Constant angle surfaces in product spaces.

53B25;

Endoscopic imaging of quantum gases through a fiber bundle

We use a coherent fiber bundle to demonstrate the endoscopic absorption imaging of quantum gases. We show that the fiber bundle introduces spurious noise in the picture mainly due to the strong core-to-core coupling. By direct comparison with free-space pictures, we observe that there is a maximum column density that can be reliably measured using our fiber bundle, and we derive a simple criterion to estimate it. We demonstrate that taking care of not exceeding such maximum, we can retrieve exact quantitative information about the atomic system, making this technique appealing for systems requiring isolation form the environment

Annual Report of the Municipal Officers of the Town of Gouldsboro, Maine For The Year Ending February 10, 1917 Also the Report of the Superintendent of Schools

We study the parallel machine scheduling problem to minimize the sum of the weighted completion times of the jobs to be scheduled (problem PmjjP wjCj in the standard three-field notation). We use the set covering formulation that was introduced by van den Akker et al. (1999) for this problem, and we improve the computational performance of their branch-and-price (B&P) algorithm by a number of techniques, including a different generic branching scheme, zero-suppressed binary decision diagrams (ZDDs) to solve the pricing problem, dual-price smoothing as a stabilization method, and Farkas pricing to handle infeasibilities. We report computational results that show the effectiveness of the algorithmic enhancements, which depends on the characteristics of the instances. To the best of our knowledge, we are also the first to use ZDDs to solve the pricing problem in a B&P algorithm for a scheduling problem.status: Published onlin

Exploring the thermodynamics of spin-1 87^{87}Rb Bose Gases with synthetic magnetization

In this work, we study the thermodynamic properties of a spin-1 Bose gas across the Bose-Einstein condensation transition. We present the theoretical description of the thermodynamics of a trapped ideal spin-1 Bose gas and we describe the phases that can be obtained in this system as a function of the temperature and of the populations in the different spin components. We propose a simple way to realize a "synthetic magnetization" that can be used to probe the entire phase diagram while keeping the real magnetization of the system fixed. We experimentally demonstrate the use of such method to explore different phases in a sample with zero total magnetization. Our work opens up new perspectives to study isothermal quenching dynamics through different magnetic phases in spinor condensates

Constant Angle Surfaces in Product Spaces

We classify all the surfaces in $M^2(c_1)\times M^2(c_2)$ for which the tangent space $T_pM^2$ makes constant angles with $T_p(M^2(c_1)\times \{p_2\})$ (or equivalently with $T_p(\{p_1\}\times M^2(c_2))$ for every point $p=(p_1,p_2)$ of $M^2$. Here $M^2(c_1)$ and $M^2(c_2)$ are 2-dimensional space forms, not both flat. As a corollary we give a classification of all the totally geodesic surfaces in $M^2(c_1)\times M^2(c_2)$.Comment: 25 pages, revised version: added references, typos correcte

Excited states and electron transfer in solution : models based on density functional theory

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemistry, 2012.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 161-185).Our understanding of organic materials for solar energy conversion stands to benefit greatly from accurate, computationally tractable electronic structure methods for excited states. Here we apply two approaches based on density functional theory (DFT) to predict excitation energies and electron transfer parameters in organic chromophores and semiconductors in solution. First, we apply constrained DFT to characterize charge recombination in a photoexcited donor-acceptor dyad and to understand the photophysical behavior of a fluorescent sensor for aqueous zinc. Second, we discover that the delta-self-consistent-field ([Delta]SCF) approach to excited states in DFT offers accuracy comparable to that of the better-established but more indirect linear-response time-dependent DFT approach, and we offer some justification for the similarity. Finally, we investigate a spin-restricted analog of [Delta]SCF known as restricted open-shell Kohn-Sham (ROKS) theory. We resolve a known ambiguity in the formal solution of the ROKS equations for the singlet excited state by presenting a self-consistent implementation of ROKS with respect to the mixing angle between the two open shells. The excited state methods developed and applied in this work contribute to the expanding toolkit of electronic structure theory for challenging problems in the characterization and design of organic materials.by Timothy Daniel Kowalczyk.Ph.D

