; Wang, Jingzhuo; Ren, Xiangling; Ren, Jun; Wang, Jianxin; Meng, Xianwei

2015-03-01

This work develops a kind of sodium alginate (SA) microcapsules as microwave susceptible agents for in vivo tumor microwave thermal therapy for the first time. Due to the excellent microwave susceptible properties and low bio-toxicity, excellent therapy efficiency can be achieved with the tumor inhibiting ratio of 97.85% after one-time microwave thermal therapy with ultralow power (1.8 W, 450 MHz). Meanwhile, the mechanism of high microwave heating efficiency was confirmed via computer-simulated model in theory, demonstrating that the spatial confinement efficiency of microcapsule walls endows the inside ions with high microwave susceptible properties. This strategy offers tremendous potential applications in clinical tumor treatment with the benefits of safety, reliability, effectiveness and minimally invasiveness. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Civic communities and urban violence.

PubMed

Doucet, Jessica M; Lee, Matthew R

2015-07-01

Civic communities have a spirit of entrepreneurialism, a locally invested population and an institutional structure fostering civic engagement. Prior research, mainly confined to studying rural communities and fairly large geographic areas, has demonstrated that civic communities have lower rates of violence. The current study analyzes the associations between the components of civic communities and homicide rates for New Orleans neighborhoods (census tracts) in the years following Hurricane Katrina. Results from negative binomial regression models adjusting for spatial autocorrelation reveal that community homicide rates are lower where an entrepreneurial business climate is more pronounced and where there is more local investment. Additionally, an interaction between the availability of civic institutions and resource disadvantage reveals that the protective effects of civic institutions are only evident in disadvantaged communities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Circular, confined distribution for charged particle beams

DOEpatents

Garnett, Robert W.; Dobelbower, M. Christian

1995-01-01

A charged particle beam line is formed with magnetic optics that manipulate the charged particle beam to form the beam having a generally rectangular configuration to a circular beam cross-section having a uniform particle distribution at a predetermined location. First magnetic optics form a charged particle beam to a generally uniform particle distribution over a square planar area at a known first location. Second magnetic optics receive the charged particle beam with the generally square configuration and affect the charged particle beam to output the charged particle beam with a phase-space distribution effective to fold corner portions of the beam toward the core region of the beam. The beam forms a circular configuration having a generally uniform spatial particle distribution over a target area at a predetermined second location.

Circular, confined distribution for charged particle beams

DOEpatents

Garnett, R.W.; Dobelbower, M.C.

1995-11-21

A charged particle beam line is formed with magnetic optics that manipulate the charged particle beam to form the beam having a generally rectangular configuration to a circular beam cross-section having a uniform particle distribution at a predetermined location. First magnetic optics form a charged particle beam to a generally uniform particle distribution over a square planar area at a known first location. Second magnetic optics receive the charged particle beam with the generally square configuration and affect the charged particle beam to output the charged particle beam with a phase-space distribution effective to fold corner portions of the beam toward the core region of the beam. The beam forms a circular configuration having a generally uniform spatial particle distribution over a target area at a predetermined second location. 26 figs.

Active core profile and transport modification by application of ion Bernstein wave power in the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LeBlanc, B.; Batha, S.; Bell, R.; Bernabei, S.; Blush, L.; de la Luna, E.; Doerner, R.; Dunlap, J.; England, A.; Garcia, I.; Ignat, D.; Isler, R.; Jones, S.; Kaita, R.; Kaye, S.; Kugel, H.; Levinton, F.; Luckhardt, S.; Mutoh, T.; Okabayashi, M.; Ono, M.; Paoletti, F.; Paul, S.; Petravich, G.; Post-Zwicker, A.; Sauthoff, N.; Schmitz, L.; Sesnic, S.; Takahashi, H.; Talvard, M.; Tighe, W.; Tynan, G.; von Goeler, S.; Woskov, P.; Zolfaghari, A.

1995-03-01

Application of Ion Bernstein Wave Heating (IBWH) into the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification (PBX-M) [Phys. Fluids B 2, 1271 (1990)] tokamak stabilizes sawtooth oscillations and generates peaked density profiles. A transport barrier, spatially correlated with the IBWH power deposition profile, is observed in the core of IBWH-assisted neutral beam injection (NBI) discharges. A precursor to the fully developed barrier is seen in the soft x-ray data during edge localized mode (ELM) activity. Sustained IBWH operation is conducive to a regime where the barrier supports large ∇ne, ∇Te, ∇νφ, and ∇Ti, delimiting the confinement zone. This regime is reminiscent of the H(high) mode, but with a confinement zone moved inward. The core region has better than H-mode confinement while the peripheral region is L(low)-mode-like. The peaked profile enhances NBI core deposition and increases nuclear reactivity. An increase in central Ti results from χi reduction (compared to the H mode) and better beam penetration. Bootstrap current fractions of up to 0.32-0.35 locally and 0.28 overall were obtained when an additional NBI burst is applied to this plasma.

