Liquid crystal hyperbolic metamaterial for wide-angle negative-positive refraction and reflection

We show that nanosphere dispersed liquid crystal (NDLC) metamaterial can be characterized in near IR spectral region as an indefinite medium whose real parts of effective ordinary and extraordinary permittivities are opposite in signs. Based on this fact we design a novel electrooptic effect: external electric field driven switch between normal refraction, negative refraction and reflection of TM incident electromagnetic wave from the boundary vacuum/NDLC. A detailed analysis of its functionality is given based on effective medium theory combined with a study of negative refraction in anisotropic metamaterials, and Finite Elements simulations

Simulation of an ion thruster control system

The results of an initial effort to model the control loops of a 30-cm diameter electron bombardment thruster and a transistorized power processor predicting its operation were described. Data from which the model is made is presented as well as comparisons between the computer outputs and test data from the JPL Solar Electric Propulsion systems laboratory

Black Hole Feedback On The First Galaxies

We study how the first galaxies were assembled under feedback from the accretion onto a central black hole (BH) that is left behind by the first generation of metal-free stars through self-consistent, cosmological simulations. X-ray radiation from the accretion of gas onto BH remnants of Population III (Pop III) stars, or from high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), again involving Pop III stars, influences the mode of second generation star formation. We track the evolution of the black hole accretion rate and the associated X-ray feedback starting with the death of the Pop III progenitor star inside a minihalo and following the subsequent evolution of the black hole as the minihalo grows to become an atomically cooling galaxy. We find that X-ray photoionization heating from a stellar-mass BH is able to quench further star formation in the host halo at all times before the halo enters the atomic cooling phase. X-ray radiation from a HMXB, assuming a luminosity close to the Eddington value, exerts an even stronger, and more diverse, feedback on star formation. It photoheats the gas inside the host halo, but also promotes the formation of molecular hydrogen and cooling of gas in the intergalactic medium and in nearby minihalos, leading to a net increase in the number of stars formed at early times. Our simulations further show that the radiative feedback from the first BHs may strongly suppress early BH growth, thus constraining models for the formation of supermassive BHs.Astronom

Hereditary Pancreatic and Hepatobiliary Cancers

Hereditary etiologies of pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers are increasingly recognized. An estimated >10% of pancreatic and increasing number of hepatobiliary cancers are hereditary. The cumulative risk of hereditary pancreatic cancer ranges from measurable but negligible in cystic fibrosis to a sobering 70% in cases of hereditary pancreatitis. Candidates for pancreatic cancer surveillance are those with a risk pancreatic cancer estimated to be >10-fold that of the normal population. Screening for pancreatic cancer in high-risk individuals is typically performed by endoscopic ultrasound and should begin at least 10 years prior to the age of the youngest affected relative. Disease states known to be associated with increased risk of hepatocellular cancer include hereditary hemochromatosis, autoimmune hepatitis, porphyria, and α1-antitrypsin deficiency, with relative risks as high as 36-fold. Although much less is known about hereditary bile-duct cancers, Muir-Torre syndrome and bile salt export pump deficiency are diseases whose association with hereditary carcinogenesis is under investigation

E-Type Delayed Fluorescence of a Phosphine-Supported Cu_2(μ-NAr_2)_2 Diamond Core: Harvesting Singlet and Triplet Excitons in OLEDs

A highly emissive bis(phosphine)diarylamido dinuclear copper(I) complex (quantum yield = 57%) was shown to exhibit E-type delayed fluorescence by variable temperature emission spectroscopy and photoluminescence decay measurement of doped vapor-deposited films. The lowest energy singlet and triplet excited states were assigned as charge transfer states on the basis of theoretical calculations and the small observed S_1−T_1 energy gap. Vapor-deposited OLEDs doped with the complex in the emissive layer gave a maximum external quantum efficiency of 16.1%, demonstrating that triplet excitons can be harvested very efficiently through the delayed fluorescence channel. The function of the emissive dopant in OLEDs was further probed by several physical methods, including electrically detected EPR, cyclic voltammetry, and photoluminescence in the presence of applied current

Colorectal Liver Metastases

The diagnosis and management of CRLM is complex and requires a multidisciplinary team approach for optimal outcomes. Over the past several decades, the 5-year survival following resection of CRLM has increased and the criteria for resection have broadened substantially. Even patients with multiple, bilateral CRLM, previously thought unresectable, may now be candidates for resection. Two-stage hepatectomy, repeat curative-intent hepatectomy, and even selected resection of extrahepatic metastases have further increased the number of patients who may be treated with curative intent. Multiple liver-directed therapies exist to treat unresectable, incurable patients with adequate survival benefit and morbidity rates

Effects of semidiurnal tidal circulation on the distribution of holo- and meroplankton in a subtropical estuary

We examined how tidal changes and which physical factors affected holo- and meroplankton assemblages in a subtropical estuary in Taiwan in February 1999. A factor analysis showed that during tidal flooding, the water mass properties changed from low salinity (5–16) and high particulate organic carbon (POC, 2.6–4.5 mg L−1) content to increasing salinity and high total suspended matter content (29.0–104.5 mg L−1). With a receding tide, the water became more saline again, and its velocity increased (from non-detectable to 0.67 m s−1). One-way ANOVA showed that the distributions of four dominant taxa were affected by the ebb tide and exhibited two distinct groups. The first group consisted of non-motile invertebrate eggs and weakly swimming polychaete sabellid embryos and larvae (at densities of 1.25–1.40 ind. L−1), while the second consisted of better-swimming copepods and polychaete spionid larvae (at densities of 0.70–1.65 ind. L−1). A canonical correlation analysis demonstrated that the former group occurred at sites with greater freshwater input, higher POC content and greater depth, whereas the latter group was significantly associated with sites subject to seawater and faster flows. We propose that a two-layered circulation process and tidally induced oscillations in water movements might account for the distributional differences between these two groups

Dynamics of the Automotive Aftermarket 1996

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100205/1/MBA_Lowes_Pawlik_Winter_1996.final.pd