Huge local field enhancement in perfect plasmonic absorbers

In this Letter we theoretically study the possibility of total power absorption of light in a planar grid modelled as an effective sheet with zero optical thickness. The key prerequisite of this effect is the simultaneous presence of both resonant electric and magnetic modes in the structure. We show that the needed level of the magnetic mode is achievable using the effect of substrate-induced bianisotropy which also allows the huge local field enhancement at the same wavelength where the maximal absorption holds.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Integration of the 3DOM Al/Co3O4 nanothermite film with a semiconductor bridge to realize a high-output micro-energetic igniter

Microigniters play an important role for the reliable initiation of micro explosive devices. However, the microigniter is still limited by the low out-put energy to realize high reliability and safety. Integration of energetic materials with microigniters is an effective method to enhance the ignition ability. In this work, a Al/Co3O4 nanothermite film with a three-dimensionally ordered macroporous structure was prepared by the deposition of nanoscale Al layers using magnetron sputtering on Co3O4 skeletons that are synthesized using an inverse template method. Both the uniform structure and nanoscale contact between the Al layers and the Co3O4 skeletons lead to an excellent exothermicity. In order to investigate the ignition properties, a micro-energetic igniter has been fabricated by the integration of the Al/Co3O4 nanothermite film with a semiconductor bridge microigniter. The thermite reactions between the nanoscale Al layer and the Co3O4 skeleton extensively promote the intensity of the spark, the length in duration and the size of the area, which greatly enhance the ignition reliability of the micro-energetic igniter. Moreover, this novel design enables the micro-energetic igniter to fire the pyrotechnic Zr/Pb3O4 in a gap of 3.7 mm by capacitor discharge stimulation and to keep the intrinsic instantaneity high and firing energy low. The realization of gap ignition will surely improve the safety level of initiating systems and have a significant impact on the design and application of explosive devices

Axion-mediated dark matter and Higgs diphoton signal

We consider axion-mediated dark matter models motivated by Fermi gamma ray line at 130 GeV, where anomaly interactions of an axion-like scalar mediate a singlet Dirac fermion dark matter (DM) to electroweak gauge bosons. In these models, extra vector-like leptons generate anomaly interactions for the axion and can also couple to the SM Higgs boson to modify the Higgs-to-diphoton rate. We can distinguish models by the branching fraction of the DM annihilation into a photon pair, favoring the model with a triplet fermion. From the condition that the lighter charged extra lepton must be heavier than dark matter for no tree-level DM annihilations, we also show that the ratio of Higgs-to-diphoton rate to the SM value is constrained by vacuum stability to 1.4(1.5) for the cutoff scale of 10(1) TeV.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, references adde

Gas Sensors Based on Semiconducting Metal Oxide One-Dimensional Nanostructures

This article provides a comprehensive review of recent (2008 and 2009) progress in gas sensors based on semiconducting metal oxide one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures. During last few years, gas sensors based on semiconducting oxide 1D nanostructures have been widely investigated. Additionally, modified or doped oxide nanowires/nanobelts have also been synthesized and used for gas sensor applications. Moreover, novel device structures such as electronic noses and low power consumption self-heated gas sensors have been invented and their gas sensing performance has also been evaluated. Finally, we also point out some challenges for future investigation and practical application

Forecasting U.S. Tourist arrivals using optimal Singular Spectrum Analysis

This study examines the potential advantages of using Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) for forecasting tourism demand. To do this it examines the performance of SSA forecasts using monthly data for tourist arrivals into the United States over the period 1996 to 2012. The SSA forecasts are compared to those from a range of other forecasting approaches previously used to forecast tourism demand. These include ARIMA, exponential smoothing and neural networks. The results presented show that the SSA approach produces forecasts which perform (statistically) significantly better than the alternative methods in forecasting total tourist arrivals into the U.S. Forecasts using the SSA approach are also shown to offer a significantly better forecasting performance for arrivals into the U.S. from individual source countries. Of the alternative forecasting approaches exponential smoothing and feed-forward neural networks in particular were found to perform poorly. The key conclusion is that Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) offers significant advantages in forecasting tourist arrivals into the US and is worthy of consideration for other forecasting studies of tourism demand

Advanced diamond-reinforced metal matrix composites via cold spray: properties and deposition mechanism