A table top experiment to study plasma confined by a dipole magnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharjee, Sudeep; Baitha, Anuj Ram

2016-10-01

There has been a long quest to understand charged particle generation, confinement and underlying complex processes in a plasma confined by a dipole magnet. Our earth's magnetosphere is an example of such a naturally occurring system. A few laboratory experiments have been designed for such investigations, such as the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) at MIT, the Terella experiment at Columbia university, and the Ring Trap-1 (RT-1) experiment at the University of Tokyo. However, these are large scale experiments, where the dipole magnetic field is created with superconducting coils, thereby, necessitating power supplies and stringent cryogenic requirements. We report a table top experiment to investigate important physical processes in a dipole plasma. A strong cylindrical permanent magnet, is employed to create the dipole field inside a vacuum chamber. The magnet is suspended and cooled by circulating chilled water. The plasma is heated by electromagnetic waves of 2.45 GHz and a second frequency in the range 6 - 11 GHz. Some of the initial results of measurements and numerical simulation of magnetic field, visual observations of the first plasma, and spatial measurements of plasma parameters will be presented.

Localized solutions of Lugiato-Lefever equations with focused pump.

PubMed

Cardoso, Wesley B; Salasnich, Luca; Malomed, Boris A

2017-12-04

Lugiato-Lefever (LL) equations in one and two dimensions (1D and 2D) accurately describe the dynamics of optical fields in pumped lossy cavities with the intrinsic Kerr nonlinearity. The external pump is usually assumed to be uniform, but it can be made tightly focused too-in particular, for building small pixels. We obtain solutions of the LL equations, with both the focusing and defocusing intrinsic nonlinearity, for 1D and 2D confined modes supported by the localized pump. In the 1D setting, we first develop a simple perturbation theory, based in the sech ansatz, in the case of weak pump and loss. Then, a family of exact analytical solutions for spatially confined modes is produced for the pump focused in the form of a delta-function, with a nonlinear loss (two-photon absorption) added to the LL model. Numerical findings demonstrate that these exact solutions are stable, both dynamically and structurally (the latter means that stable numerical solutions close to the exact ones are found when a specific condition, necessary for the existence of the analytical solution, does not hold). In 2D, vast families of stable confined modes are produced by means of a variational approximation and full numerical simulations.

Quantized Self-Assembly of Discotic Rings in a Liquid Crystal Confined in Nanopores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sentker, Kathrin; Zantop, Arne W.; Lippmann, Milena; Hofmann, Tommy; Seeck, Oliver H.; Kityk, Andriy V.; Yildirim, Arda; Schönhals, Andreas; Mazza, Marco G.; Huber, Patrick

2018-02-01

Disklike molecules with aromatic cores spontaneously stack up in linear columns with high, one-dimensional charge carrier mobilities along the columnar axes, making them prominent model systems for functional, self-organized matter. We show by high-resolution optical birefringence and synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction that confining a thermotropic discotic liquid crystal in cylindrical nanopores induces a quantized formation of annular layers consisting of concentric circular bent columns, unknown in the bulk state. Starting from the walls this ring self-assembly propagates layer by layer towards the pore center in the supercooled domain of the bulk isotropic-columnar transition and thus allows one to switch on and off reversibly single, nanosized rings through small temperature variations. By establishing a Gibbs free energy phase diagram we trace the phase transition quantization to the discreteness of the layers' excess bend deformation energies in comparison to the thermal energy, even for this near room-temperature system. Monte Carlo simulations yielding spatially resolved nematic order parameters, density maps, and bond-orientational order parameters corroborate the universality and robustness of the confinement-induced columnar ring formation as well as its quantized nature.

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy diffusion laws to probe the submicron cell membrane organization.

PubMed

Wawrezinieck, Laure; Rigneault, Hervé; Marguet, Didier; Lenne, Pierre-François

2005-12-01

To probe the complexity of the cell membrane organization and dynamics, it is important to obtain simple physical observables from experiments on live cells. Here we show that fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) measurements at different spatial scales enable distinguishing between different submicron confinement models. By plotting the diffusion time versus the transverse area of the confocal volume, we introduce the so-called FCS diffusion law, which is the key concept throughout this article. First, we report experimental FCS diffusion laws for two membrane constituents, which are respectively a putative raft marker and a cytoskeleton-hindered transmembrane protein. We find that these two constituents exhibit very distinct behaviors. To understand these results, we propose different models, which account for the diffusion of molecules either in a membrane comprising isolated microdomains or in a meshwork. By simulating FCS experiments for these two types of organization, we obtain FCS diffusion laws in agreement with our experimental observations. We also demonstrate that simple observables derived from these FCS diffusion laws are strongly related to confinement parameters such as the partition of molecules in microdomains and the average confinement time of molecules in a microdomain or a single mesh of a meshwork.

