Optimization of the neutron yield in fusion plasmas produced by Coulomb explosions of deuterium clusters irradiated by a petawatt laser

The kinetic energy of hot (multi-keV) ions from the laser-driven Coulomb explosion of deuterium clusters and the resulting fusion yield in plasmas formed from these exploding clusters has been investigated under a variety of conditions using the Texas Petawatt laser. An optimum laser intensity was found for producing neutrons in these cluster fusion plasmas with corresponding average ion energies of 14 keV. The substantial volume (1-10 mm(3)) of the laser-cluster interaction produced by the petawatt peak power laser pulse led to a fusion yield of 1.6x10(7) neutrons in a single shot with a 120 J, 170 fs laser pulse. Possible effects of prepulses are discussed. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.023106Glenn Focht Memorial FellowshipNNSA DE-FC52-08NA28512DOE Office of Basic Energy SciencesPhysic

A generalized Hamiltonian Constraint Operator in Loop Quantum Gravity and its simplest Euclidean Matrix Elements

We study a generalized version of the Hamiltonian constraint operator in nonperturbative loop quantum gravity. The generalization is based on admitting arbitrary irreducible SU(2) representations in the regularization of the operator, in contrast to the original definition where only the fundamental representation is taken. This leads to a quantization ambiguity and to a family of operators with the same classical limit. We calculate the action of the Euclidean part of the generalized Hamiltonian constraint on trivalent states, using the graphical notation of Temperley-Lieb recoupling theory. We discuss the relation between this generalization of the Hamiltonian constraint and crossing symmetry.Comment: 35 pp, 20 eps figures; minor corrections, references added; version to appear in Class. Quant. Gra

Molecular Characterization of Multidrug Resistant Salmonella Isolates From a Single Finisher Building for Determination of Horizontal Transmission of Resistance Genes

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium Phage Type DT104 contains a region where five major antibiotic genes are located, which has been named Salmonella Genomic Island 1 (SGI1) (Boyd, et al, 2002) and bound by Class I integrons which have been shown to aid in transferring genes horizontally. Antibiotic resistance profiles, Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) were used to determine if these genes are present in the serovars

The Texas Petawatt Laser And Current Experiments

The Texas Petawatt Laser is operational with experimental campaigns executed in both F/40 and F3 target chambers. Recent improvements have resulted in intensities of >2x10(21) W/cm(2) on target. Experimental highlights include, accelerated electron energies of >2 GeV, DD fusion ion temperatures >25 keV and isochorically heated solids to 10-50 eV.Physic

Regularized Hamiltonians and Spinfoams

We review a recent proposal for the regularization of the scalar constraint of General Relativity in the context of LQG. The resulting constraint presents strengths and weaknesses compared to Thiemann's prescription. The main improvement is that it can generate the 1-4 Pachner moves and its matrix elements contain 15j Wigner symbols, it is therefore compatible with the spinfoam formalism: the drawback is that Thiemann anomaly free proof is spoiled because the nodes that the constraint creates have volume.Comment: 4 pages, based on a talk given at Loops '11 in Madrid, to appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

Brighter prospects? Assessing the franchise advantage using census data

This paper uses Census micro data to examine how starting a business as a franchise rather than an independent business affects its survival and growth prospects. We assess factors that influence the decision to become a franchisee and use various empirical approaches to correct for selection bias in our performance analyses. We find that franchised businesses on average exhibit higher survival rates than independent businesses, but importantly, the difference is small compared to claims in the trade press. The effect is also short lived: conditional on surviving a year or two, we no longer find survival (or growth) differences. We then explore two potential sources for this small survival advantage, namely franchisors’ screening process and the benefits arising from the brand and business know-how provided by franchisors. We find evidence that both of the sources contribute to the franchising advantage

Photonic mode density effects on single-molecule fluorescence blinking

We investigated the influence of the photonic mode density (PMD) on the triplet dynamics of individual chromophores on a dielectric interface by comparing their response in the presence and absence of a nearby gold film. Lifetimes of the excited singlet state were evaluated in ordet to measure directly the PMD at the molecules position. Triplet state lifetimes were simultaneously determined by statistical analysis of the detection time of the fluorescence photons. The observed singlet decay rates are in agreement with the predicted PMD for molecules with different orientations. The triplet decay rate is modified in a fashion correlated to the singlet decay rate. These results show that PMD engineering can lead to an important suppression of the fluorescence, introducing a novel aspect of the physical mechanism to enhance fluorescence intensity in PMD-enhancing systems such as plasmonic devices

Molecular Characterization of Recent and Archived Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae Isolates

Cases of erysipelas have increased considerably in 2001–2002. Diagnosis of erysipelas is typically confirmed by culture and in a limited number of cases the isolates are serotyped. Reagents for serotyping are limited and are available only at National Veterinary Service Laboratory (NVSL). In this study, we utilize pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to differentiate genotypes and compare archived and recent isolates. Seventy-three erysipelas field isolates (58 recent, 15 historical) and four live vaccine strains were genetically characterized. Fortysix isolates were found to belong to genotype 1A(I), three were genotype 1A(III), each one was genotype 1A(IV), 1A(V), 1A(VI), and two isolates were designated as 1A(VII). Nine different genotypes were identified among the serotype 1b isolates [1B(I-IX)]. Within serotype 2, three genotypes were identified: 2A, 2B, and 2C. The four vaccine strains tested in this study belong to the genotype group 1A(II), closely related to genotype 1A. The vaccine strains and the most common field isolates genotype 1A(I) shared 78.6% identity based on PFGE pattern