Surface-wave eikonal tomography for dense geophysical arrays

Surface-wave tomography often involves the construction of phase (or group) velocity maps through linearized inversion of measured phase (group) arrival times. Such inversions require a priori information about the medium (that is, a reference model) in order to calculate source-receiver paths, which is inaccurate for complex media, and requires regularization. The surface-wave eikonal tomography proposed here bypasses these limitations and has the advantage of being simple to implement and use, with virtually no input parameters. It relies on accurate phase arrival time measurement, which can be challenging for dispersive waves and complex waveforms. We present a measurement method based on the evaluation of phase arrival time diff erences at nearby receivers.We show, using an exploration data set, that the produced Rayleigh-wave velocity maps are in agreement with results from traditional tomography, but the latter have lower resolution due to the need of regularization to accommodate for the heterogeneity of the study area and noise in data. Eikonal tomography requires averaging over results from multiple sources to produce a proper image, and we evaluate this requirement to a 200 m source spacing in the considered scattering environment. In addition, we validate the approach of combining seismic interferometry and eikonal tomography, for the cases where the source coverage is inappropriate.Shell Researc

Haus/Gross-Pitaevskii equation for random lasers

We report on experimental tests of the trend of random laserlinewidth versus pumping power as predicted by an Haus master equation that is formally identical to the one-dimensional Gross- Pitaevskii equation in an harmonic potential. Experiments are done by employing picosecond pumped dispersions of Titaniumdioxide particles in dye-doped methanol. The derivation of the master equations is also detailed and shown to be in agreement with experiments analytically predicting the value of the threshold linewidth

Imaging along-strike variations in mechanical properties of the Gofar transform fault, East Pacific Rise

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2014. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 119 (2014): 7175–7194, doi:10.1002/2014JB011270.A large part of global plate motion on mid-ocean ridge transform faults (RTFs) is not accommodated as major earthquakes. When large earthquakes do occur, they often repeat quasiperiodically. We focus here on the high slip rate (∼14 cm/yr) Gofar transform fault on the equatorial East Pacific Rise. This fault is subdivided into patches that slip during Mw 5.5–6 earthquakes every 5 to 6 years. These patches are separated by rupture barriers that accommodate slip through swarms of smaller events and/or aseismic creep. We performed an imaging study to investigate which spatiotemporal variations of the fault zone properties control this segmentation in mechanical behavior and could explain the specific behavior of RTFs at the global scale. We adopt a double-difference approach in a joint inversion of active air gun shots and microseismicity recorded for 1 year. This data set includes the 2008 Mw 6 Gofar earthquake. The along-strike P wave velocity structure reveals an abrupt transition between the barrier area, characterized by a damaged fault zone of 10–20% reduced Vp and a nearly intact fault zone in the asperity area. The importance of the strength of the damage zone on the mechanical behavior is supported by the temporal S wave velocity changes which suggest increased damage within the barrier area, during the week preceding the Mw 6 earthquake. Our results support the conclusion that extended highly damaged zones are the key factor in limiting the role of major earthquakes to accommodate plate motion along RTFs.The material presented here is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation grants 1232725 and 0242117.2015-03-2

Threshold of a random laser based on Raman gain in cold atoms

We address the problem of achieving a random laser with a cloud of cold atoms, in which gain and scattering are provided by the same atoms. In this system, the elastic scattering cross-section is related to the complex atomic polarizability. As a consequence, the random laser threshold is expressed as a function of this polarizability, which can be fully determined by spectroscopic measurements. We apply this idea to experimentally evaluate the threshold of a random laser based on Raman gain between non-degenerate Zeeman states and find a critical optical thickness on the order of 200, which is within reach of state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments

Controllable transport mean free path of light in xerogel matrixes embedded with polystyrene spheres

Xerogel matrices, made by sol-gel techniques, are embedded with polystyrene spheres to promote multiple scattering of light. Varying the concentration of the spheres inside the matrix allows one to adjust the transport mean free path of light inside the material. Coherent backscattering measurements show that a range of transport mean free paths from 90 to 600 nm is easily achieved. The determination of the matrix refractive index permits a direct comparison to multiple scattering and Mie theory. Such tunable diffusive sol-gel derived samples can be further optimized as random laser materials.Comment: Updated figures and correcting typos. 5 pages, 3 figure

Thermodynamic coherence of the Variational Average-Atom in Quantum Plasmas (VAAQP) approach