A functional protein retention and release multilayer with high stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Kun; An, Qi; Zhang, Yihe

2016-04-01

Effective and robust interfacial protein retention lies at the heart of the fabrication of protein-based functional interfaces, which is potentially applicable in catalysis, medical therapy, antifouling, and smart devices, but remains challenging due to the sensitive nature of proteins. This study reports a general protein retention strategy to spatial-temporally confine various types of proteins at interfacial regions. The proteins were preserved in mesoporous silica nanoparticles embedded in covalently woven multilayers. It is worth noting that the protein retention strategy effectively preserves the catalytic capabilities of the proteins, and the multilayer structure is robust enough to withstand the bubbling catalytic reactions and could be repeatedly used due to conservation of proteins. The spatiotemporal retention of proteins could be adjusted by varying the number of capping layers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the protein-loaded interfacial layers could not only be used to construct catalytic-active interfaces, but also be integrated as the power-generating unit to propel a macroscopic floating device.Effective and robust interfacial protein retention lies at the heart of the fabrication of protein-based functional interfaces, which is potentially applicable in catalysis, medical therapy, antifouling, and smart devices, but remains challenging due to the sensitive nature of proteins. This study reports a general protein retention strategy to spatial-temporally confine various types of proteins at interfacial regions. The proteins were preserved in mesoporous silica nanoparticles embedded in covalently woven multilayers. It is worth noting that the protein retention strategy effectively preserves the catalytic capabilities of the proteins, and the multilayer structure is robust enough to withstand the bubbling catalytic reactions and could be repeatedly used due to conservation of proteins. The spatiotemporal retention of proteins could be adjusted by varying the number of capping layers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the protein-loaded interfacial layers could not only be used to construct catalytic-active interfaces, but also be integrated as the power-generating unit to propel a macroscopic floating device. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: UV-vis spectra of the substrate covered by only polymeric (PAH/PAA)5/(PAH/DAS)5 multilayers, UV-vis spectra of the covalently cross-linked (PAH/SiO2 NP)5/(PAH/DAS)5 hybrid multilayers and (CAT/PAH)5/(PAH/DAS)5 films. TEM of the mesoporous silica. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr01671e

Quantum confinement and magnetic field effects on the electron Landé g factor in GaAs-(Ga,Al)As double quantum wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perea, J. Darío; Mejía-Salazar, J. R.; Porras-Montenegro, N.

2011-12-01

Nowadays the spin-related phenomena have attracted great attention for the possible spintronic and optoelectronic applications. The manipulation of the Landé g factor by means of the control of the electron confinement, applied magnetic field and hydrostatic pressure offers the possibility of having a wide range of ways to control single qubit operation and to have pure spin states to guarantee that no losses occur when the electron spins transport information. In this work we have performed a theoretical study of the quantum confinement (geometrical and barrier potential confinements) and growth direction applied magnetic field effects on the conduction-electron effective Landé g factor in GaAs-(Ga,Al)As double quantum wells. Our calculations of the Landé g factor are performed by using the Ogg-McCombe effective Hamiltonian, which includes non-parabolicity and anisotropy effects for the conduction-band electrons. Our theoretical results are given as function of the central barrier widths for different values of the applied magnetic fields. We have found that in this type of heterostructure the geometrical confinement commands the behavior of the electron effective Landé g factor as compared to the effect of the applied magnetic field. Present theoretical reports are in very good agreement with previous experimental and theoretical results.

Multiple patterns of diblock copolymer confined in irregular geometries with soft surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ying; Sun, Min-Na; Zhang, Jin-Jun; Pan, Jun-Xing; Guo, Yu-Qi; Wang, Bao-Feng; Wu, Hai-Shun

2015-12-01

The different confinement shapes can induce the formation of various interesting and novel morphologies, which might inspire potential applications of materials. In this paper, we study the directed self-assembly of diblock copolymer confined in irregular geometries with a soft surface by using self-consistent field theory. Two types of confinement geometries are considered, namely, one is the concave pore with one groove and the other is the concave pore with two grooves. We obtain more novel and different structures which could not be produced in other two-dimensional (2D) confinements. Comparing these new structures with those obtained in regular square confinement, we find that the range of ordered lamellae is enlarged and the range of disordered structure is narrowed down under the concave pore confinement. We also compare the different structures obtained under the two types of confinement geometries, the results show that the effect of confinement would increase, which might induce the diblock copolymer to form novel structures. We construct the phase diagram as a function of the fraction of B block and the ratio of h/L of the groove. The simulation reveals that the wetting effect of brushes and the shape of confinement geometries play important roles in determining the morphologies of the system. Our results improve the applications in the directed self-assembly of diblock copolymer for fabricating the irregular structures. Project supported by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20121404110004), the Research Foundation for Excellent Talents of Shanxi Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, China, and the Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi Province, China.

