The application of optical coherence tomography to image subsurface tissue structure of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba

Many small open ocean animals, such as Antarctic krill, are an important part of marine ecosystems. To discover what will happen to animals such as krill in a changing ocean, experiments are run in aquaria where conditions can be controlled to simulate water characteristics predicted to occur in the future. The response of individual animals to changing water conditions can be hard to observe, and with current observation techniques it is very difficult to follow the progress of an individual animal through its life. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an optical imaging technique that allows images at high resolution to be obtained from depths up to a few millimeters inside biological specimens. It is compatible with in vivo imaging and can be used repeatedly on the same specimens. In this work, we show how OCT may be applied to post mortem krill samples and how important physiological data such as shell thickness and estimates of organ volume can be obtained. Using OCT we find an average value for the thickness of krill exoskeleton to be (30±4) µm along a 1 cm length of the animal body. We also show that the technique may be used to provide detailed imagery of the internal structure of a pleopod joint and provide an estimate for the heart volume of (0.73±0.03) mm3

Spectral Statistics of the Two-Body Random Ensemble Revisited

Using longer spectra we re-analyze spectral properties of the two-body random ensemble studied thirty years ago. At the center of the spectra the old results are largely confirmed, and we show that the non-ergodicity is essentially due to the variance of the lowest moments of the spectra. The longer spectra allow to test and reach the limits of validity of French's correction for the number variance. At the edge of the spectra we discuss the problems of unfolding in more detail. With a Gaussian unfolding of each spectrum the nearest neighbour spacing distribution between ground state and first exited state is shown to be stable. Using such an unfolding the distribution tends toward a semi-Poisson distribution for longer spectra. For comparison with the nuclear table ensemble we could use such unfolding obtaining similar results as in the early papers, but an ensemble with realistic splitting gives reasonable results if we just normalize the spacings in accordance with the procedure used for the data.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Reconstructing the 3-D Trajectories of CMEs in the Inner Heliosphere

A method for the full three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of the trajectories of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) data is presented. Four CMEs that were simultaneously observed by the inner and outer coronagraphs (COR1 and 2) of the Ahead and Behind STEREO satellites were analysed. These observations were used to derive CME trajectories in 3-D out to ~15Rsun. The reconstructions using COR1/2 data support a radial propagation model. Assuming pseudo-radial propagation at large distances from the Sun (15-240Rsun), the CME positions were extrapolated into the Heliospheric Imager (HI) field-of-view. We estimated the CME velocities in the different fields-of-view. It was found that CMEs slower than the solar wind were accelerated, while CMEs faster than the solar wind were decelerated, with both tending to the solar wind velocity.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, 1 appendi

Motion of Inertial Observers Through Negative Energy

Recent research has indicated that negative energy fluxes due to quantum coherence effects obey uncertainty principle-type inequalities of the form |\Delta E|\,{\Delta \tau} \lprox 1\,. Here $|\Delta E|$ is the magnitude of the negative energy which is transmitted on a timescale $\Delta \tau$. Our main focus in this paper is on negative energy fluxes which are produced by the motion of observers through static negative energy regions. We find that although a quantum inequality appears to be satisfied for radially moving geodesic observers in two and four-dimensional black hole spacetimes, an observer orbiting close to a black hole will see a constant negative energy flux. In addition, we show that inertial observers moving slowly through the Casimir vacuum can achieve arbitrarily large violations of the inequality. It seems likely that, in general, these types of negative energy fluxes are not constrained by inequalities on the magnitude and duration of the flux. We construct a model of a non-gravitational stress-energy detector, which is rapidly switched on and off, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of such a detector.Comment: 18pp + 1 figure(not included, available on request), in LATEX, TUPT-93-

Averaged Energy Conditions and Quantum Inequalities

Connections are uncovered between the averaged weak (AWEC) and averaged null (ANEC) energy conditions, and quantum inequality restrictions on negative energy for free massless scalar fields. In a two-dimensional compactified Minkowski universe, we derive a covariant quantum inequality-type bound on the difference of the expectation values of the energy density in an arbitrary quantum state and in the Casimir vacuum state. From this bound, it is shown that the difference of expectation values also obeys AWEC and ANEC-type integral conditions. In contrast, it is well-known that the stress tensor in the Casimir vacuum state alone satisfies neither quantum inequalities nor averaged energy conditions. Such difference inequalities represent limits on the degree of energy condition violation that is allowed over and above any violation due to negative energy densities in a background vacuum state. In our simple two-dimensional model, they provide physically interesting examples of new constraints on negative energy which hold even when the usual AWEC, ANEC, and quantum inequality restrictions fail. In the limit when the size of the space is allowed to go to infinity, we derive quantum inequalities for timelike and null geodesics which, in appropriate limits, reduce to AWEC and ANEC in ordinary two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. We also derive a quantum inequality bound on the energy density seen by an inertial observer in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The bound implies that any inertial observer in flat spacetime cannot see an arbitrarily large negative energy density which lasts for an arbitrarily long period of time.Comment: 20pp, plain LATEX, TUTP-94-1

