513 research outputs found
The Hamburg Tornado (7 June 2016) from the perspective of low-cost high-resolution radar data and weather forecast model
A tornado hit the northeastern suburbs of Hamburg, Germany, on 7 June 2016. It had an estimated strength of upper end F1 on the Fujita scale and was short-lived with an approximate duration of only 13 min and a path length of just about 1.3 km. We demonstrate that such a small-scale, extreme event can be observed and forecasted accurately by a low-cost radar and by an atmospheric model with low computational costs, respectively. Observations from a low-cost single polarized X-band radar covering the urban area of Hamburg with 60 m spatial and 30 s temporal resolution are analyzed with respect to their ability to capture the development as well as the track of the tornado. In contrast to the national C-band radar network, the X-band radar is capable of capturing the hook echo of the tornado as well as the circular pattern in rain rates, because of its higher resolution in space and time. High-resolution forecasts of the tornado event are conducted with the computational efficient Conformal Cubic Atmosphere Model (CCAM) in order to test the capability of predicting the tornado with a lead time of a few hours. A three step downscaling method is used to obtain a spatial resolution of 1 km with initial conditions taken from the NCEP analysis. Calculated severe weather indices clearly indicate a potential for a tornado. CCAM cannot explicitly resolve small scale tornadic features but the model simulates a strong convective cell only a few kilometers apart from the tornadic thunderstorm observed by the radar
Electrostatic attraction of nanoobjects - a versatile strategy towards mesostructured transition metal compounds
This highlight summarizes current challenges of mesostructuring and focuses on the scope and the potential of the ELAN – (electrostatic attraction of nanoobjects) strategy in mesostructuring of transition metal compounds. It discusses the limitations of this concept and highlights prominent examples. ELAN exploits the Coulomb attraction between inorganic precursors and polymeric templates in order to prevent macrophase separation. Essential requirements for ELAN are tailor-made, mesoscopic polyelectrolytic templates and charged molecular oligo-ions or stable colloids carrying a surface charge. The ELAN-strategy is highly reliable and opens the way to crystalline, mesoporous transition metal compounds with predefined polymorphism. It also provides the possibility to adjust wall chemistry and reactivity as well as the flexibility to synthesise different mesostructures (spheres, non-woven arrays or hexagonally ordered phases)
Enhancing the Catalytic Activity of Palladium Nanoparticles via Sandwich-Like Confinement by Thin Titanate Nanosheets
As atomically thin oxide layers deposited on flat (noble) metal surfaces have been proven to have a significant influence on the electronic structure and thus the catalytic activity of the metal, we sought to mimic this architecture at the bulk scale. This could be achieved by intercalating small positively charged Pd nanoparticles of size 3.8 nm into a nematic liquid crystalline phase of lepidocrocite-type layered titanate. Upon intercalation the galleries collapsed and Pd nanoparticles were captured in a sandwichlike mesoporous architecture showing good accessibility to Pd nanoparticles. On the basis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and CO diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS) Pd was found to be in a partially oxidized state, while a reduced Ti species indicated an electronic interaction between nanoparticles and nanosheets. The close contact of titanate sandwiching Pd nanoparticles, moreover, allows for the donation of a lattice oxygen to the noble metal (inverse spillover). Due to the metal–support interactions of this peculiar support, the catalyst exhibited the oxidation of CO with a turnover frequency as high as 0.17 s–1 at a temperature of 100 °C
Induction of a leaf specific geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase and emission of (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene in tomato are dependent on both jasmonic acid and salicylic acid signaling pathways
Two cDNAs encoding geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) synthases from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) have been cloned and functionally expressed in Escherichia coli. LeGGPS1 was predominantly expressed in leaf tissue and LeGGPS2 in ripening fruit and flower tissue. LeGGPS1 expression was induced in leaves by spider mite (Tetranychus urticae)-feeding and mechanical wounding in wild type tomato but not in the jasmonic acid (JA)-response mutant def-1 and the salicylic acid (SA)-deficient transgenic NahG line. Furthermore, LeGGPS1 expression could be induced in leaves of wild type tomato plants by JA- or methyl salicylate (MeSA)-treatment. In contrast, expression of LeGGPS2 was not induced in leaves by spider mite-feeding, wounding, JA- or MeSA-treatment. We show that emission of the GGPP-derived volatile terpenoid (E,E)-4,8,12-trimethyltrideca-1,3,7,11-tetraene (TMTT) correlates with expression of LeGGPS1. An exception was MeSA-treatment, which resulted in induction of LeGGPS1 but not in emission of TMTT. We show that there is an additional layer of regulation, because geranyllinalool synthase, catalyzing the first dedicated step in TMTT biosynthesis, was induced by JA but not by MeSA
Dispersive charge density wave excitations and temperature dependent commensuration in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+{\delta}