Quantum confinement effect in 6H-SiC quantum dots observed via plasmon-exciton coupling-induced defect-luminescence quenching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xiaoxiao; Zhang, Yumeng; Fan, Baolu; Fan, Jiyang

2017-03-01

The quantum confinement effect is one of the crucial physical effects that discriminate a quantum material from its bulk material. It remains a mystery why the 6H-SiC quantum dots (QDs) do not exhibit an obvious quantum confinement effect. We study the photoluminescence of the coupled colloidal system of SiC QDs and Ag nanoparticles. The experimental result in conjunction with the theoretical calculation reveals that there is strong coupling between the localized electron-hole pair in the SiC QD and the localized surface plasmon in the Ag nanoparticle. It results in resonance energy transfer between them and resultant quenching of the blue surface-defect luminescence of the SiC QDs, leading to uncovering of a hidden near-UV emission band. This study shows that this emission band originates from the interband transition of the 6H-SiC QDs and it exhibits a remarkable quantum confinement effect.

Compounding effects of fluid confinement and surface strain on the wet–dry transition, thermodynamic response, and dynamics of water–graphene systems

DOE PAGES

Chialvo, Ariel A.; Vlcek, Lukas; Cummings, Peter T.

2014-10-17

We studied the link between the water-mediated (tensile or compressive) strain-driven hydration free energy changes in the association process involving finite-size graphene surfaces, the resulting water-graphene interfacial behavior, and the combined effect of surface strain and fluid confinement on the thermodynamic response functions and the dynamics of water. In this study, we found that either small surface corrugation (compressive strain) or surface stretching (tensile strain) is able to enhance significantly the water-graphene hydrophobicity relative to that of the unstrained surface, an effect that exacerbates the confinement impact on the isothermal compressibility and isobaric thermal expansivity of confined water, as wellmore » as on the slowing down of its dynamics that gives rise to anomalous diffusivity.« less

Grafting density effects, optoelectrical properties and nano-patterning of poly(para-phenylene) brushes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Jihua; Alonzo, Jose; Yu, Xiang

2013-09-24

Well-defined conjugated polymers in confined geometries are challenging to synthesize and characterize, yet they are potentially useful in a broad range of organic optoelectronic devices such as transistors, light emitting diodes, solar cells, sensors, and nanocircuits. We report a systematic study of optoelectrical properties, grafting density effects, and nanopatterning of a model, end-tethered conjugated polymer system. Specifically, poly(para-phenylene) (PPP) brushes of various grafting density are created in situ by aromatizing well-defined, end-tethered poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) (PCHD) “precursor brushes”. Furthermore, this novel precursor brush approach provides a convenient way to make and systematically control the grafting density of high molecular weight conjugated polymermore » brushes that would otherwise be insoluble. Finally, this allows us to examine how grafting density impacts the effective conjugation length of the conjugated PPP brushes and to adapt the fabrication method to develop spatially patterned conjugated brush systems, which is important for practical applications of conjugated polymer brushes.« less

Hofstadter's Butterfly in the strongly interacting regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dean, Cory

2015-03-01

In 1976, Douglas Hofstadter predicted that in the presence of both a strong magnetic field, and a spatially varying periodic potential, Bloch electrons confined to a 2D quantum well exhibit a self-similar fractal energy spectrum known as the ``Hofstadter's Butterfly.'' In subsequent years, experimental discovery of the quantum Hall effect gave birth to an expansive field of research into 2D electronic systems in the presence of a magnetic field, however, direct confirmation of the fractal spectrum remained elusive. Recently we demonstrated that graphene, in which Bloch electrons can be described by Dirac fermions, provides a new opportunity to investigate this nearly 40 year old problem. In this talk I will discuss the experimental realization of Hofstader's butterfly by exploiting nano-scale interfacial effects between graphene and hexagonal boron nitride substrates, together with application of extremely high magnetic fields. Utilizing newly developed techniques to fabricate ultra-clean graphene devices, I will additionally demonstrate the capability to probe for the first time the effect of strong electron interactions within the fractal Hofstadter spectrum.

Individual mineral supplement intake by ewes swath grazing or confinement fed pea-barley forage

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sixty mature ewes (non-pregnant, non-lactating) were used in a completely randomized design to determine if feeding method of pea-barley forage (swath grazing or hay in confinement) had an effect on individual ewe mineral consumption. Thirty ewes were randomly allocated to 3 confinement pens and 30 ...

