Multi-directional sorting modes in deterministic lateral displacement devices

Deterministic lateral displacement (DLD) devices separate micrometer-scale particles in solution based on their size using a laminar microfluidic flow in an array of obstacles. We investigate array geometries with rational row-shift fractions in DLD devices by use of a simple model including both advection and diffusion. Our model predicts novel multi-directional sorting modes that could be experimentally tested in high-throughput DLD devices containing obstacles that are much smaller than the separation between obstacles

Measurements of thermodynamic and transport properties of EuC2_2: a low-temperature analogue of EuO

EuC$_2$ is a ferromagnet with a Curie-temperature of $T_C \simeq 15\,$K. It is semiconducting with the particularity that the resistivity drops by about 5 orders of magnitude on cooling through $T_C$, which is therefore called a metal-insulator transition. In this paper we study the magnetization, specific heat, thermal expansion, and the resistivity around this ferromagnetic transition on high-quality EuC$_2$ samples. At $T_C$ we observe well defined anomalies in the specific heat $c_p(T)$ and thermal expansion $\alpha(T)$ data. The magnetic contributions of $c_p(T)$ and $\alpha(T)$ can satisfactorily be described within a mean-field theory, taking into account the magnetization data. In zero magnetic field the magnetic contributions of the specific heat and thermal expansion fulfill a Gr\"uneisen-scaling, which is not preserved in finite fields. From an estimation of the pressure dependence of $T_C$ via Ehrenfest's relation, we expect a considerable increase of $T_C$ under applied pressure due to a strong spin-lattice coupling. Furthermore the influence of weak off stoichiometries $\delta$ in EuC$_{2 \pm \delta}$ was studied. It is found that $\delta$ strongly affects the resistivity, but hardly changes the transition temperature. In all these aspects, the behavior of EuC$_2$ strongly resembles that of EuO.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

On Forward J/\psi Production at Fermilab Tevatron

The D0 Collaboration has recently reported the measurement of J/\psi production at low angle. We show here that the inclusion of color octet contributions in any framework is able to reproduce this data.Comment: 1 page, Revtex, uses epsfig.sty, 2 postscript figure

Soft Color Enhancement of the Production of J/psi's by Neutrinos

We calculate the production of J/psi mesons by neutrino-nucleon collisions in fixed target experiments. Soft color, often referred to as color evaporation effects, enhance production cross sections due to the contribution of color octet states. Though still small, J/\psi production may be observable in present and future experiments like NuTeV and muon colliders.Comment: 7 pages, Revtex, 4 postscript figures, uses epsfig.st

Observation of modified hadronization in relativistic Au+Au collisions: a promising signature for deconfined quark-gluon matter

Measurements of identified particles from Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on nuclear modification, baryon-to-meson ratios, and elliptic flow at intermediate transverse momentum ($1.5 < p_T < 5$ GeV/c). Possible connections between (1) these measurements, (2) the running coupling for static quark anti-quark pairs at finite temperature, and (3) the creation of a deconfined quark-gluon phase are presented. Modifications to hadronization in Au+Au collisions are proposed as a likely signature for the creation of deconfined colored matter.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, invited talk at the Strange Quark Matter 2004 conference, Cape Town, South Afric

Dissecting the genetic and metabolic mechanisms of adaptation to the knockout of a major metabolic enzyme in Escherichia coli

Unraveling the mechanisms of microbial adaptive evolution following genetic or environmental challenges is of fundamental interest in biological science and engineering. When the challenge is the loss of a metabolic enzyme, adaptive responses can also shed significant insight into metabolic robustness, regulation, and areas of kinetic limitation. In this study, whole-genome sequencing and highresolution C-13-metabolic flux analysis were performed on 10 adaptively evolved pgi knockouts of Escherichia coli. Pgi catalyzes the first reaction in glycolysis, and its loss results in major physiological and carbon catabolism pathway changes, including an 80% reduction in growth rate. Following adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), the knockouts increase their growth rate by up to 3.6-fold. Through combined genomic-fluxomic analysis, we characterized the mutations and resulting metabolic fluxes that enabled this fitness recovery. Large increases in pyridine cofactor transhydrogenase flux, correcting imbalanced production of NADPH and NADH, were enabled by direct mutations to the transhydrogenase genes sthA and pntAB. The phosphotransferase system component crr was also found to be frequently mutated, which corresponded to elevated flux from pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate. The overall energy metabolism was found to be strikingly robust, and what have been previously described as latently activated Entner-Doudoroff and glyoxylate shunt pathways are shown here to represent no real increases in absolute flux relative to the wild type. These results indicate that the dominant mechanism of adaptation was to relieve the rate-limiting steps in cofactor metabolism and substrate uptake and to modulate global transcriptional regulation from stress response to catabolism

Feasibility of detecting single atoms using photonic bandgap cavities

We propose an atom-cavity chip that combines laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms with magnetic microtraps and waveguides to deliver a cold atom to the mode of a fiber taper coupled photonic bandgap (PBG) cavity. The feasibility of this device for detecting single atoms is analyzed using both a semi-classical treatment and an unconditional master equation approach. Single-atom detection seems achievable in an initial experiment involving the non-deterministic delivery of weakly trapped atoms into the mode of the PBG cavity.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure