Polyhedral models for generalized associahedra via Coxeter elements

Motivated by the theory of cluster algebras, F. Chapoton, S. Fomin and A. Zelevinsky associated to each finite type root system a simple convex polytope called \emph{generalized associahedron}. They provided an explicit realization of this polytope associated with a bipartite orientation of the corresponding Dynkin diagram. In the first part of this paper, using the parametrization of cluster variables by their $g$-vectors explicitly computed by S.-W. Yang and A. Zelevinsky, we generalize the original construction to any orientation. In the second part we show that our construction agrees with the one given by C. Hohlweg, C. Lange, and H. Thomas in the setup of Cambrian fans developed by N. Reading and D. Speyer.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures. Changelog: 20111106: initial version 20120403: fixed errors in figures 20120827: revised versio

Sub-wavelength surface IR imaging of soft-condensed matter

Outlined here is a technique for sub-wavelength infrared surface imaging performed using a phase matched optical parametric oscillator laser and an atomic force microscope as the detection mechanism. The technique uses a novel surface excitation illumination approach to perform simultaneously chemical mapping and AFM topography imaging with an image resolution of 200 nm. This method was demonstrated by imaging polystyrene micro-structures

Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy study of femtosecond laser-irradiated selenium-doped 'black' silicon

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2009."May 2009." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-50).'Black silicon' refers to silicon that has been treated in a laser-ablation process to incorporate large amounts of chalcogen dopants. The material has been found to have greatly increased absorbance of visible and infared wavelength light in comparison to undoped crystalline silicon. Selenium-doped black silicon that had been annealed at different temperatures were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction. The goal of the investigation was to characterize the structure of the laser-altered regions of the material. In addition, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was conducted in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) in order to map spatial distribution of the selenium and the silicon were located within the material. The results of the TEM study showed roughly conical peaks of varying shapes protruding about 1 [mu]m from the surface of the material. The material is altered up to a depth of up to 1-2 [mu]m, where polycrystalline or amorphous layers were observed. Electron diffraction studies revealed increased crystallinity in the annealed sample. A continuous, sharp interface between the affected region and unaltered substrate was found and particles of diameter 5-100 nm embedded within the silicon were observed. The STEM-EDX studies showed that the selenium was dispersed inhomogenously throughout the material. The selenium is concentrated near the interface of the unaltered Si substrate and the laser-altered layer and a high local concentration of selenium in the embedded particles was recorded. The findings in this study provide a first look at the underlying structure of black silicon and will lead to future work characterizing the material.by Arthur H. Reading.S.B

Anomalous magnetic phase in an undistorted pyrochlore oxide Cd2Os2O7 induced by geometrical frustration

We report on the muon spin rotation/relaxation study of a pyrochlore oxide, Cd2Os2O7, which exhibits a metal-insulator (MI) transition at T_{MI}~225 K without structural phase transition. It reveals strong spin fluctuation (>10^8/s) below the MI transition, suggesting a predominant role of geometrical spin frustration amongst Os^{5+} ions. Meanwhile, upon further cooling, a static spin density wave discontinuously develops below T_{SDW}~150 K. These observations strongly suggest the occurrence of an anomalous magnetic transition and associated change in the local spin dynamics in undistorted pyrochlore antiferromagnet.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

An ovary transcriptome for all maturational stages of the striped bass (Morone saxatilis), a highly advanced perciform fish

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The striped bass and its relatives (genus <it>Morone</it>) are important fisheries and aquaculture species native to estuaries and rivers of the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico in North America. To open avenues of gene expression research on reproduction and breeding of striped bass, we generated a collection of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a complementary DNA (cDNA) library representative of their ovarian transcriptome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sequences of a total of 230,151 ESTs (51,259,448 bp) were acquired by Roche 454 pyrosequencing of cDNA pooled from ovarian tissues obtained at all stages of oocyte growth, at ovulation (eggs), and during preovulatory atresia. Quality filtering of ESTs allowed assembly of 11,208 high-quality contigs ≥ 100 bp, including 2,984 contigs 500 bp or longer (average length 895 bp). Blastx comparisons revealed 5,482 gene orthologues (E-value < 10^-3), of which 4,120 (36.7% of total contigs) were annotated with Gene Ontology terms (E-value < 10^-6). There were 5,726 remaining unknown unique sequences (51.1% of total contigs). All of the high-quality EST sequences are available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Short Read Archive (GenBank: <ext-link ext-link-id="SRX007394" ext-link-type="gen">SRX007394</ext-link>). Informative contigs were considered to be abundant if they were assembled from groups of ESTs comprising ≥ 0.15% of the total short read sequences (≥ 345 reads/contig). Approximately 52.5% of these abundant contigs were predicted to have predominant ovary expression through digital differential display <it>in silico </it>comparisons to zebrafish (<it>Danio rerio</it>) UniGene orthologues. Over 1,300 Gene Ontology terms from Biological Process classes of Reproduction, Reproductive process, and Developmental process were assigned to this collection of annotated contigs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This first large reference sequence database available for the ecologically and economically important temperate basses (genus <it>Morone</it>) provides a foundation for gene expression studies in these species. The predicted predominance of ovary gene expression and assignment of directly relevant Gene Ontology classes suggests a powerful utility of this dataset for analysis of ovarian gene expression related to fundamental questions of oogenesis. Additionally, a high definition Agilent 60-mer oligo ovary 'UniClone' microarray with 8 × 15,000 probe format has been designed based on this striped bass transcriptome (eArray Group: Striper Group, Design ID: 029004).</p

Associahedra via spines

An associahedron is a polytope whose vertices correspond to triangulations of a convex polygon and whose edges correspond to flips between them. Using labeled polygons, C. Hohlweg and C. Lange constructed various realizations of the associahedron with relevant properties related to the symmetric group and the classical permutahedron. We introduce the spine of a triangulation as its dual tree together with a labeling and an orientation. This notion extends the classical understanding of the associahedron via binary trees, introduces a new perspective on C. Hohlweg and C. Lange's construction closer to J.-L. Loday's original approach, and sheds light upon the combinatorial and geometric properties of the resulting realizations of the associahedron. It also leads to noteworthy proofs which shorten and simplify previous approaches.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures. Version 5: minor correction

Exploring young people's and youth workers' experiences of spaces for ‘youth development’: creating cultures of participation

The paper focuses on the emergence of ‘positive youth development’ and its impact on older, more established practices of working with young people, such as youth work. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in England between 2004 and 2006, in particular young people's and youth workers' accounts of participating in youth work, the analysis engages with the social spaces in which youth work takes place and asks key questions about why young people might participate in youth spaces, what they get out of participating and how such spaces can promote cultures of participation. The analysis shows that such spaces provide young people and their communities with biographical continuity and time becomes a key component for sustaining such spaces. The argument is made for a more nuanced understanding of what young people get out of their participation in youth spaces, and for an epistemological approach to youth praxis that embraces the messiness and inequalities of lived experience