Cell confinement controls centrosome positioning and lumen initiation during epithelial morphogenesis

PubMed Central

Rodríguez-Fraticelli, Alejo E.; Auzan, Muriel; Alonso, Miguel A.; Bornens, Michel

2012-01-01

Epithelial organ morphogenesis involves sequential acquisition of apicobasal polarity by epithelial cells and development of a functional lumen. In vivo, cells perceive signals from components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), such as laminin and collagens, as well as sense physical conditions, such as matrix stiffness and cell confinement. Alteration of the mechanical properties of the ECM has been shown to promote cell migration and invasion in cancer cells, but the effects on epithelial morphogenesis have not been characterized. We analyzed the effects of cell confinement on lumen morphogenesis using a novel, micropatterned, three-dimensional (3D) Madin-Darby canine kidney cell culture method. We show that cell confinement, by controlling cell spreading, limits peripheral actin contractility and promotes centrosome positioning and lumen initiation after the first cell division. In addition, peripheral actin contractility is mediated by master kinase Par-4/LKB1 via the RhoA–Rho kinase–myosin II pathway, and inhibition of this pathway restores lumen initiation in minimally confined cells. We conclude that cell confinement controls nuclear–centrosomal orientation and lumen initiation during 3D epithelial morphogenesis. PMID:22965908

Confinement and surface effects on the physical properties of rhombohedral-shape hematite (α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) nanocrystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luna, Carlos, E-mail: carlos.lunacd@uanl.edu.mx; Cuan-Guerra, Aída D.; Barriga-Castro, Enrique D.

2016-08-15

Highlights: • Uniform rhombohedral hematite nanocrystals (RHNCs) have been obtained. • A detailed formation mechanism of these HNCS has been proposed. • Phonon confinement effects were revealed in the RHNCS vibrational bands. • Quantum confinement effects on the optical and electronic properties were found. - Abstract: Morphological, microstructural and vibrational properties of hematite (α-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}) nanocrystals with a rhombohedral shape and rounded edges, obtained by forced hydrolysis of iron(III) solutions under a fast nucleation, have been investigated in detail as a function of aging time. These studies allowed us to propose a detailed formation mechanism and revealed that thesemore » nanocrystals are composed of four {104} side facets, two {110} faces at the edges of the long diagonal of the nanocrystals and two {−441} facets as the top and bottom faces. Also, the presence of nanoscopic pores and fissures was evidenced. The vibrational bands of such nanocrystals were shifted to lower frequencies in comparison with bulk hematite ones as the nanocrystal size was reduced due to phonon confinement effects. Also, the indirect and direct transition band gaps displayed interesting dependences on the aging time arising from quantum confinement and surface effects.« less

Optical Antenna-Based Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy to Probe the Nanoscale Dynamics of Biological Membranes.

PubMed

Winkler, Pamina M; Regmi, Raju; Flauraud, Valentin; Brugger, Jürgen; Rigneault, Hervé; Wenger, Jérôme; García-Parajo, María F

2018-01-04

The plasma membrane of living cells is compartmentalized at multiple spatial scales ranging from the nano- to the mesoscale. This nonrandom organization is crucial for a large number of cellular functions. At the nanoscale, cell membranes organize into dynamic nanoassemblies enriched by cholesterol, sphingolipids, and certain types of proteins. Investigating these nanoassemblies known as lipid rafts is of paramount interest in fundamental cell biology. However, this goal requires simultaneous nanometer spatial precision and microsecond temporal resolution, which is beyond the reach of common microscopes. Optical antennas based on metallic nanostructures efficiently enhance and confine light into nanometer dimensions, breaching the diffraction limit of light. In this Perspective, we discuss recent progress combining optical antennas with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to monitor microsecond dynamics at nanoscale spatial dimensions. These new developments offer numerous opportunities to investigate lipid and protein dynamics in both mimetic and native biological membranes.

The Myth of Spatial Reuse with Directional Antennas in Indoor Wireless Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lakshmanan, Sriram; Sundaresan, Karthikeyan; Rangarajan, Sampath; Sivakumar, Raghupathy

Interference among co-channel users is a fundamental problem in wireless networks, which prevents nearby links from operating concurrently. Directional antennas allow the radiation patterns of wireless transmitters to be shaped to form directed beams. Conventionally, such beams are assumed to improve the spatial reuse (i.e. concurrency) in indoor wireless networks. In this paper, we use experiments in an indoor office setting of Wifi Access points equipped with directional antennas, to study their potential for interference mitigation and spatial reuse. In contrast to conventional wisdom, we observe that the interference mitigation benefits of directional antennas are minimal. On analyzing our experimental traces we observe that directional links do not reduce interference to nearby links due to the lack of signal confinement due to indoor multipath fading. We then use the insights derived from our study to develop an alternative approach that provides better interference reduction in indoor networks compared to directional links.

