4,094 research outputs found
ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF DISORDERED MATERIALS AND CLAY MINERALS
Final report describing a three-year research project applying various methods to study the structures of crystalline solids and also apply to polycrystalline disordered materials
A human colonic crypt culture system to study regulation of stem cell-driven tissue renewal and physiological function
The intestinal epithelium is one of the most rapidly renewing tissues in the human body and fulfils vital physiological roles such as barrier function and transport of nutrients and fluid. Investigation of gut epithelial physiology in health and disease has been hampered by the lack of ex vivo models of the native human intestinal epithelium. Recently, remarkable progress has been made in defining intestinal stem cells and in generating intestinal organoid cultures. In parallel, we have developed a 3D culture system of the native human colonic epithelium that recapitulates the topological hierarchy of stem cell-driven tissue renewal and permits the physiological study of native polarized epithelial cells. Here we describe methods to establish 3D cultures of intact human colonic crypts and conduct real-time imaging of intestinal tissue renewal, cellular signalling, and physiological function, in conjunction with manipulation of gene expression by lentiviral or adenoviral transduction. Visualization of mRNA- and protein-expression patterns in cultured human colonic crypts, and cross-validation with crypts derived from fixed mucosal biopsies, is also described. Alongside studies using intestinal organoids, the near-native human colonic crypt culture model will help to bridge the gap that exists between investigation of colon cancer cell lines and/or animal (tissue) studies, and progression to clinical trials. To this end, the near native human colonic crypt model provides a platform to aid the development of novel strategies for the prevention of inflammatory bowel disease and cancer
Investigation of Photoluminescence and Photocurrent in InGaAsP/InP Strained Multiple Quantum Well Heterostructures
Multiple quantum well InGaAsP/InP p-i-n laser heterostructures with different barrier thicknesses have been investigated using photoluminescence (PL) and photocurrent (PC) measurements. The observed PL spectrum and peak positions are in good agreement with those obtained from transfer matrix calculations. Comparing the measured quantum well PC with calculated carrier escape rates, the photocurrent changes are found to be governed by the temperature dependence of the electron escape time
Temperature Dependence of Photoluminescence in InGaAs/InP Strained MQW Heterostructures
Multiple quantum well (MQW) InGaAsP/InP heterostructure systems have been drawn considerable research interest in recent years due to its suitability for long wavelength optoelectronic devices. The performance of such devices is strongly affected by peculiarities of recombination processes in the quantum wells (QW). The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of barrier width on the radiative recombination of carriers. In our study, the photoluminescence spectra from InGaAsP/lnP MQW double heterostructures have been measured in the 77-290 K temperature range with different excitation intensities
Supernova Remnants in the Magellanic Clouds III: An X-ray Atlas of LMC Supernova Remnants
We have used archival ROSAT data to present X-ray images of thirty-one
supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We have
classified these remnants according to their X-ray morphologies, into the
categories of Shell-Type, Diffuse Face, Centrally Brightened, Point-Source
Dominated, and Irregular. We suggest possible causes of the X-ray emission for
each category, and for individual features of some of the SNRs.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures (9 figure files). To appear in the Supplement
Series of the Astrophysical Journal, August 1999 Vol. 123 #
The ontogeny of bumblebee flight trajectories: From naĂŻve explorers to experienced foragers
Understanding strategies used by animals to explore their landscape is essential to predict how they exploit patchy resources, and consequently how they are likely to respond to changes in resource distribution. Social bees provide a good model for this and, whilst there are published descriptions of their behaviour on initial learning flights close to the colony, it is still unclear how bees find floral resources over hundreds of metres and how these flights become directed foraging trips. We investigated the spatial ecology of exploration by radar tracking bumblebees, and comparing the flight trajectories of bees with differing experience. The bees left the colony within a day or two of eclosion and flew in complex loops of ever-increasing size around the colony, exhibiting LĂ©vy-flight characteristics constituting an optimal searching strategy. This mathematical pattern can be used to predict how animals exploring individually might exploit a patchy landscape. The beesâ groundspeed, maximum displacement from the nest and total distance travelled on a trip increased significantly with experience. More experienced bees flew direct paths, predominantly flying upwind on their outward trips although forage was available in all directions. The flights differed from those of naĂŻve honeybees: they occurred at an earlier age, showed more complex looping, and resulted in earlier returns of pollen to the colony. In summary bumblebees learn to find home and food rapidly, though phases of orientation, learning and searching were not easily separable, suggesting some multi-tasking
Two-neutron knockout from neutron-deficient Ar, S, and Si
Two-neutron knockout reactions from nuclei in the proximity of the proton
dripline have been studied using intermediate-energy beams of neutron-deficient
Ar, S, and Si. The inclusive cross sections, and also the
partial cross sections for the population of individual bound final states of
the Ar, S and Si knockout residues, have been determined
using the combination of particle and -ray spectroscopy. Similar to the
two-proton knockout mechanism on the neutron-rich side of the nuclear chart,
these two-neutron removal reactions from already neutron-deficient nuclei are
also shown to be consistent with a direct reaction mechanism.Comment: Phys. Rev. C, rapid communication, in pres
Student learning dispositions: Multidimensional profiles highlight important differences among undergraduate stem honors thesis writers
Various personal dimensions of studentsâparticularly motivation, self-efficacy beliefs, and epistemic beliefsâcan change in response to teaching, affect student learning, and be conceptualized as learning dispositions. We propose that these learning dispositions serve as learning outcomes in their own right; that patterns of interrelationships among these specific learning dispositions are likely; and that differing constellations (or learning disposition profiles) may have meaningful implications for instructional practices. In this observational study, we examine changes in these learning dispositions in the context of six courses at four institutions designed to scaffold undergraduate thesis writing and promote studentsâ scientific reasoning in writing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We explore the utility of cluster analysis for generating meaningful learning disposition profiles and building a more sophisticated understanding of students as complex, multidimensional learners. For example, while studentsâ self-efficacy beliefs about writing and science increased across capstone writing courses on average, there was considerable variability at the level of individual students. When responses on all of the personal dimensions were analyzed jointly using cluster analysis, several distinct and meaningful learning disposition profiles emerged. We explore these profiles in this work and discuss the implications of this framework for describing developmental trajectories of studentsâ scientific identities. We thank Mine Ăetinkaya-Rundel for her insights regarding our statistical analyses. This research was funded by National Science Foundation award DUE-1525602
The Coupled Electronic-Ionic Monte Carlo Simulation Method
Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods such as Variational Monte Carlo, Diffusion
Monte Carlo or Path Integral Monte Carlo are the most accurate and general
methods for computing total electronic energies. We will review methods we have
developed to perform QMC for the electrons coupled to a classical Monte Carlo
simulation of the ions. In this method, one estimates the Born-Oppenheimer
energy E(Z) where Z represents the ionic degrees of freedom. That estimate of
the energy is used in a Metropolis simulation of the ionic degrees of freedom.
Important aspects of this method are how to deal with the noise, which QMC
method and which trial function to use, how to deal with generalized boundary
conditions on the wave function so as to reduce the finite size effects. We
discuss some advantages of the CEIMC method concerning how the quantum effects
of the ionic degrees of freedom can be included and how the boundary conditions
can be integrated over. Using these methods, we have performed simulations of
liquid H2 and metallic H on a parallel computer.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figure
- âŠ