Spatial phase dislocations in femtosecond laser pulses

We show that spatial phase dislocations associated with optical vortices can be embedded in femtosecond laser beams by computer-generated holograms, provided that they are built in a setup compensating for the introduced spatial dispersion of the broad spectrum. We present analytical results describing two possible arrangements: a dispersionless 4 setup and a double-pass grating compressor. Experimental results on the generation of optical vortices in the output beam of a 20 fs Ti:sapphire laser and the proof-of-principle measurements with a broadband-tunable cw Ti:sapphire laser confirm our theoretical predictions.This research was partially supported by the National Science Fund (Bulgaria), under contract F-1303/2003, and the Australian Research Council

Competence self-perceptions

This chapter discusses the different operationalizations of competence self-perceptions and the implications for advancing theory, research, and practice

Automated detection of residual cells after sex-mismatched stem-cell transplantation – evidence for presence of disease-marker negative residual cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A new chimerism analysis based on automated interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) evaluation was established to detect residual cells after allogene sex-mismatched bone marrow or blood stem-cell transplantation.</p> <p>Cells of 58 patients were characterized as disease-associated due to presence of a bcr/abl-gene-fusion or a trisomy 8 and/or a simultaneous hybridization of gonosome-specific centromeric probes. The automatic slide scanning platform Metafer with its module MetaCyte was used to analyse 3,000 cells per sample.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall 454 assays of 58 patients were analyzed. 13 of 58 patients showed residual recipient cells at one stage of more than 4% and 12 of 58 showed residual recipient cells less than 4%, respectively. As to be expected, patients of the latter group were associated with a higher survival rate (48 vs. 34 month). In only two of seven patients with disease-marker positive residual cells between 0.1–1.3% a relapse was observed. Besides, disease-marker negative residual cells were found in two patients without relapse at a rate of 2.8% and 3.3%, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The definite origin and meaning of disease-marker negative residual cells is still unclear. Overall, with the presented automatic chimerism analysis of interphase FISH slides, a sensitive method for detection of disease-marker positive residual cells is on hand.</p

A phenomenological theory of nonphotochemical laser induced nucleation

Our analysis of the experimental data related to nonphotochemical laser induced nucleation in solutions leads to the inevitable conclusion that the phase transformation is initiated by particles that are metallic in nature. This conclusion appears paradoxical because the final products are dielectric crystals. We show that the experimental results are well accounted for by the theory of electric field induced nucleation of metallic particles that are elongated in the direction of the field. However, new physical and chemical insights are required to understand the structure of the metallic precursor particles and the kinetics of subsequent dielectric crystallization.Comment: 5 pages 4 figure

Stratigraphic evolution of the Neoproterozoic Callison Lake Formation: Linking the break-up of Rodinia to the Islay carbon isotope excursion

The ∼780 to 540 Ma Windermere Supergroup of western North America records the protracted development of the western Laurentian passive margin and provides insights into the nature, timing, and kinematics of Rodinia's fragmentation. Here we present a refined tectono- and chemo-stratigraphic model for circa 780 to 720 Ma sedimentation in NW Canada through a study of the Callison Lake Formation (formalized herein) of the Mount Harper Group, spectacularly exposed in the Coal Creek and Hart River inliers of the Ogilvie Mountains of Yukon, Canada. Twenty-one stratigraphic sections are integrated with geological mapping, facies analysis, carbon and oxygen isotope chemostratigraphy, and Re-Os geochronology to provide a depositional reconstruction for the Callison Lake Formation. Mixed siliciclastic, carbonate, and evaporite sediments accumulated in marginal marine embayments formed in discrete hangingwall depocenters of a prominent Windermere extensional fault zone. Deposition of the Windermere Supergroup in NW Canada post dates the eruption of the circa 780 Ma Gunbarrel Large Igneous Province by ∼30 million years, is locally associated with compressional or transpressional tectonism, and predates the successful rift-drift transition by ∼200 million years. In order to accommodate evidence for coeval extensional and compressional tectonism, abrupt facies change, and Neoproterozoic fault geometries, we propose that NW Laurentia experienced strike-slip deformation during the ∼740 to 660 Ma early fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia. Sequence stratigraphic data from the Callison Lake Formation and other basal Windermere successions in the northern Canadian Cordillera delineate three distinct depositional sequences, or transgressive-regressive (T-R) cycles, that are coeval with similar stratigraphic packages in the ∼780 to 720 Ma Chuar-Uinta Mountain-Pahrump basins of the western United States. The global circa 735 Ma Islay carbon isotope excursion is consistently present in carbonate strata of the third T-R cycle and is interpreted to represent a primary perturbation to the global carbon cycle, possibly driven by the uplift and weathering of extensive shallow epicontinental seaways and evaporite basins.Earth and Planetary Science

Lymphocyte subsets and the role of Th1/Th2 balance in stressed chronic pain patients

Background: The complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are chronic pain syndromes occurring in highly stressed individuals. Despite the known connection between the nervous system and immune cells, information on distribution of lymphocyte subsets under stress and pain conditions is limited. Methods: We performed a comparative study in 15 patients with CRPS type I, 22 patients with FM and 37 age- and sex-matched healthy controls and investigated the influence of pain and stress on lymphocyte number, subpopulations and the Th1/Th2 cytokine ratio in T lymphocytes. Results: Lymphocyte numbers did not differ between groups. Quantitative analyses of lymphocyte subpopulations showed a significant reduction of cytotoxic CD8+ lymphocytes in both CRPS (p < 0.01) and FM (p < 0.05) patients as compared with healthy controls. Additionally, CRPS patients were characterized by a lower percentage of IL-2-producing T cell subpopulations reflecting a diminished Th1 response in contrast to no changes in the Th2 cytokine profile. Conclusions: Future studies are warranted to answer whether such immunological changes play a pathogenetic role in CRPS and FM or merely reflect the consequences of a pain-induced neurohumoral stress response, and whether they contribute to immunosuppression in stressed chronic pain patients. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C.

Increased levels of the second messenger lipid diacylglycerol (DAG) induce downstream signaling events including the translocation of C1-domain-containing proteins toward the plasma membrane. Here, we introduce three light-sensitive DAGs, termed PhoDAGs, which feature a photoswitchable acyl chain. The PhoDAGs are inactive in the dark and promote the translocation of proteins that feature C1 domains toward the plasma membrane upon a flash of UV-A light. This effect is quickly reversed after the termination of photostimulation or by irradiation with blue light, permitting the generation of oscillation patterns. Both protein kinase C and Munc13 can thus be put under optical control. PhoDAGs control vesicle release in excitable cells, such as mouse pancreatic islets and hippocampal neurons, and modulate synaptic transmission in Caenorhabditis elegans. As such, the PhoDAGs afford an unprecedented degree of spatiotemporal control and are broadly applicable tools to study DAG signaling

Head & neck optical diagnostics: vision of the future of surgery

Review paper and Proceedings of the Inaugural Meeting of the Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics Society (HNODS) on March 14th 2009 at University College London

System size and centrality dependence of the balance function in A+A collisions at sqrt[sNN]=17.2 GeV

Electric charge correlations were studied for p+p, C+C, Si+Si, and centrality selected Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt[sNN]=17.2 GeV with the NA49 large acceptance detector at the CERN SPS. In particular, long-range pseudorapidity correlations of oppositely charged particles were measured using the balance function method. The width of the balance function decreases with increasing system size and centrality of the reactions. This decrease could be related to an increasing delay of hadronization in central Pb+Pb collisions