Localized parallel parametric generation of spin waves in a Ni{sub 81}Fe{sub 19} waveguide by spatial variation of the pumping field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brächer, T.; Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz, Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse 47, D-67663 Kaiserslautern; Pirro, P.

2014-03-03

We present the experimental observation of localized parallel parametric generation of spin waves in a transversally in-plane magnetized Ni{sub 81}Fe{sub 19} magnonic waveguide. The localization is realized by combining the threshold character of parametric generation with a spatially confined enhancement of the amplifying microwave field. The latter is achieved by modulating the width of the microstrip transmission line which is used to provide the pumping field. By employing microfocussed Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy, we analyze the spatial distribution of the generated spin waves and compare it with numerical calculations of the field distribution along the Ni{sub 81}Fe{sub 19} waveguide. Thismore » provides a local spin-wave excitation in transversally in-plane magnetized waveguides for a wide wave-vector range which is not restricted by the size of the generation area.« less

Experimental Study of Damage Evolution in Circular Stirrup-Confined Concrete

PubMed Central

Li, Zuohua; Peng, Zhihan; Teng, Jun; Wang, Ying

2016-01-01

This paper presents an experimental study on circular stirrup-confined concrete specimens under uniaxial and monotonic load. The effects of stirrup volume ratio, stirrup yield strength and concrete strength on damage evolution of stirrup-confined concrete were investigated. The experimental results showed that the strength and ductility of concrete are improved by appropriate arrangement of the stirrup confinement. Firstly, the concrete damage evolution can be relatively restrained with the increase of the stirrup volume ratio. Secondly, higher stirrup yield strength usually causes larger confining pressures and slower concrete damage evolution. In contrast, higher concrete strength leads to higher brittleness, which accelerates the concrete damage evolution. A plastic strain expression is obtained through curve fitting, and a damage evolution equation for circular stirrup-confined concrete is proposed by introducing a confinement factor (C) based on the experimental data. The comparison results demonstrate that the proposed damage evolution model can accurately describe the experimental results. PMID:28773402

Experimental Study of Damage Evolution in Circular Stirrup-Confined Concrete.

PubMed

Li, Zuohua; Peng, Zhihan; Teng, Jun; Wang, Ying

2016-04-08

This paper presents an experimental study on circular stirrup-confined concrete specimens under uniaxial and monotonic load. The effects of stirrup volume ratio, stirrup yield strength and concrete strength on damage evolution of stirrup-confined concrete were investigated. The experimental results showed that the strength and ductility of concrete are improved by appropriate arrangement of the stirrup confinement. Firstly, the concrete damage evolution can be relatively restrained with the increase of the stirrup volume ratio. Secondly, higher stirrup yield strength usually causes larger confining pressures and slower concrete damage evolution. In contrast, higher concrete strength leads to higher brittleness, which accelerates the concrete damage evolution. A plastic strain expression is obtained through curve fitting, and a damage evolution equation for circular stirrup-confined concrete is proposed by introducing a confinement factor ( C ) based on the experimental data. The comparison results demonstrate that the proposed damage evolution model can accurately describe the experimental results.

Elmo bumpy square plasma confinement device

DOEpatents

Owen, L.W.

1985-01-01

The invention is an Elmo bumpy type plasma confinement device having a polygonal configuration of closed magnet field lines for improved plasma confinement. In the preferred embodiment, the device is of a square configuration which is referred to as an Elmo bumpy square (EBS). The EBS is formed by four linear magnetic mirror sections each comprising a plurality of axisymmetric assemblies connected in series and linked by 90/sup 0/ sections of a high magnetic field toroidal solenoid type field generating coils. These coils provide corner confinement with a minimum of radial dispersion of the confined plasma to minimize the detrimental effects of the toroidal curvature of the magnetic field. Each corner is formed by a plurality of circular or elliptical coils aligned about the corner radius to provide maximum continuity in the closing of the magnetic field lines about the square configuration confining the plasma within a vacuum vessel located within the various coils forming the square configuration confinement geometry.

Auditory observation of stepping actions can cue both spatial and temporal components of gait in Parkinson׳s disease patients.

