76,177 research outputs found
Sharp-edged geometric obstacles in microfluidics promote deformability-based sorting of cells
Sorting cells based on their intrinsic properties is a highly desirable
objective, since changes in cell deformability are often associated with
various stress conditions and diseases. Deterministic lateral displacement
(DLD) devices offer high precision for rigid spherical particles, while their
success in sorting deformable particles remains limited due to the complexity
of cell traversal in DLDs. We employ mesoscopic hydrodynamics simulations and
demonstrate prominent advantages of sharp-edged DLD obstacles for probing
deformability properties of red blood cells (RBCs). By consecutive sharpening
of the pillar shape from circular to diamond to triangular geometry, a
pronounced cell bending around an edge is achieved, serving as a deformability
sensor. Bending around the edge is the primary mechanism, which governs the
traversal of RBCs through such DLD device. This strategy requires an
appropriate degree of cell bending by fluid stresses, which can be controlled
by the flow rate, and exhibits good sensitivity to moderate changes in cell
deformability. We expect that similar mechanisms should be applicable for the
development of novel DLD devices that target intrinsic properties of many other
cells.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure
Phase light curves for extrasolar Jupiters and Saturns
We predict how a remote observer would see the brightness variations of giant
planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn as they orbit their central stars. We
model the geometry of Jupiter, Saturn and Saturn's rings for varying orbital
and viewing parameters. Scattering properties for the planets and rings at
wavelenghts 0.6-0.7 microns follow Pioneer and Voyager observations, namely,
planets are forward scattering and rings are backward scattering. Images of the
planet with or without rings are simulated and used to calculate the
disk-averaged luminosity varying along the orbit, that is, a light curve is
generated. We find that the different scattering properties of Jupiter and
Saturn (without rings) make a substantial difference in the shape of their
light curves. Saturn-size rings increase the apparent luminosity of the planet
by a factor of 2-3 for a wide range of geometries. Rings produce asymmetric
light curves that are distinct from the light curve of the planet without
rings. If radial velocity data are available for the planet, the effect of the
ring on the light curve can be distinguished from effects due to orbital
eccentricity. Non-ringed planets on eccentric orbits produce light curves with
maxima shifted relative to the position of the maximum planet's phase. Given
radial velocity data, the amount of the shift restricts the planet's unknown
orbital inclination and therefore its mass. Combination of radial velocity data
and a light curve for a non-ringed planet on an eccentric orbit can also be
used to constrain the surface scattering properties of the planet. To summarize
our results for the detectability of exoplanets in reflected light, we present
a chart of light curve amplitudes of non-ringed planets for different
eccentricities, inclinations, and the viewing azimuthal angles of the observer.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Ap.
Effects of Disks on Gravitational Lensing by Spiral Galaxies
Gravitational lensing of a quasar by a spiral galaxy should often be
accompanied by damped Lyman-alpha absorption and dust extinction due to the
intervening gaseous disk. In nearly edge-on configurations, the surface mass
density of the gas and stars in the disk could by itself split the quasar image
and contribute significantly to the overall lensing cross section. We calculate
the lensing probability of a disk+halo mass model for spiral galaxies,
including cosmic evolution of the lens parameters. A considerable fraction of
the lens systems contains two images with sub-arcsecond separation, straddling
a nearly edge-on disk. Because of that, extinction by dust together with
observational selection effects (involving a minimum separation and a maximum
flux ratio for the lensed images), suppress the detection efficiency of spiral
lenses in optical wavebands by at least an order of magnitude. The missing
lenses could be recovered in radio surveys. In modifying the statistics of
damped Lyman-alpha absorbers, the effect of extinction dominates over the
magnification bias due to lensing.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures; submitted to Ap
Galaxy density profiles and shapes -- II. selection biases in strong lensing surveys
[Abridged] Many current and future astronomical surveys will rely on samples
of strong gravitational lens systems to draw conclusions about galaxy mass
distributions. We use a new strong lensing pipeline (presented in Paper I of
this series) to explore selection biases that may cause the population of
