Bioinspired Helical Microswimmers Based on Vascular Plants

Plant-based bioinspired magnetically propelled helical microswimmers are described. The helical microstructures are derived from spiral water-conducting vessels of different plants, harnessing the intrinsic biological structures of nature. Geometric variables of the spiral vessels, such as the helix diameter and pitch, can be controlled by mechanical stretching for the precise fabrication and consistent performance of helical microswimmers. Xylem vessels of a wide variety of different plants have been evaluated for the consistency and reproducibility of their helical parameters. Sequential deposition of thin Ti and Ni layers directly on the spiral vessels, followed by dicing, leads to an extremely simple and cost-efficient mass-production of functional helical microswimmers. The resulting plant-based magnetic microswimmers display efficient propulsion, with a speed of over 250 μm/s, as well as powerful locomotion in biological media such as human serum. The influence of actuation frequencies on the swimming velocity is investigated. Such use of plant vessels results in significant savings in the processing costs and provides an extremely simple, cost-effective fabrication route for the large-scale production of helical magnetic swimmers

Bioinspired Helical Microswimmers Based on Vascular Plants

Plant-based bioinspired magnetically propelled helical microswimmers are described. The helical microstructures are derived from spiral water-conducting vessels of different plants, harnessing the intrinsic biological structures of nature. Geometric variables of the spiral vessels, such as the helix diameter and pitch, can be controlled by mechanical stretching for the precise fabrication and consistent performance of helical microswimmers. Xylem vessels of a wide variety of different plants have been evaluated for the consistency and reproducibility of their helical parameters. Sequential deposition of thin Ti and Ni layers directly on the spiral vessels, followed by dicing, leads to an extremely simple and cost-efficient mass-production of functional helical microswimmers. The resulting plant-based magnetic microswimmers display efficient propulsion, with a speed of over 250 μm/s, as well as powerful locomotion in biological media such as human serum. The influence of actuation frequencies on the swimming velocity is investigated. Such use of plant vessels results in significant savings in the processing costs and provides an extremely simple, cost-effective fabrication route for the large-scale production of helical magnetic swimmers

Bioinspired Helical Microswimmers Based on Vascular Plants

Plant-based bioinspired magnetically propelled helical microswimmers are described. The helical microstructures are derived from spiral water-conducting vessels of different plants, harnessing the intrinsic biological structures of nature. Geometric variables of the spiral vessels, such as the helix diameter and pitch, can be controlled by mechanical stretching for the precise fabrication and consistent performance of helical microswimmers. Xylem vessels of a wide variety of different plants have been evaluated for the consistency and reproducibility of their helical parameters. Sequential deposition of thin Ti and Ni layers directly on the spiral vessels, followed by dicing, leads to an extremely simple and cost-efficient mass-production of functional helical microswimmers. The resulting plant-based magnetic microswimmers display efficient propulsion, with a speed of over 250 μm/s, as well as powerful locomotion in biological media such as human serum. The influence of actuation frequencies on the swimming velocity is investigated. Such use of plant vessels results in significant savings in the processing costs and provides an extremely simple, cost-effective fabrication route for the large-scale production of helical magnetic swimmers

Charge-coupled devices detectors with high quantum efficiency at UV wavelengths

We report on multilayer high efficiency antireflection coating (ARC) design and development for use at UV wavelengths on CCDs and other Si-based detectors. We have previously demonstrated a set of single-layer coatings, which achieve >50% quantum efficiency (QE) in four bands from 130 to 300 nm. We now present multilayer coating designs that significantly outperform our previous work between 195 and 215 nm. Using up to 11 layers, we present several model designs to reach QE above 80%. We also demonstrate the successful performance of 5 and 11 layer ARCs on silicon and fused silica substrates. Finally, we present a five-layer coating deposited onto a thinned, delta-doped CCD and demonstrate external QE greater than 60% between 202 and 208 nm, with a peak of 67.6% at 206 nm

KL Estimation of the Power Spectrum Parameters from the Angular Distribution of Galaxies in Early SDSS Data

We present measurements of parameters of the 3-dimensional power spectrum of galaxy clustering from 222 square degrees of early imaging data in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The projected galaxy distribution on the sky is expanded over a set of Karhunen-Loeve eigenfunctions, which optimize the signal-to-noise ratio in our analysis. A maximum likelihood analysis is used to estimate parameters that set the shape and amplitude of the 3-dimensional power spectrum. Our best estimates are Gamma=0.188 +/- 0.04 and sigma_8L = 0.915 +/- 0.06 (statistical errors only), for a flat Universe with a cosmological constant. We demonstrate that our measurements contain signal from scales at or beyond the peak of the 3D power spectrum. We discuss how the results scale with systematic uncertainties, like the radial selection function. We find that the central values satisfy the analytically estimated scaling relation. We have also explored the effects of evolutionary corrections, various truncations of the KL basis, seeing, sample size and limiting magnitude. We find that the impact of most of these uncertainties stay within the 2-sigma uncertainties of our fiducial result.Comment: Fig 1 postscript problem correcte

