The role of the charge state of PAHs in ultraviolet extinction

Aims: We explore the relation between charge state of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and extinction curve morphology. Methods: We fit extinction curves with a dust model including core-mantle spherical particles of mixed chemical composition (silicate core, $sp^2$ and $sp^3$ carbonaceous layers), and an additional molecular component. We use exact methods to calculate the extinction due to classical particles and accurate computed absorption spectra of PAHs in different charge states, for the contribution due to the molecular component, along a sample of five rather different lines of sight. Results: A combination of classical dust particles and mixtures of real PAHs satisfactorily matches the observed interstellar extinction curves. Variations of the spectral properties of PAHs in different charge states produce changes consistent with the varying relative strengths of the bump and non-linear far-UV rise.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters, in pres

NODAL Secures Pluripotency upon Embryonic Stem Cell Progression from the Ground State

Naive mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can develop multiple fates, but the cellular and molecular processes that enable lineage competence are poorly characterized. Here, we investigated progression from the ESC ground state in defined culture. We utilized downregulation of Rex1::GFPd2 to track the loss of ESC identity. We found that cells that have newly downregulated this reporter have acquired capacity for germline induction. They can also be efficiently specified for different somatic lineages, responding more rapidly than naive cells to inductive cues. Inhibition of autocrine NODAL signaling did not alter kinetics of exit from the ESC state but compromised both germline and somatic lineage specification. Transient inhibition prior to loss of ESC identity was sufficient for this effect. Genetic ablation of Nodal reduced viability during early differentiation, consistent with defective lineage specification. These results suggest that NODAL promotes acquisition of multi-lineage competence in cells departing naive pluripotency.This research was funded by the Wellcome Trust (091484/Z/10/Z). The Cambridge Stem Cell Institute receives core support from the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council (G1100526). C.M. was funded by a BBSRC studentship (961424). A.S. is a Medical Research Council Professor

Laboratory studies of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: the search for interstellar candidates

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered as a major constituent of interstellar dust. They have been proposed as the carriers of the Aromatic Infrared Bands (AIBs) observed in emission in the mid-IR. They likely have a significant contribution to various features of the extinction curve such as the 220 nm bump,the far-UV rise and the diffuse interstellar bands. Emission bands are also expected in the far-IR, which are better fingerprints of molecular identity than the AIBs. They will be searched for with the Herschel Space Observatory. Rotational emission is also expected in the mm range for those molecules which carry significant dipole moments. Despite spectroscopic studies in the laboratory, no individual PAH species could be identified. This emphasises the need for an investigation on where interstellar PAHs come from and how they evolve due to environmental conditions: ionisation and dissociation upon UV irradiation, interactions with electrons, gas and dust. There is also evidence for PAH species to contribute to the depletion of heavy atoms from the gas phase, in particular Si and Fe. This paper illustrates how laboratory work can be inspired from observations. In particular there is a need for understanding the chemical properties of PAHs and PAH-related species, including very small grains, in physical conditions that mimic those found in interstellar space. This motivates a joint effort between astrophysicists, physicists and chemists. Such interdisciplinary studies are currently performed, taking advantage of the PIRENEA set-up, a cold ion trap dedicated to astrochemistry.Comment: to appear in "Cosmic Dust - Near and Far", Th. Henning, E. Grun, J. Steinacker (eds.

