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The eyes of suckermouth armoured catfish (Loricariidae, subfamily Hypostomus): pupil response, lenticular longitudinal spherical aberration and retinal topography
The dilated, round pupils of a species of suckermouth armoured catfish (Liposarcus pardalis) constrict slowly on illumination (over 35-40 min) to form crescent-shaped apertures. Ray tracing of He-Ne laser beams shows that the lenses of a related species (Pterygoplichthys etentaculus), which also has a crescent-shaped pupil, are well corrected for longitudinal spherical aberration, suggesting that the primary purpose of the irregular pupil in armoured catfish is not to correct such aberration. It is suggested that the iris operculum may serve to camouflage the pupil of these substrate-dwelling species. An examination of the catfish retina shows the photoreceptors to be exclusively single cones interspersed with elongate rods and demonstrates the presence of multiple optic nerve head papillae. Two areas of high ganglion cell density, each side of a vertically oriented falciform process, provide increased spatial resolving power along the axes examining the substrate in front of and behind the animal
Coaxial prime focus feeds for paraboloidal reflectors
A TE11 - TM11 dual mode coaxial feed for use in prime focus paraboloidal antenna systems is investigated. The scattering matrix parameters of the internal bifurcation junction was determined by the residue calculus technique. The scattering parameters and radiation fields of the aperture were found from the Weinstein solution. The optimum modeing ratio for minimum cross-polarization was determined along with the corresponding optimum feed dimensions. A peak cross-polarization level of -58 dB is predicted. The frequency characteristics were also investigated and a bandwidth of 5% is predicted over which the cross-polarization remains below -30 dB, the input VSWR is below 1.15, and the phase error is less than 10 deg. Theoretical radiation patterns and efficiency curves for a paraboloidal reflector illuminated by this feed were computed. The predicted sidelobe level is below -30 dB and aperture efficiencies greater than 70% are possible. Experimental results are also presented that substantiates the theoretical results. In addition, experimental results for a 'short-cup' coaxial feed are given. The report includes extensive design data for the dual-mode feed along with performance curves showing cross-polarization as a function of feed parameters. The feed is useful for low-cost ground based receiving antennas for use in direct television satellite broadcasting service
The topology, geometry and conformal structure of properly embedded minimal surfaces
This paper develops new tools for understanding surfaces with more than one
end (and usually, of infinite topology) which properly minimally embed into
Euclidean three-space. On such a surface, the set of ends forms a compact
Hausdorff space, naturally ordered by the relative heights of the ends in
space. One of our main results is that the middle ends of the surface have
quadratic area growth, and are thus not limit ends. This implies, for instance,
that the surface can have at most two limit ends (at the top and bottom of the
ordering), which is a strong topological restriction. There are also
restrictions on the asymptotic geometry and conformal structure of such a
surface: for example, we prove that if the surface has exactly two limit ends
(as do the classical Riemann Staircase examples), then it is recurrent (that
is, almost all Brownian paths are dense in the surface, and in particular any
positive harmonic function on the surface is constant). These results have
played an important role in the proof of several recent advances in the theory,
including the uniqueness of the helicoid, the invariance of flux for a
coordinate function on a properly immersed minimal surface, and the topological
classification of properly embedded minimal surfaces
89Y NMR Probe of Zn Induced Local Magnetism in YBa2(Cu(1-y)Zn(y))3O(6+x)
We present detailed data and analysis of the effects of Zn substitution on
the planar Cu site in YBaCuO (YBCO) as evidenced from
our Y NMR measurements on oriented powders. For we find
additional NMR lines which are associated with the Zn substitution. From our
data on the intensities and temperature dependence of the shift, width, and
spin-lattice relaxation rate of these resonances, we conclude that the spinless
Zn 3 state induces local moments on the near-neighbour () Cu
atoms. Additionally, we conjecture that the local moments actually extend to
the farther Cu atoms with the magnetization alternating in sign at subsequent
sites. We show that this analysis is compatible with ESR data taken on
dilute Gd doped (on the Y site) and on neutron scattering data reported
recently on Zn substituted YBCO. For optimally doped compounds
Y resonances are not detected, but a large % -dependent
contribution to the Y NMR linewidth is evidenced and is also attributed
to the occurence of a weak induced local moment near the Zn. These results are
compatible with macroscopic magnetic measurements performed on YBCO
samples prepared specifically in order to minimize the content of impurity
phases. We find significant differences between the present results on the
underdoped YBCO samples and Al NMR data taken on Al
substituted on the Cu site in optimally doped LaCuO. Further
experimental work is needed to clarify the detailed evolution of the impurity
induced magnetism with hole content in the cuprates.Comment: To be published in EPJB 15 pages of text and figures in eps forma
Observations of the variation of precipitation electricity with height
Previous workers have found evidence of negative space charge in continuous rain and that the precipitation current was greater at a height of 30 m than at ground level. An investigation into these effects was carried out by making measurements of the precipitation current and potential gradient at the top of a mast and simultaneously at ground level. Unfortunately the investigation was brought to a premature end and the potential gradient measurements were rendered ambiguous through difficulties encoutered when calibrating the instrument to be on the mast. It was possible however to detect the presence of some space charge. The current at the top of the mast was found to be several times greater than that at the ground and their variations did not correspond exactly, suggesting that some charging process was operating in the lower 30 m of the atmosphere
Strongly Enhanced Spin Squeezing via Quantum Control
We describe a new approach to spin squeezing based on a double-pass Faraday
interaction between an optical probe and an optically dense atomic sample. A
quantum eraser is used to remove residual spin-probe entanglement, thereby
realizing a single-axis twisting unitary map on the collective spin. This
interaction can be phase-matched, resulting in exponential enhancement of
squeezing. In practice the scaling and peak squeezing depends on decoherence,
technical loss, and noise. A simplified model indicates ~10 dB of squeezing
should be achievable with current laboratory parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures
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