Efficacy of language intervention in the early years

Background: Oral language skills in the preschool and early school years are critical to educational success and provide the foundations for the later development of reading comprehension. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 180 children from 15 UK nursery schools (n = 12 from each setting; Mage = 4;0) were randomly allocated to receive a 30-week oral language intervention or to a waiting control group. Children in the intervention group received 30 weeks of oral language intervention, beginning in nursery (preschool), in three group sessions per week, continuing with daily sessions on transition to Reception class (pre-Year 1). The intervention was delivered by nursery staff and teaching assistants trained and supported by the research team. Following screening, children were assessed preintervention, following completion of the intervention and after a 6-month delay. Results: Children in the intervention group showed significantly better performance on measures of oral language and spoken narrative skills than children in the waiting control group immediately after the 30 week intervention and after a 6 month delay. Gains in word-level literacy skills were weaker, though clear improvements were observed on measures of phonological awareness. Importantly, improvements in oral language skills generalized to a standardized measure of reading comprehension at maintenance test. Conclusions: Early intervention for children with oral language difficulties is effective and can successfully support the skills, which underpin reading comprehensio

A molecular dynamics simulation of polymer crystallization from oriented amorphous state

Molecular process of crystallization from an oriented amorphous state was reproduced by molecular dynamics simulation for a realistic polyethylene model. Initial oriented amorphous state was obtained by uniaxial drawing an isotropic glassy state at 100 K. By the temperature jump from 100 K to 330 K, there occurred the crystallization into the fiber structure, during the process of which we observed the developments of various order parameters. The real space image and its Fourier transform revealed that a hexagonally ordered domain was initially formed, and then highly ordered crystalline state with stacked lamellae developed after further adjustment of the relative heights of the chains along their axes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Shadowing in photo-production : role of in-medium hadrons

We study the effects of in-medium hadronic properties on shadowing in photon-nucleus interactions in Glauber model as well as in the multiple scattering approach. A reasonable agreement with the experimental data is obtained in a scenario of downward spectral shift of the hadrons. Shadowing is found to be insensitive to the broadening of the spectral functions. An impact parameter dependent analysis of shadowing might shed more light on the role of in-medium properties of hadrons.Comment: Title modified; version to appear in PRC, Rapid Communication

Structure Formation, Melting, and the Optical Properties of Gold/DNA Nanocomposites: Effects of Relaxation Time

We present a model for structure formation, melting, and optical properties of gold/DNA nanocomposites. These composites consist of a collection of gold nanoparticles (of radius 50 nm or less) which are bound together by links made up of DNA strands. In our structural model, the nanocomposite forms from a series of Monte Carlo steps, each involving reaction-limited cluster-cluster aggregation (RLCA) followed by dehybridization of the DNA links. These links form with a probability $p_{eff}$ which depends on temperature and particle radius $a$. The final structure depends on the number of monomers (i. e. gold nanoparticles) $N_m$, $T$, and the relaxation time. At low temperature, the model results in an RLCA cluster. But after a long enough relaxation time, the nanocomposite reduces to a compact, non-fractal cluster. We calculate the optical properties of the resulting aggregates using the Discrete Dipole Approximation. Despite the restructuring, the melting transition (as seen in the extinction coefficient at wavelength 520 nm) remains sharp, and the melting temperature $T_M$ increases with increasing $a$ as found in our previous percolation model. However, restructuring increases the corresponding link fraction at melting to a value well above the percolation threshold. Our calculated extinction cross section agrees qualitatively with experiments on gold/DNA composites. It also shows a characteristic ``rebound effect,'' resulting from incomplete relaxation, which has also been seen in some experiments. We discuss briefly how our results relate to a possible sol-gel transition in these aggregates.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Weak Localization Effect in Superconductors by Radiation Damage

Large reductions of the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ and the accompanying loss of the thermal electrical resistivity (electron-phonon interaction) due to radiation damage have been observed for several A15 compounds, Chevrel phase and Ternary superconductors, and $\rm{NbSe_{2}}$ in the high fluence regime. We examine these behaviors based on the recent theory of weak localization effect in superconductors. We find a good fitting to the experimental data. In particular, weak localization correction to the phonon-mediated interaction is derived from the density correlation function. It is shown that weak localization has a strong influence on both the phonon-mediated interaction and the electron-phonon interaction, which leads to the universal correlation of $T_{c}$ and resistance ratio.Comment: 16 pages plus 3 figures, revtex, 76 references, For more information, Plesse see http://www.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/~yjki