Properties of lift-off structured high Tc microbridges

Microbridges and DC SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) were fabricated, using a lift-off technique, from RF sputtered YBaCuO films on MgO single-crystal substrates. Microwave measurements at 9 GHz on microbridges and the magnetic-field dependence of their critical current reveal wide bridge behaviour up to temperatures near the maximum operating temperature of the bridge. Mostly, a linear dependence of the critical current on the temperature is found, which is connected with high intrinsic 1/f noise if the bridge is constant-current-biased slightly above the critical current. In some bridges and DC SQUIDs, regimes with a temperature dependence proportional to (1-T/Tc)1.5 are found. In this case the 1/f noise level is much smaller and SQUID modulation can be followed to about 65

Solving the characteristic initial value problem for colliding plane gravitational and electromagnetic waves

A method is presented for solving the characteristic initial value problem for the collision and subsequent nonlinear interaction of plane gravitational or gravitational and electromagnetic waves in a Minkowski background. This method generalizes the monodromy transform approach to fields with nonanalytic behaviour on the characteristics inherent to waves with distinct wave fronts. The crux of the method is in a reformulation of the main nonlinear symmetry reduced field equations as linear integral equations whose solutions are determined by generalized (``dynamical'') monodromy data which evolve from data specified on the initial characteristics (the wavefronts).Comment: 4 pages, RevTe

Collision of plane gravitational and electromagnetic waves in a Minkowski background: solution of the characteristic initial value problem

We consider the collisions of plane gravitational and electromagnetic waves with distinct wavefronts and of arbitrary polarizations in a Minkowski background. We first present a new, completely geometric formulation of the characteristic initial value problem for solutions in the wave interaction region for which initial data are those associated with the approaching waves. We present also a general approach to the solution of this problem which enables us in principle to construct solutions in terms of the specified initial data. This is achieved by re-formulating the nonlinear dynamical equations for waves in terms of an associated linear problem on the spectral plane. A system of linear integral ``evolution'' equations which solve this spectral problem for specified initial data is constructed. It is then demonstrated explicitly how various colliding plane wave space-times can be constructed from given characteristic initial data.Comment: 33 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX. Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

ARXPS-studies ofcˆ-axis textured YBa2Cu3Ox-films

YBa2Cu3Ox sputter deposited cold on MgO grows in O2 annealing epitaxially to a transparent, superconducting film with Tc 80K. The unscraped surfaces of these films are smooth showing XPS lines changing with photoelectron take-off angle. This enhanced data base allows to separate the different chemical compounds (hydroxide, peroxide, carbonate, carboxyle, cuprate, graphite ...) and to obtain their spatial distribution. This yields the compounds, their amount and distribution making up the cinder growing with O2-anneal at internal and external surfaces. The cinder stoichiometry gives insights in the chemistry going on in O2 annealing. Below the cinder the signature ofcˆ-axis oriented YBa2Cu3Ox is identified, showing that a Ba-oxide layer forms the stable surface. This coats insulating CuO2 and Y-oxide layers yielding so an intrinsic dead layer

Fatal anaphylactic sting reaction in a patient with mastocytosis

We report on a 33-year-old female patient with indolent systemic mastocytosis and urticaria pigmentosa who died of an anaphylactic reaction after a yellow jacket sting. As she had no history of previous anaphylactic sting reaction, there was no testing performed in order to detect hymenoptera venom sensitization. But even if a sensitization had been diagnosed, no venom immunotherapy (VIT) would have been recommended. It is almost certain that VIT would have saved her life and it is most likely that VIT is indicated in some patients with mastocytosis with no history of anaphylactic sting reaction. However, no criteria have been established in order to allow a selection of mastocytosis patients eligible for such a `prophylactic' VIT. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Low-coordinate iridium NHC complexes derived from selective and reversible C–H bond activation of fluoroarenes

Interaction of the reactive 14 VE {Ir(IBioxMe4)3}+ fragment with fluoroarenes results exclusively in ortho-C–H bond oxidative addition and formation of 16 VE Ir(III) derivatives [Ir(IBioxMe4)3(Ar)H]+ (Ar = 2-C6H4F, 2,3-C6H3F2, 2,4,6-C6H2F3). The C–H bond activation reactions occur under mild conditions and are reversible

Observables for spacetimes with two Killing field symmetries

The Einstein equations for spacetimes with two commuting spacelike Killing field symmetries are studied from a Hamiltonian point of view. The complexified Ashtekar canonical variables are used, and the symmetry reduction is performed directly in the Hamiltonian theory. The reduced system corresponds to the field equations of the SL(2,R) chiral model with additional constraints. On the classical phase space, a method of obtaining an infinite number of constants of the motion, or observables, is given. The procedure involves writing the Hamiltonian evolution equations as a single `zero curvature' equation, and then employing techniques used in the study of two dimensional integrable models. Two infinite sets of observables are obtained explicitly as functionals of the phase space variables. One set carries sl(2,R) Lie algebra indices and forms an infinite dimensional Poisson algebra, while the other is formed from traces of SL(2,R) holonomies that commute with one another. The restriction of the (complex) observables to the Euclidean and Lorentzian sectors is discussed. It is also shown that the sl(2,R) observables can be associated with a solution generating technique which is linked to that given by Geroch.Comment: 23 pages (LateX-RevTeX), Alberta-Thy-55-9

Simple method for sub-diffraction resolution imaging of cellular structures on standard confocal microscopes by three-photon absorption of quantum dots

This study describes a simple technique that improves a recently developed 3D sub-diffraction imaging method based on three-photon absorption of commercially available quantum dots. The method combines imaging of biological samples via tri-exciton generation in quantum dots with deconvolution and spectral multiplexing, resulting in a novel approach for multi-color imaging of even thick biological samples at a 1.4 to 1.9-fold better spatial resolution. This approach is realized on a conventional confocal microscope equipped with standard continuous-wave lasers. We demonstrate the potential of multi-color tri-exciton imaging of quantum dots combined with deconvolution on viral vesicles in lentivirally transduced cells as well as intermediate filaments in three-dimensional clusters of mouse-derived neural stem cells (neurospheres) and dense microtubuli arrays in myotubes formed by stacks of differentiated C2C12 myoblasts