Experimental evidence on high-Tc cuprates reveals ubiquitous charge density
wave (CDW) modulations, which coexist with superconductivity. Although the CDW
had been predicted by theory, important questions remain about the extent to
which the CDW influences lattice and charge degrees of freedom and its
characteristics as functions of doping and temperature. These questions are
intimately connected to the origin of the CDW and its relation to the
mysterious cuprate pseudogap. Here, we use ultrahigh resolution resonant
inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) to reveal new CDW character in underdoped
Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+{\delta} (Bi2212). At low temperature, we observe dispersive
excitations from an incommensurate CDW that induces anomalously enhanced phonon
intensity, unseen using other techniques. Near the pseudogap temperature T*,
the CDW persists, but the associated excitations significantly weaken and the
CDW wavevector shifts, becoming nearly commensurate with a periodicity of four
lattice constants. The dispersive CDW excitations, phonon anomaly, and
temperature dependent commensuration provide a comprehensive momentum space
picture of complex CDW behavior and point to a closer relationship with the
pseudogap state
Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Studies of Elementary Excitations
In the past decade, Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) has made
remarkable progress as a spectroscopic technique. This is a direct result of
the availability of high-brilliance synchrotron X-ray radiation sources and of
advanced photon detection instrumentation. The technique's unique capability to
probe elementary excitations in complex materials by measuring their energy-,
momentum-, and polarization-dependence has brought RIXS to the forefront of
experimental photon science. We review both the experimental and theoretical
RIXS investigations of the past decade, focusing on those determining the
low-energy charge, spin, orbital and lattice excitations of solids. We present
the fundamentals of RIXS as an experimental method and then review the
theoretical state of affairs, its recent developments and discuss the different
(approximate) methods to compute the dynamical RIXS response. The last decade's
body of experimental RIXS data and its interpretation is surveyed, with an
emphasis on RIXS studies of correlated electron systems, especially transition
metal compounds. Finally, we discuss the promise that RIXS holds for the near
future, particularly in view of the advent of x-ray laser photon sources.Comment: Review, 67 pages, 44 figure
О фундаментальных проблемах исследования задач термодинамики и тепломассопереноса в нефтегазовой отрасли
Optical detection of single non-absorbing molecules using the surface plasmon of a gold nanorod
Current optical detection schemes for single molecules require light
absorption, either to produce fluorescence or direct absorption signals. This
severely limits the range of molecules that can be detected, because most
molecules are purely refractive. Metal nanoparticles or dielectric resonators
detect non-absorbing molecules by a resonance shift in response to a local
perturbation of the refractive index, but neither has reached single-protein
sensitivity. The most sensitive plasmon sensors to date detect single molecules
only when the plasmon shift is amplified by a highly polarizable label or by a
localized precipitation reaction on the particle's surface. Without
amplification, the sensitivity only allows for the statistical detection of
single molecules. Here we demonstrate plasmonic detection of single molecules
in realtime, without the need for labeling or amplification. We monitor the
plasmon resonance of a single gold nanorod with a sensitive photothermal assay
and achieve a ~ 700-fold increase in sensitivity compared to state-of-the-art
plasmon sensors. We find that the sensitivity of the sensor is intrinsically
limited due to spectral diffusion of the SPR. We believe this is the first
optical technique that detects single molecules purely by their refractive
index, without any need for photon absorption by the molecule. The small size,
bio-compatibility and straightforward surface chemistry of gold nanorods may
open the way to the selective and local detection of purely refractive proteins
in live cells
Influence of apical oxygen on the extent of in-plane exchange interaction in cuprate superconductors
In high Tc superconductors the magnetic and electronic properties are
determined by the probability that valence electrons virtually jump from site
to site in the CuO2 planes, a mechanism opposed by on-site Coulomb repulsion
and favored by hopping integrals. The spatial extent of the latter is related
to transport properties, including superconductivity, and to the dispersion
relation of spin excitations (magnons). Here, for three antiferromagnetic
parent compounds (single-layer Bi2Sr0.99La1.1CuO6+delta, double-layer
Nd1.2Ba1.8Cu3O6 and infinite-layer CaCuO2) differing by the number of apical
atoms, we compare the magnetic spectra measured by resonant inelastic x-ray
scattering over a significant portion of the reciprocal space and with
unprecedented accuracy. We observe that the absence of apical oxygens increases
the in-plane hopping range and, in CaCuO2, it leads to a genuine 3D
exchange-bond network. These results establish a corresponding relation between
the exchange interactions and the crystal structure, and provide fresh insight
into the materials dependence of the superconducting transition temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 Table, 42 reference
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