Diamond-reinforced metal matrix composites (DMMC) have great potential for wear-resistance applications due to the superior hardness of the diamond component. Cold spray as an emerging coating technique is able to fabricate coatings or bulk materials without exceeding the material melting point, thereby significantly lowering the risk of oxidation, phase transformation, and excessive thermal residual stress. In this paper, thick DMMC coatings were deposited onto aluminum alloy substrate via cold spray of three feedstock powders: copper-clad diamond and pure copper, and their mixtures. It was found that, due to its low processing temperature, cold spray is able to prevent graphitization of the diamond in the DMMC coatings. Further to that, the original diamond phase was almost completely retained in the DMMC coatings. In case of the coatings fabricated from copper-clad diamond powders only, its mass fraction reached 43 wt.%, i.e. value higher than in any previous studies using conventional pre-mixed powders. Furthermore, it was found that the added copper content powders acted as a buffer, effectively preventing the fracture of the diamond particles in the coating. Finally, the wear test on the coatings showed that the cold sprayed DMMC coatings had excellent wear-resistance properties due to the diamond reinforcement

Worldwide Patterns of Ancestry, Divergence, and Admixture in Domesticated Cattle

The domestication and development of cattle has considerably impacted human societies, but the histories of cattle breeds have been poorly understood especially for African, Asian, and American breeds. Using genotypes from 43,043 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphism markers scored in 1,543 animals, we evaluate the population structure of 134 domesticated bovid breeds. Regardless of the analytical method or sample subset, the three major groups of Asian indicine, Eurasian taurine, and African taurine were consistently observed. Patterns of geographic dispersal resulting from co-migration with humans and exportation are recognizable in phylogenetic networks. All analytical methods reveal patterns of hybridization which occurred after divergence. Using 19 breeds, we map the cline of indicine introgression into Africa. We infer that African taurine possess a large portion of wild African auroch ancestry, causing their divergence from Eurasian taurine. We detect exportation patterns in Asia and identify a cline of Eurasian taurine/indicine hybridization in Asia. We also identify the influence of species other than Bos taurus in the formation of Asian breeds. We detect the pronounced influence of Shorthorn cattle in the formation of European breeds. Iberian and Italian cattle possess introgression from African taurine. American Criollo cattle are shown to be of Iberian, and not African, decent. Indicine introgression into American cattle occurred in the Americas, and not Europe. We argue that cattle migration, movement and trading followed by admixture have been important forces in shaping modern bovine genomic variation.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures. Various changes made to respond to peer reviews. Mostly, arguments were clarified and additional f-statistics were adde

Neuronal autophagy and neurodegenerative diseases

Autophagy is a dynamic cellular pathway involved in the turnover of proteins, protein complexes, and organelles through lysosomal degradation. The integrity of postmitotic neurons is heavily dependent on high basal autophagy compared to non-neuronal cells as misfolded proteins and damaged organelles cannot be diluted through cell division. Moreover, neurons contain the specialized structures for intercellular communication, such as axons, dendrites and synapses, which require the reciprocal transport of proteins, organelles and autophagosomes over significant distances from the soma. Defects in autophagy affect the intercellular communication and subsequently, contributing to neurodegeneration. The presence of abnormal autophagic activity is frequently observed in selective neuronal populations afflicted in common neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These observations have provoked controversy regarding whether the increase in autophagosomes observed in the degenerating neurons play a protective role or instead contribute to pathogenic neuronal cell death. It is still unknown what factors may determine whether active autophagy is beneficial or pathogenic during neurodegeneration. In this review, we consider both the normal and pathophysiological roles of neuronal autophagy and its potential therapeutic implications for common neurodegenerative diseases

Transcriptional and Post-transcriptional Gene Regulation by Long Non-coding RNA.

Advances in genomics technology over recent years have led to the surprising discovery that the genome is far more pervasively transcribed than was previously appreciated. Much of the newly-discovered transcriptome appears to represent long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), a heterogeneous group of largely uncharacterised transcripts. Understanding the biological function of these molecules represents a major challenge and in this review we discuss some of the progress made to date. One major theme of lncRNA biology seems to be the existence of a network of interactions with microRNA (miRNA) pathways. lncRNA has been shown to act as both a source and an inhibitory regulator of miRNA. At the transcriptional level, a model is emerging whereby lncRNA bridges DNA and protein by binding to chromatin and serving as a scaffold for modifying protein complexes. Such a mechanism can bridge promoters to enhancers or enhancer-like non-coding genes by regulating chromatin looping, as well as conferring specificity on histone modifying complexes by directing them to specific loci