100 research outputs found
What make them leave and where do they go?:non-completion and institutional departures in STEM
Laser-induced 3D alignment and orientation of quantum-state-selected molecules
A strong inhomogeneous static electric field is used to spatially disperse a
rotationally cold supersonic beam of 2,6-difluoroiodobenzene molecules
according to their rotational quantum state. The molecules in the lowest lying
rotational states are selected and used as targets for 3-dimensional alignment
and orientation. The alignment is induced in the adiabatic regime with an
elliptically polarized, intense laser pulse and the orientation is induced by
the combined action of the laser pulse and a weak static electric field. We
show that the degree of 3-dimensional alignment and orientation is strongly
enhanced when rotationally state-selected molecules, rather than molecules in
the original molecular beam, are used as targets.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; v2: minor update
Orientation-dependent ionization yields from strong-field ionization of fixed-in-space linear and asymmetric top molecules
The yield of strong-field ionization, by a linearly polarized probe pulse, is
studied experimentally and theoretically, as a function of the relative
orientation between the laser field and the molecule. Experimentally, carbonyl
sulfide, benzonitrile and naphthalene molecules are aligned in one or three
dimensions before being singly ionized by a 30 fs laser pulse centered at 800
nm. Theoretically, we address the behaviour of these three molecules. We
consider the degree of alignment and orientation and model the angular
dependence of the total ionization yield by molecular tunneling theory
accounting for the Stark shift of the energy level of the ionizing orbital. For
naphthalene and benzonitrile the orientational dependence of the ionization
yield agrees well with the calculated results, in particular the observation
that ionization is maximized when the probe laser is polarized along the most
polarizable axis. For OCS the observation of maximum ionization yield when the
probe is perpendicular to the internuclear axis contrasts the theoretical
results.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Theoretical description of adiabatic laser alignment and mixed-field orientation: the need for a non-adiabatic model
We present a theoretical study of recent laser-alignment and
mixed-field-orientation experiments of asymmetric top molecules. In these
experiments, pendular states were created using linearly polarized strong ac
electric fields from pulsed lasers in combination with weak electrostatic
fields. We compare the outcome of our calculations with experimental results
obtained for the prototypical large molecule benzonitrile (CHN) [J.L.
Hansen et al, Phys. Rev. A, 83, 023406 (2011)] and explore the directional
properties of the molecular ensemble for several field configurations, i.e.,
for various field strengths and angles between ac and dc fields. For
perpendicular fields one obtains pure alignment, which is well reproduced by
the simulations. For tilted fields, we show that a fully adiabatic description
of the process does not reproduce the experimentally observed orientation, and
it is mandatory to use a diabatic model for population transfer between
rotational states. We develop such a model and compare its outcome to the
experimental data confirming the importance of non-adiabatic processes in the
field-dressed molecular dynamics.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Manipulating the torsion of molecules by strong laser pulses
A proof-of-principle experiment is reported, where torsional motion of a
molecule, consisting of a pair of phenyl rings, is induced by strong laser
pulses. A nanosecond laser pulse spatially aligns the carbon-carbon bond axis,
connecting the two phenyl rings, allowing a perpendicularly polarized, intense
femtosecond pulse to initiate torsional motion accompanied by an overall
rotation about the fixed axis. The induced motion is monitored by femtosecond
time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging. Our theoretical analysis accounts for
and generalizes the experimental findings.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRL; Major revision of the
presentation of the material; Correction of ion labels in Fig. 2(a
Proinflammatory Protein Signatures in Cryptogenic and Large Artery Atherosclerosis Stroke
Objectives:
The cause of ischemic stroke remains unknown, cryptogenic, in 25% of young and middle‐aged patients. We hypothesized that if atherosclerosis is prominent in cryptogenic stroke, it would have a similar proinflammatory protein signature as large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) stroke.
