Hydrothermal hydrolysis of starch with CO2 and detoxification of the hydrolysates with activated carbon for bio-hydrogen fermentation.

The imminent use of hydrogen as an energy vector establishes the need for sustainable production technologies based on renewable resources. Starch is an abundant renewable resource suitable for bio-hydrogen generation. It was hypothesised that starch hydrolysates from a large (250 mL) hydrothermal reactor could support bioH2 fermentation without inhibition by toxic byproducts.\ud \ud Starch was hydrolysed at high concentrations (40 200 g.L-1) in hot compressed water (HCW) with CO2 at 30 bar in a 250 mL reactor, the largest so far for polysaccharide hydrolysis, at 180 235 °C, 15 min. Hydrolysates were detoxified with activated carbon (AC) and tested in biohydrogen fermentations. The maximum yield of glucose was 548 g.kg starch 1 carbon at 200 °C. 5 hydroxymethyl furfural, the main fermentation inhibitor, was removed by AC to support 70% more hydrogen production than the untreated hydrolysates. The potential utilization of starch hydrolysates from HCW treatment for upscaled fermentations is promising

Lifetime Measurement of the 6s Level of Rubidium

We present a lifetime measurements of the 6s level of rubidium. We use a time-correlated single-photon counting technique on two different samples of rubidium atoms. A vapor cell with variable rubidium density and a sample of atoms confined and cooled in a magneto-optical trap. The 5P_{1/2} level serves as the resonant intermediate step for the two step excitation to the 6s level. We detect the decay of the 6s level through the cascade fluorescence of the 5P_{3/2} level at 780 nm. The two samples have different systematic effects, but we obtain consistent results that averaged give a lifetime of 45.57 +- 0.17 ns.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Correlated random walks of human embryonic stem cells in vitro

We perform a detailed analysis of the migratory motion of human embryonic stem cells in two-dimensions, both when isolated and in close proximity to another cell, recorded with time-lapse microscopic imaging. We show that isolated cells tend to perform an unusual locally anisotropic walk, moving backwards and forwards along a preferred local direction correlated over a timescale of around 50 min and aligned with the axis of the cell elongation. Increasing elongation of the cell shape is associated with increased instantaneous migration speed. We also show that two cells in close proximity tend to move in the same direction, with the average separation of m or less and the correlation length of around 25 μm, a typical cell diameter. These results can be used as a basis for the mathematical modelling of the formation of clonal hESC colonies

Squeezed-state generation in optical bistability

Experiments to generate squeezed states of light are described for a collection of two-level atoms within a high-finesse cavity. The investigation is conducted in a regime for which the weak-field coupling of atoms to the cavity mode produces a splitting in the normal mode structure of the atom-field system that is large compared with the atomic linewidth. Reductions in photocurrent noise of 30% (-1.55 dB) below the noise level set by the vacuum state of the field are observed in a balanced homodyne detector. A degree of squeezing of approximately 50% is inferred for the field state in the absence of propagation and detection losses. The observed spectrum of squeezing extends over a very broad range of frequencies (~±75 MHz), with the frequency of best squeezing corresponding to an offset from the optical carrier given by the normal mode splitting

Lifetime Measurement of the 8s Level in Francium

We measure the lifetime of the 8s level on a magneto-optically trapped sample of ^{210}Fr atoms with time-correlated single-photon counting. The 7P_{1/2} state serves as the resonant intermediate level for two-photon excitation of the 8s level completed with a 1300 nm laser. Analysis of the fluorescence decay through the the 7P_{3/2} level gives 53.30 +- 0.44 ns for the 8s level lifetime.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Observation of ground-state quantum beats in atomic spontaneous emission

We report ground-state quantum beats in spontaneous emission from a continuously driven atomic ensemble. Beats are visible only in an intensity autocorrelation and evidence spontaneously generated coherence in radiative decay. Our measurement realizes a quantum eraser where a first photon detection prepares a superposition and a second erases the "which-path" information in the intermediate state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter

Atom detection in a two-mode optical cavity with intermediate coupling: Autocorrelation studies

We use an optical cavity in the regime of intermediate coupling between atom and cavity mode to detect single moving atoms. Degenerate polarization modes allow excitation of the atoms in one mode and collection of spontaneous emission in the other, while keeping separate the two sources of light; we obtain a higher confidence and efficiency of detection by adding cavity-enhanced Faraday rotation. Both methods greatly benefit from coincidence detection of photons, attaining fidelities in excess of 99% in less than 1 microsecond. Detailed studies of the second-order intensity autocorrelation function of light from the signal mode reveal evidence of antibunched photon emissions and the dynamics of single-atom transits.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.