strong lensing systems to differ from the general galaxy population. Our focus
is on point-source lensing by early-type galaxies with two mass components
(stellar and dark matter) that have a variety of density profiles and shapes
motivated by observational and theoretical studies of galaxy properties. We
seek not only to quantify but also to understand the physics behind selection
biases related to: galaxy mass, orientation and shape; dark matter profile
parameters such as inner slope and concentration; and adiabatic contraction. We
study how all of these properties affect the lensing Einstein radius, total
cross-section, quad/double ratio, and image separation distribution. We find
significant (factors of several) selection biases with mass; orientation, for a
given galaxy shape at fixed mass; cusped dark matter profile inner slope and
concentration; concentration of the stellar and dark matter deprojected Sersic
models. Interestingly, the intrinsic shape of a galaxy does not strongly
influence its lensing cross-section when we average over viewing angles. Our
results are an important first step towards understanding how strong lens
systems relate to the general galaxy population.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures; paper I at arXiv:0808.2493; accepted for
publication in MNRAS (minor revisions); PDF file with full resolution figures
at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~rmandelb/paper2.pd
AROMA: Automatic Generation of Radio Maps for Localization Systems
WLAN localization has become an active research field recently. Due to the
wide WLAN deployment, WLAN localization provides ubiquitous coverage and adds
to the value of the wireless network by providing the location of its users
without using any additional hardware. However, WLAN localization systems
usually require constructing a radio map, which is a major barrier of WLAN
localization systems' deployment. The radio map stores information about the
signal strength from different signal strength streams at selected locations in
the site of interest. Typical construction of a radio map involves measurements
and calibrations making it a tedious and time-consuming operation. In this
paper, we present the AROMA system that automatically constructs accurate
active and passive radio maps for both device-based and device-free WLAN
localization systems. AROMA has three main goals: high accuracy, low
computational requirements, and minimum user overhead. To achieve high
accuracy, AROMA uses 3D ray tracing enhanced with the uniform theory of
diffraction (UTD) to model the electric field behavior and the human shadowing
effect. AROMA also automates a number of routine tasks, such as importing
building models and automatic sampling of the area of interest, to reduce the
user's overhead. Finally, AROMA uses a number of optimization techniques to
reduce the computational requirements. We present our system architecture and
describe the details of its different components that allow AROMA to achieve
its goals. We evaluate AROMA in two different testbeds. Our experiments show
that the predicted signal strength differs from the measurements by a maximum
average absolute error of 3.18 dBm achieving a maximum localization error of
2.44m for both the device-based and device-free cases.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figure
Shift multiplexing with spherical reference waves
Shift multiplexing is a holographic storage method particularly suitable for the implementation of holographic disks. We characterize the performance of shift-multiplexed memories by using a spherical wave as the reference beam. We derive the shift selectivity, the cross talk, the exposure schedule, and the storage density of the method. We give experimental results to verify the theoretical predictions
The magnetic-resonance force microscope: a new tool for high-resolution, 3-D, subsurface scanned probe imaging
The magnetic-resonance force microscope (MRFM) is a novel scanned probe instrument which combines the three-dimensional (3-D) imaging capabilities of magnetic-resonance imaging with the high sensitivity and resolution of atomic-force microscopy. It will enable nondestructive, chemical-specific, high-resolution microscopic studies and imaging of subsurface properties of a broad range of materials. The MRFM has demonstrated its utility for study of microscopic ferromagnets, and it will enable microscopic understanding of the nonequilibrium spin polarization resulting from spin injection. Microscopic MRFM studies will provide unprecedented insight into the physics of magnetic and spin-based materials. We will describe the principles and the state-of-the-art in magnetic-resonance force microscopy, discuss existing cryogenic MRFM instruments incorporating high-Q, single-crystal microresonators with integral submicrometer probe magnets, and indicate future directions for enhancing MRFM instrument capabilities
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