Materials & Methods:
Blood was collected in the acute phase and after 3 months from cryptogenic (n = 162) and LAA (n = 73) stroke patients aged 18–69 years and once from age‐matched controls (n = 235). Cryptogenic stroke was divided into Framingham Risk Score (FRS) quartiles to compare low and high risk of atherosclerosis. Plasma concentrations of 25 proteins were analyzed using a Luminex multiplex assay. The discriminating properties were assessed with discriminant analysis and C‐statistics.
Results:
We identified proteins that separated cryptogenic and LAA stroke from controls (area under the curves, AUCs ≥ 0.85). For both subtypes, RANTES, IL‐4, and IFN‐γ contributed the most at both time points. These associations were independent of risk factors of atherosclerosis. We also identified proteins that separated cryptogenic strokes in the lowest quartile of FRS from those in the highest, and from LAA stroke (AUCs ≥ 0.76), and here eotaxin and MCP‐1 contributed the most.
Conclusions:
The protein signature separating cases from controls was different from the signature separating cryptogenic stroke with low risk of atherosclerosis from those with high risk and from LAA stroke. This suggests that increased RANTES, IL‐4, and IFN‐γ in stroke may not be primarily related to atherosclerosis, whereas increased eotaxin and MCP‐1 in cryptogenic stroke may be markers of occult atherosclerosis as the underlying cause
Ischemic Preconditioning Improves Microvascular Endothelial Function in Remote Vasculature by Enhanced Prostacyclin Production.
BACKGROUND The mechanisms underlying the effect of preconditioning on remote microvasculature remains undisclosed. The primary objective was to document the remote effect of ischemic preconditioning on microvascular function in humans. The secondary objective was to test if exercise also induces remote microvascular effects. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 12 healthy young men and women participated in 2 experimental days in a random counterbalanced order. On one day the participants underwent 4×5 minutes of forearm ischemic preconditioning, and on the other day they completed 4×5 minutes of hand-grip exercise. On both days, catheters were placed in the brachial and femoral artery and vein for infusion of acetylcholine, sodium nitroprusside, and epoprostenol. Vascular conductance was calculated from blood flow measurements with ultrasound Doppler and arterial and venous blood pressures. Ischemic preconditioning enhanced (P<0.05) the remote vasodilator response to intra-arterial acetylcholine in the leg at 5 and 90 minutes after application. The enhanced response was associated with a 6-fold increase (P<0.05) in femoral venous plasma prostacyclin levels and with a transient increase (P<0.05) in arterial plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and vascular endothelial growth factor. In contrast, hand-grip exercise did not influence remote microvascular function. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate that ischemic preconditioning of the forearm improves remote microvascular endothelial function and suggest that one of the underlying mechanisms is a humoral-mediated potentiation of prostacyclin formation
Quantum-state selection, alignment, and orientation of large molecules using static electric and laser fields
Supersonic beams of polar molecules are deflected using inhomogeneous
electric fields. The quantum-state selectivity of the deflection is used to
spatially separate molecules according to their quantum state. A detailed
analysis of the deflection and the obtained quantum-state selection is
presented. The rotational temperatures of the molecular beams are determined
from the spatial beam profiles and are all approximately 1 K. Unprecedented
degrees of laser-induced alignment and
orientation of iodobenzene molecules are demonstrated when the state-selected
samples are used. Such state-selected and oriented molecules provide unique
possibilities for many novel experiments in chemistry and physics.Comment: minor changes, references update
Get lucky? Luck and educational mobility in working-class young people’s lives from age 10–21
Scant sociological attention has been given to the role of luck within social mobility/reproduction. This paper helps address this conceptual gap, drawing on insights from over 200 longitudinal interviews conducted with 20 working-class young people and 22 of their parents over an 11-year period, from age 10–21. We explore the potential significance of luck within the trajectories of 13 educationally mobile young people who were the first in family to go to university, six young people who achieved similar educational levels to their parents and one young person whose status was less clear cut. Our analysis suggests that particular forms of luck may be instrumental in creating opportunities for social mobility, although the consequentiality of these are mediated through interplays of agency, structure, habitus and capital. We conclude that paying further attention to luck may help augment sociological understandings of structure/agency and Bourdieusian understandings of social reproduction
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