Electron tomography unravels new insights into fiber cell wall nanostructure; exploring 3Dma cromolecular biopolymeric nano‑architecture of spruce fiber secondary walls

Lignocellulose biomass has a tremendous potential as renewable biomaterials for fostering the “bio-based society” and circular bioeconomy paradigm. It requires efficient use and breakdown of fiber cell walls containing mainly cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin biopolymers. Despite their great importance, there is an extensive debate on the true structure of fiber walls and knowledge on the macromolecular nano-organization is limited and remains elusive in 3D. We employed dual-axis electron tomography that allows visualization of previously unseen 3D macromolecular organization/biopolymeric nano-architecture of the secondary S2 layer of Norway spruce fiber wall. Unprecedented 3D nano-structural details with novel insights into cellulose microfibrils (~ 2 nm diameter), macrofibrils, nano-pore network and cell wall chemistry (volume %) across the S2 were explored and quantified including simulation of structure related permeability. Matrix polymer association with cellulose varied between microfibrils and macrofibrils with lignin directly associated with MFs. Simulated bio-nano-mechanical properties revealed stress distribution within the S2 and showed similar properties between the idealized 3D model and the native S2 (actual tomogram). Present work has great potential for significant advancements in lignocellulose research on nano-scale understanding of cell wall assembly/disassembly processes leading to more efficient industrial processes of functionalization, valorization and target modification technologies

Efficient reduction of speckle noise in Optical Coherence Tomography

Speckle pattern, which is inherent in coherence imaging, influences significantly axial and transversal resolution of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) instruments. The well known speckle removal techniques are either sensitive to sample motion, require sophisticated and expensive sample tracking systems, or involve sophisticated numerical procedures. As a result, their applicability to in vivo real-time imaging is limited. In this work, we propose to average multiple A-scans collected in a fully controlled way to reduce the speckle contrast. This procedure involves non-coherent averaging of OCT A-scans acquired from adjacent locations on the sample. The technique exploits scanning protocol with fast beam deflection in the direction perpendicular to lateral dimension of the cross-sectional image. Such scanning protocol reduces the time interval between A-scans to be averaged to the repetition time of the acquisition system. Consequently, the averaging algorithm is immune to bulk motion of an investigated sample, does not require any sophisticated data processing to align cross-sectional images, and allows for precise control of lateral shift of the scanning beam on the object. The technique is tested with standard Spectral OCT system with an extra resonant scanner used for rapid beam deflection in the lateral direction. Ultrahigh speed CMOS camera serves as a detector and acquires 200,000 spectra per second. A dedicated A-scan generation algorithm allows for real-time display of images with reduced speckle contrast at 6 frames/second. This technique is applied to in vivo imaging of anterior and posterior segments of the human eye and human skin

DETECTION AND SUBTYPING OF SWINE INFLUENZA VIRUSES IN CLINICAL SAMPLES BY THE MEAN OF DEVELOPED MULTIPLEX POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION ASSAYS

Abstract Multiplex PCR assays that can detect and identify three haemagglutinins and two neuraminidases of three main subtypes: H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2 of swine influenza virus (SIV), circulating in a pig population, were developed. Three oligonucleotide primer sets were evaluated based on the published sequences, with unique sizes characteristic for each subtype. The sequences of each primers were demonstrated to be specific for every subtype of SIV with the cDNA of reference viruses. Furthermore, the assays could detect and subtype up to 10 -1 dilution of 10 4 EID 50 /0.2 mL of H1N1 and 10 -1 dilution of 10 2 EID 50 /0.2 mL of H1N2. For the H3N2 mPCR test, sensitivity was observed in a dilution as low as 10 -3 , which equals 10 EID 50 /0.2 mL. Conditions for the reactions and reagents concentrations were optimised. The optimal temperature was also ensemble. For all RNA positive samples in the RTnested-PCR test for influenza A viruses, the mPCR agreed completely. In 19 farms (95% of cases) the H1N1 subtype was determined, and in one farm H3N2 subtype was confirmed. Therefore, these methods could facilitate the rapid and accurate subtyping of influenza A viruses directly from field specimens