Selecting asteroids for a targeted spectroscopic survey

Asteroid spectroscopy reflects surface mineralogy. There are few thousand asteroids whose surfaces have been observed spectrally. Determining the surface properties of those objects is important for many practical and scientific applications, such as for example developing impact deflection strategies or studying history and evolution of the Solar System and planet formation. The aim of this study is to develop a pre-selection method that can be utilized in searching for asteroids of any taxonomic complex. The method could then be utilized im multiple applications such as searching for the missing V-types or looking for primitive asteroids. We used the Bayes Naive Classifier combined with observations obtained in the course of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer surveys as well as a database of asteroid phase curves for asteroids with known taxonomic type. Using the new classification method we have selected a number of possible V-type candidates. Some of the candidates were than spectrally observed at the Nordic Optical Telescope and South African Large Telescope. We have developed and tested the new pre-selection method. We found three asteroids in the mid/outer Main Belt that are likely of differentiated type. Near-Infrared are still required to confirm this discovery. Similarly to other studies we found that V-type candidates cluster around the Vesta family and are rare in the mid/oter Main Belt. The new method shows that even largely explored large databases combined together could still be further exploited in for example solving the missing dunite problem.Comment: accepted to A

Multiwalled carbon nanotube: Luttinger liquid or not?

We have measured IV-curves of multiwalled carbon nanotubes using end contacts. At low voltages, the tunneling conductance obeys non-Ohmic power law, which is predicted both by the Luttinger liquid and the environment-quantum-fluctuation theories. However, at higher voltages we observe a crossover to Ohm's law with a Coulomb-blockade offset, which agrees with the environment-quantum-fluctuation theory, but cannot be explained by the Luttinger-liquid theory. From the high-voltage tunneling conductance we determine the transmission line parameters of the nanotubes.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 2 EPS-figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Construction of a flocculent brewer’s yeast strain producing an Aspergillus niger β-galactosidase

Praxis XXI (BD/11306/97).European Science Foundation (ESF).Center for International Mobility (CIMO)

Construction of a flocculent brewer's yeast strain secreting Aspergillus niger β-galactosidase

One way of improving heterologous protein production is to use high cell density systems, one of the most attractive being the flocculating yeast production system. Also, lactose is available in large amounts as a waste product from cheese production processes. The construction of flocculent and non-flocculent brewer's yeast strains secreting β-galactosidase and growing on lactose is presented. A plasmid was constructed coding for an extracellular β-galactosidase of Aspergillus niger and having, as selective marker, the yeast CUP1 gene conferring resistance to copper. This selective marker allows for the transformation of wild-type yeasts. This work represents an important step towards the study of heterologous protein secretion by flocculent cells.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – PRAXIS XXI/BD/11306/97.Finland. Center For International Mobility.European Science Foundation

Construction of a flocculent Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain secreting high levels of Aspergillus niger β-galactosidase

A flocculent Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain secreting Aspergillus niger β-galactosidase activity was constructed by transforming S. cerevisiae NCYC869-A3 strain with plasmid pVK1.1 harboring the A. niger β-galactosidase gene, lacA, under the control of the ADH1 promoter and terminator. Compared to other recombinant S. cerevisiae strains, this recombinant yeast has higher levels of extracellular β-galactosidase activity. In shakeflask cultures, the β-galactosidase activity detected in the supernatant was 20 times higher than that obtained with previously constructed strains (Domingues et al. 2000a). In bioreactor culture, with cheese-whey permeate as substrate, a yield of 878.0 nkat/gsubstrate was obtained. The recombinant strain is an attractive alternative to other fungal β-galactosidase production systems as the enzyme is produced in a rather pure form. Moreover, the use of flocculating yeast cells allows for enzyme production with high productivity in continuous fermentation systems with facilitated downstream processing.Instituto de Biotecnologia e Química Fina (IBQF).Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) – PRAXIS XXI/BD/11306/97

Nanoelectronic thermometers optimised for sub-10 millikelvin operation

We report the cooling of electrons in nanoelectronic Coulomb blockade thermometers below 4 mK. Above 7 mK the devices are in good thermal contact with the environment, well isolated from electrical noise, and not susceptible to self-heating. This is attributed to an optimised design that incorporates cooling fins with a high electron-phonon coupling and on-chip electronic filters, combined with a low-noise electronic measurement setup. Below 7 mK the electron temperature is seen to diverge from the ambient temperature. By immersing a Coulomb Blockade Thermometer in the 3He/4He refrigerant of a dilution refrigerator, we measure a lowest electron temperature of 3.7 mK.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. (Fixed fitted saturation T_e on p9

Absolute spectral modelling of asteroid (4) Vesta

We present a new physics-based approach to model the absolute reflectance spectra of asteroid (4) Vesta. The spectral models are derived by utilizing a ray-optics code that simulates light scattering by particles large compared to the wavelength of the incident light. In the light of the spectral data obtained by the Dawn spacecraft, we use howardite powder to model Vesta's surface regolith and its particle size distribution for 10-200 mu m sized particles. Our results show that the modelled spectrum mimics well the observations. The best match was found using a power-law particle size distribution with an index 3.2. This suggests that Vesta's regolith is dominated by howardite particlesPeer reviewe

“Superconductor-Insulator Transition” in a Single Josephson Junction

VI curves of resistively shunted single Josephson junctions with different capacitances and tunneling resistances are found to display a crossover between two types of VI curves: one without and another with a resistance bump (negative second derivative) at zero bias. The crossover corresponds to the dissipative phase transition (superconductor-insulator transition) at which macroscopic quantum tunneling delocalizes the Josephson phase and destroys superconductivity. Our measured phase diagram does not agree with the diagram predicted by the original theory, but does coincide with a theory that takes into account the accuracy of voltage measurements and thermal fluctuations.Peer reviewe