Dynamics and control of the expansion of finite-size plasmas produced in ultraintense laser-matter interactions

The strong influence of the electron dynamics provides the possibility of controlling the expansion of laser-produced plasmas by appropriately shaping the laser pulse. A simple irradiation scheme is proposed to tailor the explosion of large deuterium clusters, inducing the formation of shock structures, capable of driving nuclear fusion reactions. Such a scenario has been thoroughly investigated, resorting to two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Furthermore, the intricate dynamics of ions and electrons during the collisionless expansion of spherical nanoplasmas has been analyzed in detail using a self-consistent ergodic-kinetic model. This study clarifies the transition from hydrodynamic-like to Coulomb-explosion regimes

Petrological study of sorne dark inclusions in hercynian granitoids frorn the Hesperian Massif (Spain)

[Resumen] Se estudian algunos enclaves de origen ígneo incluidos en granitoides hercínicos sincinemáticos meso y catazonales situados en la zona Centroibérica. Esta serie de rocas así como otras similares situadas en áreas próximas, y estudiadas por diversos autores, presentan un notable grado de variabilidad composicional, encontrándose desde tipos fuertemente metaalumínicos a otros peralumínicos, e incluso rocas aberrantes fuertemente subsaturadas y con leucita normativa. También se observa, a nivel de afloramiento y microscópico, una fuerte heterogeneidad en las estructuras y en las texturas, debido a la superposici6n de procesos de hibridación y reajustes mineralógicos. Estas transformaciones están además relacionadas en pate con reacciones entre los materiales básicos y los granitoides que las incluyen. En los casos estudiados, la reactividad está realzada por el carácter catazonal de los granitoides, por su riqueza en fase volátil (manifiesta por una considerable proporción de moscovita) y por la imbricación con los procesos metam6rficos regionales y la migmatizaci6n. Por otra parte, se estudian rocas de un pequeño cuerpo plutónico básicJ, intrusivo en un conjunto de metasedimentos de grado medio-alto, próximos a un área de intensa migmatización, y que por sus características pueden corresponderse con algunos de los enclaves básicos incluidos en los granitoides migmáticos inhomogéneos.[Abstract] Several dark inclusions of igneous origin from synkinematic meso and catazonal Hercynian granitoids of the Central Iberian Zone are studied. The rocks of this group of inclusions and of similar ones outcropping in adyacent areas, which have been studied by various authors, showa remarkable degree of compositional variability. They range from strongly meta-aluminous to peraluminous types and even unusual undersaturated rocks or rocks with normative leucite· are known to exist among them. Hybridization processes, together with mineralogical readjus~ments, resulted in a marked textural and structural heterogeneity of the rocks at the scale of an outcrop or under the microscope. Part of these transformations can be related to interaction between the basic material of the inclusions and the enclosing granitoids. In the cases studied, reactivity was enhanced by the catazonal character of the granitoids, their richness in volatiles (as indicated by their considerable amount of muscovite) and their involvment in processes of regional metamorphism and migmatization. The rocks of a small plutonic outcrop intrusive in medium to high grade metasediments are studied.The chemico-mineralogical characteristics of these rocks suggest that they may be comparable withsorpe of the basic inclusions found in masses of the so-called inhomogeneous migmatitic granitoids

Efficient calculation of van der Waals dispersion coefficients with time-dependent density functional theory in real time: application to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The van der Waals dispersion coefficients of a set of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ranging in size from the single-cycle benzene to circumovalene (C66H20), are calculated with a real-time propagation approach to time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). In the non-retarded regime, the Casimir-Polder integral is employed to obtain C6, once the dynamic polarizabilities have been computed at imaginary frequencies with TDDFT. On the other hand, the numerical coefficient that characterizes the fully retarded regime is obtained from the static polarizabilities. This ab initio strategy has favorable scaling with the size of the system - as demonstrated by the size of the reported molecules - and can be easily extended to obtain higher order van der Waals coefficients.Comment: submitted to J. Chem. Phy

All-optical trapping and acceleration of heavy particles

A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles in vacuum is proposed, in which two counterpropagating lasers with variable frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, thus allowing for trapping and acceleration of heavy particles, such as ions or muons. Fine control over the energy distribution and the total charge of the beam is obtained via tuning of the frequency variation. The acceleration scheme is described with a one-dimensional theory, providing the general conditions for trapping and scaling laws for the relevant features of the particle beam. Two-dimensional, electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations confirm the validity and the robustness of the physical mechanism.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic