Time domain radiation and absorption by subwavelength sources

Radiation by elementary sources is a basic problem in wave physics. We show that the time-domain energy flux radiated from electromagnetic and acoustic subwalength sources exhibits remarkable features. In particular, a subtle trade-off between source emission and absorption underlies the mechanism of radiation. This behavior should be observed for any kind of classical waves, thus having broad potential implications. We discuss the implication for subwavelength focusing by time reversal with active sources

Observation of Macroscopic Structural Fluctuations in bcc Solid 4He

We report neutron diffraction studies of low density bcc and hcp solid 4He. In the bcc phase, we observed a continuous dynamical behaviour involving macroscopic structural changes of the solid. The dynamical behaviour takes place in a cell full of solid, and therefore represents a solidsolid transformation. The structural changes are consistent with a gradual rotation of macroscopic grains separated by low angle grain boundaries. We suggest that these changes are triggered by random momentary vibrations of the experimental system. An analysis of Laue diffraction patterns indicates that in some cases these structural changes, once initiated by a momentary impulse, seem to proceed at a constant rate over times approaching an hour. The energy associated with these macroscopic changes appears to be on the order of kT. Under similar conditions (temperature and pressure), these effects were absent in the hcp phase.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure, accepted for PR

Experimental study of ultracold neutron production in pressurized superfluid helium

We have investigated experimentally the pressure dependence of the production of ultracold neutrons (UCN) in superfluid helium in the range from saturated vapor pressure to 20bar. A neutron velocity selector allowed the separation of underlying single-phonon and multiphonon pro- cesses by varying the incident cold neutron (CN) wavelength in the range from 3.5 to 10{\AA}. The predicted pressure dependence of UCN production derived from inelastic neutron scattering data was confirmed for the single-phonon excitation. For multiphonon based UCN production we found no significant dependence on pressure whereas calculations from inelastic neutron scattering data predict an increase of 43(6)% at 20bar relative to saturated vapor pressure. From our data we conclude that applying pressure to superfluid helium does not increase the overall UCN production rate at a typical CN guide.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures Version accepted for publication in PR

New excitations in bcc 4^{4}He - an inelastic neutron scattering study

We report neutron scattering measurements on bcc solid $^{4}$% He. We studied the phonon branches and the recently discovered ''optic-like'' branch along the main crystalline directions. In addition, we discovered another, dispersionless "optic-like'' branch at an energy around 1 meV ($\sim$~11K). The properties of the two "optic-like" branches seem different. Since one expects only 3 acoustic phonon branches in a monoatomic cubic crystal, these new branches must represent different type of excitations. One possible interpretation involves localized excitations unique to a quantum solid.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted by PRB, Rapid Communication

AGMIAL: implementing an annotation strategy for prokaryote genomes as a distributed system

We have implemented a genome annotation system for prokaryotes called AGMIAL. Our approach embodies a number of key principles. First, expert manual annotators are seen as a critical component of the overall system; user interfaces were cyclically refined to satisfy their needs. Second, the overall process should be orchestrated in terms of a global annotation strategy; this facilitates coordination between a team of annotators and automatic data analysis. Third, the annotation strategy should allow progressive and incremental annotation from a time when only a few draft contigs are available, to when a final finished assembly is produced. The overall architecture employed is modular and extensible, being based on the W3 standard Web services framework. Specialized modules interact with two independent core modules that are used to annotate, respectively, genomic and protein sequences. AGMIAL is currently being used by several INRA laboratories to analyze genomes of bacteria relevant to the food-processing industry, and is distributed under an open source license

Single-shot hybrid photoacoustic-fluorescent microendoscopy through a multimode fiber with wavefront shaping