The Angular Correlation Function of Galaxies from Early SDSS Data

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is one of the first multicolor photometric and spectroscopic surveys designed to measure the statistical properties of galaxies within the local Universe. In this Letter we present some of the initial results on the angular 2-point correlation function measured from the early SDSS galaxy data. The form of the correlation function, over the magnitude interval 18<r*<22, is shown to be consistent with results from existing wide-field, photographic-based surveys and narrower CCD galaxy surveys. On scales between 1 arcminute and 1 degree the correlation function is well described by a power-law with an exponent of ~ -0.7. The amplitude of the correlation function, within this angular interval, decreases with fainter magnitudes in good agreement with analyses from existing galaxy surveys. There is a characteristic break in the correlation function on scales of approximately 1-2 degrees. On small scales, < 1', the SDSS correlation function does not appear to be consistent with the power-law form fitted to the 1'< theta <0.5 deg data. With a data set that is less than 2% of the full SDSS survey area, we have obtained high precision measurements of the power-law angular correlation function on angular scales 1' < theta < 1 deg, which are robust to systematic uncertainties. Because of the limited area and the highly correlated nature of the error covariance matrix, these initial results do not yet provide a definitive characterization of departures from the power-law form at smaller and larger angles. In the near future, however, the area of the SDSS imaging survey will be sufficient to allow detailed analysis of the small and large scale regimes, measurements of higher-order correlations, and studies of angular clustering as a function of redshift and galaxy type

LoCuSS: The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and Weak Lensing Mass Scaling Relation

We present the first weak-lensing-based scaling relation between galaxy cluster mass, M_wl, and integrated Compton parameter Y_sph. Observations of 18 galaxy clusters at z~0.2 were obtained with the Subaru 8.2-m telescope and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array. The M_wl-Y_sph scaling relations, measured at Delta=500, 1000, and 2500 rho_c, are consistent in slope and normalization with previous results derived under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium (HSE). We find an intrinsic scatter in M_wl at fixed Y_sph of 20%, larger than both previous measurements of M_HSE-Y_sph scatter as well as the scatter in true mass at fixed Y_sph found in simulations. Moreover, the scatter in our lensing-based scaling relations is morphology dependent, with 30-40% larger M_wl for undisturbed compared to disturbed clusters at the same Y_sph at r_500. Further examination suggests that the segregation may be explained by the inability of our spherical lens models to faithfully describe the three-dimensional structure of the clusters, in particular, the structure along the line-of-sight. We find that the ellipticity of the brightest cluster galaxy, a proxy for halo orientation, correlates well with the offset in mass from the mean scaling relation, which supports this picture. This provides empirical evidence that line-of-sight projection effects are an important systematic uncertainty in lensing-based scaling relations.Comment: Accepted versio

Galaxy Clustering in Early SDSS Redshift Data

We present the first measurements of clustering in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxy redshift survey. Our sample consists of 29,300 galaxies with redshifts 5,700 km/s < cz < 39,000 km/s, distributed in several long but narrow (2.5-5 degree) segments, covering 690 square degrees. For the full, flux-limited sample, the redshift-space correlation length is approximately 8 Mpc/h. The two-dimensional correlation function \xi(r_p,\pi) shows clear signatures of both the small-scale, ``fingers-of-God'' distortion caused by velocity dispersions in collapsed objects and the large-scale compression caused by coherent flows, though the latter cannot be measured with high precision in the present sample. The inferred real-space correlation function is well described by a power law, \xi(r)=(r/6.1+/-0.2 Mpc/h)^{-1.75+/-0.03}, for 0.1 Mpc/h < r < 16 Mpc/h. The galaxy pairwise velocity dispersion is \sigma_{12} ~ 600+/-100 km/s for projected separations 0.15 Mpc/h < r_p < 5 Mpc/h. When we divide the sample by color, the red galaxies exhibit a stronger and steeper real-space correlation function and a higher pairwise velocity dispersion than do the blue galaxies. The relative behavior of subsamples defined by high/low profile concentration or high/low surface brightness is qualitatively similar to that of the red/blue subsamples. Our most striking result is a clear measurement of scale-independent luminosity bias at r < 10 Mpc/h: subsamples with absolute magnitude ranges centered on M_*-1.5, M_*, and M_*+1.5 have real-space correlation functions that are parallel power laws of slope ~ -1.8 with correlation lengths of approximately 7.4 Mpc/h, 6.3 Mpc/h, and 4.7 Mpc/h, respectively.Comment: 51 pages, 18 figures. Replaced to match accepted ApJ versio

Upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134

The first science run of the LIGO and GEO gravitational wave detectors presented the opportunity to test methods of searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars. Here we present new direct upper limits on the strength of waves from the pulsar PSR J1939+2134 using two independent analysis methods, one in the frequency domain using frequentist statistics and one in the time domain using Bayesian inference. Both methods show that the strain amplitude at Earth from this pulsar is less than a few times $10^{-22}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of the 5th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, Tirrenia, Pisa, Italy, 6-11 July 200