A new code called VAAQP (Variational Average-Atom in Quantum Plasmas) is reported. The model as well as main results of previous studies are briefly recalled. The code is based on a new fully variational model of dense plasmas at equilibrium with quantum treatment of all electrons. The code can calculate the Average Atom structure and the mean ionization from the variational equations respecting the virial theorem and without imposing the neutrality of the Wigner-Seitz sphere. The formula obtained for the electronic pressure is simple and does not require any numerical differentiation. A description of the principal features of the code is given. The thermodynamic consistency of the results obtained with VAAQP is shown by a comparison with another approach on the example of the aluminium 10 eV isotherm EOS curve. A first comparison to an INFERNO-type model is also presented

Ascorbic acid partly antagonizes resveratrol mediated heme oxygenase-1 but not paraoxonase-1 induction in cultured hepatocytes - role of the redox-regulated transcription factor Nrf2

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Both resveratrol and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) are frequently used in complementary and alternative medicine. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms for potential health benefits of resveratrol and its interactions with ascorbic acid.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The antioxidant enzymes heme oxygenase-1 and paraoxonase-1 were analysed for their mRNA and protein levels in HUH7 liver cells treated with 10 and 25 μmol/l resveratrol in the absence and presence of 100 and 1000 μmol/l ascorbic acid. Additionally the transactivation of the transcription factor Nrf2 and paraoxonase-1 were determined by reporter gene assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we demonstrate that resveratrol induces the antioxidant enzymes heme oxygenase-1 and paraoxonase-1 in cultured hepatocytes. Heme oxygenase-1 induction by resveratrol was accompanied by an increase in Nrf2 transactivation. Resveratrol mediated Nrf2 transactivation as well as heme oxygenase-1 induction were partly antagonized by 1000 μmol/l ascorbic acid.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Unlike heme oxygenase-1 (which is highly regulated by Nrf2) paraoxonase-1 (which exhibits fewer ARE/Nrf2 binding sites in its promoter) induction by resveratrol was not counteracted by ascorbic acid. Addition of resveratrol to the cell culture medium produced relatively low levels of hydrogen peroxide which may be a positive hormetic redox-signal for Nrf2 dependent gene expression thereby driving heme oxygenase-1 induction. However, high concentrations of ascorbic acid manifold increased hydrogen peroxide production in the cell culture medium which may be a stress signal thereby disrupting the Nrf2 signalling pathway.</p

On measuring surface wave phase velocity from station–station cross-correlation of ambient signal

We apply two different algorithms to measure surface wave phase velocity, as a function of frequency, from seismic ambient noise recorded at pairs of stations from a large European network. The two methods are based on consistent theoretical formulations, but differ in the implementation: one method involves the time-domain cross-correlation of signal recorded at different stations; the other is based on frequency-domain cross-correlation, and requires finding the zero-crossings of the real part of the cross-correlation spectrum. Furthermore, the time-domain method, as implemented here and in the literature, practically involves the important approximation that interstation distance be large compared to seismic wavelength. In both cases, cross-correlations are ensemble-averaged over a relatively long period of time (1 yr). We verify that the two algorithms give consistent results, and infer that phase velocity can be successfully measured through ensemble-averaging of seismic ambient noise, further validating earlier studies that had followed either approach. The description of our experiment and its results is accompanied by a detailed though simplifed derivation of ambient-noise theory, writing out explicitly the relationships between the surface wave Green’s function, ambient-noise cross-correlation and phase and group velocities

Effect of Quercetin on Paraoxonase 2 Levels in RAW264.7 Macrophages and in Human Monocytes––Role of Quercetin Metabolism

There is increasing evidence that the intracellular antioxidant enzyme paraoxonase 2 (PON2) may have a protective function in the prevention of atherogenesis. An enhancement of PON2 activity by dietary factors including flavonoids is therefore of interest. In the present study we determined the effect of quercetin on paraoxonase 2 levels in cultured murine macrophages in vitro and in overweight subjects with a high cardiovascular risk phenotype supplemented with 150 mg quercetin/day for 42 days in vivo. Supplementation of murine RAW264.7 macrophages in culture with increasing concentrations of quercetin (1, 10, 20 μmol/L) resulted in a significant increase in PON2 mRNA and protein levels, as compared to untreated controls. Unlike quercetin, its glucuronidated metabolite quercetin-3-glucuronide did not affect PON2 gene expression in cultured macrophages. However the methylated quercetin derivative isorhamnetin enhanced PON2 gene expression in RAW264.7 cells to similar extent like quercetin. Although supplementing human volunteers with quercetin was accompanied by a significant increase in plasma quercetin concentration, dietary quercetin supplementation did not change PON2 mRNA levels in human monocytes in vivo. Current data indicate that quercetin supplementation increases PON2 levels in cultured monocytes in vitro but not in human volunteers in vivo