PubMed

Young, William R; Rodger, Matthew W M; Craig, Cathy M

2014-05-01

A common behavioural symptom of Parkinson׳s disease (PD) is reduced step length (SL). Whilst sensory cueing strategies can be effective in increasing SL and reducing gait variability, current cueing strategies conveying spatial or temporal information are generally confined to the use of either visual or auditory cue modalities, respectively. We describe a novel cueing strategy using ecologically-valid 'action-related' sounds (footsteps on gravel) that convey both spatial and temporal parameters of a specific action within a single cue. The current study used a real-time imitation task to examine whether PD affects the ability to re-enact changes in spatial characteristics of stepping actions, based solely on auditory information. In a second experimental session, these procedures were repeated using synthesized sounds derived from recordings of the kinetic interactions between the foot and walking surface. A third experimental session examined whether adaptations observed when participants walked to action-sounds were preserved when participants imagined either real recorded or synthesized sounds. Whilst healthy control participants were able to re-enact significant changes in SL in all cue conditions, these adaptations, in conjunction with reduced variability of SL were only observed in the PD group when walking to, or imagining the recorded sounds. The findings show that while recordings of stepping sounds convey action information to allow PD patients to re-enact and imagine spatial characteristics of gait, synthesis of sounds purely from gait kinetics is insufficient to evoke similar changes in behaviour, perhaps indicating that PD patients have a higher threshold to cue sensorimotor resonant responses. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Swirl, Expansion Ratio and Blockage Effects on Confined Turbulent Flow. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scharrer, G. L.

1982-01-01

A confined jet test facility, a swirles, flow visualization equipment, five-hole pitot probe instrumentation; flow visualization; and effects of swirl on open-ended flows, of gradual expansion on open-ended flows, and blockages of flows are addressed.

5 CFR 890.605 - Persons confined on effective date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....605 Section 890.605 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED) CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM Transfers From Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Program § 890.605 Persons confined on effective date. Benefits may not be limited for...

5 CFR 890.605 - Persons confined on effective date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

....605 Section 890.605 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED) CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM Transfers From Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Program § 890.605 Persons confined on effective date. Benefits may not be limited for...

5 CFR 890.605 - Persons confined on effective date.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

....605 Section 890.605 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT (CONTINUED) CIVIL SERVICE REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM Transfers From Retired Federal Employees Health Benefits Program § 890.605 Persons confined on effective date. Benefits may not be limited for...

Nanoscale Confinement Controls the Crystallization of Calcium Phosphate: Relevance to Bone Formation

PubMed Central

Cantaert, Bram; Beniash, Elia; Meldrum, Fiona C.

2015-01-01

A key feature of biomineralization processes is that they take place within confined volumes, in which the local environment can have significant effects on mineral formation. Herein, we investigate the influence of confinement on the formation mechanism and structure of calcium phosphate (CaP). This is of particular relevance to the formation of dentine and bone, structures of which are based on highly mineralized collagen fibrils. CaP was precipitated within 25–300 nm diameter, cylindrical pores of track etched and anodised alumina membranes under physiological conditions, in which this system enables systematic study of the effects of the pore size in the absence of a structural match between the matrix and the growing crystals. Our results show that the main products were polycrystalline hydroxapatite (HAP) rods, together with some single crystal octacalcium phosphate (OCP) rods. Notably, we demonstrate that these were generated though an intermediate amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) phase, and that ACP is significantly stabilised in confinement. This effect may have significance to the mineralization of bone, which can occur through a transient ACP phase. We also show that orientation of the HAP comparable, or even superior to that seen in bone can be achieved through confinement effects alone. Although this simple experimental system cannot be considered, a direct mimic of the in vivo formation of ultrathin HAP platelets within collagen fibrils, our results show that the effects of physical confinement should not be neglected when considering the mechanisms of formation of structures, such as bones and teeth. PMID:24115275

Nanoscale confinement controls the crystallization of calcium phosphate: relevance to bone formation.

PubMed

Cantaert, Bram; Beniash, Elia; Meldrum, Fiona C

2013-10-25

A key feature of biomineralization processes is that they take place within confined volumes, in which the local environment can have significant effects on mineral formation. Herein, we investigate the influence of confinement on the formation mechanism and structure of calcium phosphate (CaP). This is of particular relevance to the formation of dentine and bone, structures of which are based on highly mineralized collagen fibrils. CaP was precipitated within 25-300 nm diameter, cylindrical pores of track etched and anodised alumina membranes under physiological conditions, in which this system enables systematic study of the effects of the pore size in the absence of a structural match between the matrix and the growing crystals. Our results show that the main products were polycrystalline hydroxapatite (HAP) rods, together with some single crystal octacalcium phosphate (OCP) rods. Notably, we demonstrate that these were generated though an intermediate amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) phase, and that ACP is significantly stabilised in confinement. This effect may have significance to the mineralization of bone, which can occur through a transient ACP phase. We also show that orientation of the HAP comparable, or even superior to that seen in bone can be achieved through confinement effects alone. Although this simple experimental system cannot be considered, a direct mimic of the in vivo formation of ultrathin HAP platelets within collagen fibrils, our results show that the effects of physical confinement should not be neglected when considering the mechanisms of formation of structures, such as bones and teeth. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Entanglement entropy of one-dimensional gases.