We present a minimally-invasive endoscope based on a multimode fiber that combines photoacoustic and fluorescence sensing. From the measurement of a transmission matrix during a prior calibration step, a focused spot is produced and raster-scanned over a sample at the distal tip of the fiber by use of a fast spatial light modulator. An ultra-sensitive fiber-optic ultrasound sensor for photoacoustic detection placed next to the fiber is combined with a photodetector to obtain both fluorescence and photoacoustic images with a distal imaging tip no larger than 250 µm. The high signal-to-noise ratio provided by wavefront shaping based focusing and the ultra-sensitive ultrasound sensor enables imaging with a single laser shot per pixel, demonstrating fast two-dimensional hybrid in vitro imaging of red blood cells and fluorescent beads

Spatial models of cell distribution in human lumbar dorsal root ganglia

Dorsal root ganglia (DRG), which contain the somata of primary sensory neurons, have increasingly been considered as novel targets for clinical neural interfaces, both for neuroprosthetic and pain applications. Effective use of either neural recording or stimulation technologies requires an appropriate spatial position relative to the target neural element, whether axon or cell body. However, the internal three- dimensional spatial organization of human DRG neural fibers and somata has not been quantitatively described. In this study, we analyzed 202 cross- sectional images across the length of 31 human L4 and L5 DRG from 10 donors. We used a custom semi- automated graphical user interface to identify the locations of neural elements in the images and normalize the output to a consistent spatial reference for direct comparison by spinal level. By applying a recursive partitioning algorithm, we found that the highest density of cell bodies at both spinal levels could be found in the inner 85% of DRG length, the outer- most 25- 30% radially, and the dorsal- most 69- 76%. While axonal density was fairly homogeneous across the DRG length, there was a distinct low density region in the outer 7- 11% radially. These findings are consistent with previous qualitative reports of neural distribution in DRG. The quantitative measurements we provide will enable improved targeting of future neural interface technologies and DRG- focused pharmaceutical therapies, and provide a rigorous anatomical description of the bridge between the central and peripheral nervous systems.Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are novel targets for neural interface technologies that treat neurological disorders, such as chronic pain and spinal cord injury. The three- dimensional cellular anatomy of DRG are not well- mapped, particularly in humans, limiting the effectiveness of neurotechnology. We developed a semi- automated algorithm to quantify the three- dimensional distribution of neural elements in histologically- processed tissue. We applied this algorithm to sequential NF200- stained histology slices obtained from human lumbar DRG and demonstrated that cell bodies typically congregate around the dorsal edge of the ganglia. These results are crucial to the development of safe and effective clinical neural interface technologies.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155471/1/cne24848_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/155471/2/cne24848.pd

Static spectroscopy of a dense superfluid

Dense Bose superfluids, as HeII, differ from dilute ones by the existence of a roton minimum in their excitation spectrum. It is known that this roton minimum is qualitatively responsible for density oscillations close to any singularity, such as vortex cores, or close to solid boundaries. We show that the period of these oscillations, and their exponential decrease with the distance to the singularity, are fully determined by the position and the width of the roton minimum. Only an overall amplitude factor and a phase shift are shown to depend on the details of the interaction potential. Reciprocally, it allows for determining the characteristics of this roton minimum from static "observations" of a disturbed ground state, in cases where the dynamics is not easily accessible. We focus on the vortex example. Our analysis further shows why the energy of these oscillations is negligible compared to the kinetic energy, which limits their influence on the vortex dynamics, except for high curvatures.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, extended version, published in J. Low Temp. Phy

A Semi-Lagrangian scheme for a modified version of the Hughes model for pedestrian flow

In this paper we present a Semi-Lagrangian scheme for a regularized version of the Hughes model for pedestrian flow. Hughes originally proposed a coupled nonlinear PDE system describing the evolution of a large pedestrian group trying to exit a domain as fast as possible. The original model corresponds to a system of a conservation law for the pedestrian density and an Eikonal equation to determine the weighted distance to the exit. We consider this model in presence of small diffusion and discuss the numerical analysis of the proposed Semi-Lagrangian scheme. Furthermore we illustrate the effect of small diffusion on the exit time with various numerical experiments