PubMed

Calabrese, Pasquale; Mintchev, Mihail; Vicari, Ettore

2011-07-08

We introduce a systematic framework to calculate the bipartite entanglement entropy of a spatial subsystem in a one-dimensional quantum gas which can be mapped into a noninteracting fermion system. To show the wide range of applicability of the proposed formalism, we use it for the calculation of the entanglement in the eigenstates of periodic systems, in a gas confined by boundaries or external potentials, in junctions of quantum wires, and in a time-dependent parabolic potential.

Discrete microfluidics: Reorganizing droplet arrays at a bend

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Surenjav, Enkhtuul; Herminghaus, Stephan; Priest, Craig; Seemann, Ralf

2009-10-01

Microfluidic manipulation of densely packed droplet arrangements (i.e., gel emulsions) using sharp microchannel bends was studied as a function of bend angle, droplet volume fraction, droplet size, and flow velocity. Emulsion reorganization was found to be specifically dependent on the pathlength that the droplets are forced to travel as they navigate the bend under spatial confinement. We describe how bend-induced droplet displacements might be exploited in complex, droplet-based microfluidics.

A photocleavable rapamycin conjugate for spatiotemporal control of small GTPase activity.

PubMed

Umeda, Nobuhiro; Ueno, Tasuku; Pohlmeyer, Christopher; Nagano, Tetsuo; Inoue, Takanari

2011-01-12

We developed a novel method to spatiotemporally control the activity of signaling molecules. A newly synthesized photocaged rapamycin derivative induced rapid dimerization of FKBP (FK-506 binding protein) and FRB (FKBP-rapamycin binding protein) upon UV irradiation. With this system and the spatially confined UV irradiation, we achieved subcellularly localized activation of Rac, a member of small GTPases. Our technique offers a powerful approach to studies of dynamic intracellular signaling events.

Femtosecond Carrier Processes in Compound Semiconductors and Real Time Signal Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-03-10

Blocks in Real Schur Form" ................... 179 5. "The Periodic Schur Decomposition. Algorithms and A p p lication s...existence of short period superlattices (confined LO GaAs and AlAs vibrations) on all samples produced with this method. The degret of deposition zone...small amount of zone intermixing occurs in the spatially separated growth mode (see 1 Figure 1b), the short period superlattices have graded interfaces

Efficient Multi-Dimensional Simulation of Quantum Confinement Effects in Advanced MOS Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biegel, Bryan A.; Ancona, Mario G.; Rafferty, Conor S.; Yu, Zhiping

2000-01-01

We investigate the density-gradient (DG) transport model for efficient multi-dimensional simulation of quantum confinement effects in advanced MOS devices. The formulation of the DG model is described as a quantum correction ot the classical drift-diffusion model. Quantum confinement effects are shown to be significant in sub-100nm MOSFETs. In thin-oxide MOS capacitors, quantum effects may reduce gate capacitance by 25% or more. As a result, the inclusion of quantum effects may reduce gate capacitance by 25% or more. As a result, the inclusion of quantum effects in simulations dramatically improves the match between C-V simulations and measurements for oxide thickness down to 2 nm. Significant quantum corrections also occur in the I-V characteristics of short-channel (30 to 100 nm) n-MOSFETs, with current drive reduced by up to 70%. This effect is shown to result from reduced inversion charge due to quantum confinement of electrons in the channel. Also, subthreshold slope is degraded by 15 to 20 mV/decade with the inclusion of quantum effects via the density-gradient model, and short channel effects (in particular, drain-induced barrier lowering) are noticeably increased.

Tuning membrane protein mobility by confinement into nanodomains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karner, Andreas; Nimmervoll, Benedikt; Plochberger, Birgit; Klotzsch, Enrico; Horner, Andreas; Knyazev, Denis G.; Kuttner, Roland; Winkler, Klemens; Winter, Lukas; Siligan, Christine; Ollinger, Nicole; Pohl, Peter; Preiner, Johannes

2017-03-01

High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) can be used to visualize function-related conformational changes of single soluble proteins. Similar studies of single membrane proteins are, however, hampered by a lack of suitable flat, non-interacting membrane supports and by high protein mobility. Here we show that streptavidin crystals grown on mica-supported lipid bilayers can be used as porous supports for membranes containing biotinylated lipids. Using SecYEG (protein translocation channel) and GlpF (aquaglyceroporin), we demonstrate that the platform can be used to tune the lateral mobility of transmembrane proteins to any value within the dynamic range accessible to HS-AFM imaging through glutaraldehyde-cross-linking of the streptavidin. This allows HS-AFM to study the conformation or docking of spatially confined proteins, which we illustrate by imaging GlpF at sub-molecular resolution and by observing the motor protein SecA binding to SecYEG.