Investigation and optimisation of a multipass resonant photoacoustic cell at high absorption levels

A theoretical and experimental investigation of photoacoustic (PA) signals in a resonant multipass PA cell with high background absorption (up to 29m-1) is presented. An analogous electric transmission line model including discontinuity inductances at cross section changes was used to model the first longitudinal acoustic mode of the multipass PA cell equipped with two buffer volumes. This model was validated with experimentally obtained results and used to predict the behaviour of the PA cell for different multipass arrangements and different buffer volume diameters. The highest PA signal is obtained for high pass number and large buffer radius. Increasing the absorption coefficient of the medium enhances the PA signal until a maximum is reached, leading to a minimum for the PA signal sensitivity. For a given background absorption, the number of passes required to maximise the sensitivity depends on the absorption coefficient. The model allows the determination of the best-suited number of passes for a given absorption coefficient and cell geometr

Trace gas monitoring with infrared laser-based detection schemes

The success of laser-based trace gas sensing techniques crucially depends on the availability and performance of tunable laser sources combined with appropriate detection schemes. Besides near-infrared diode lasers, continuously tunable midinfrared quantum cascade lasers and nonlinear optical laser sources are preferentially employed today. Detection schemes are based on sensitive absorption measurements and comprise direct absorption in multi-pass cells as well as photoacoustic and cavity ringdown techniques in various configurations. We illustrate the performance of several systems implemented in our laboratory. These include time-resolved multicomponent traffic emission measurements with a mobile CO2-laser photoacoustic system, a diode-laser based cavity ringdown device for measurements of impurities in industrial process control, isotope ratio measurements with a difference frequency (DFG) laser source combined with balanced path length detection, detection of methylamines for breath analysis with both a near-IR diode laser and a DFG source, and finally, acetone measurements with a heatable multipass cell intended for vapor phase studies on doping agents in urine sample

ENSO impact on northwest African upwelling

One of the most robust ENSO teleconnections is that linking SST anomalies in the equatorial Pacific and Tropical North Atlantic (TNA) in boreal spring. While the role played by the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback in maintaining the ENSO-related SST anomalies over the TNA is well understood, many questions remain open about the signature of this ENSO teleconnection on the northwest African upwelling system and its role for the further response during the spring season along the whole TNA. This issue is analyzed here in both observations and CGCM models with different nominal resolution (CMIP6 HighResMIP simulations). In particular, the relevance of the mean state variability in the tropical Atlantic for modulating the northwest African upwelling response to ENSO has been assessed in depth. Furthermore, and considering the exceptional ecological importance of this upwelling area, the ENSO-related influence on the spatio-temporal variability of round sardinella (the dominant fish species in terms of abundance) has been also analyzed. To this aim, an end-to-end strategy which combines models of physics (hydrodynamic), lower trophic levels (nutrient-plankton) and upper trophic levels (sardinella), is used. All these analyses highlight from both climate and ecological perspectives, the relevance of better understanding the ENSO-northwest African upwelling teleconnection.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Localization of gauge theory on a four-sphere and supersymmetric Wilson loops

We prove conjecture due to Erickson-Semenoff-Zarembo and Drukker-Gross which relates supersymmetric circular Wilson loop operators in the N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with a Gaussian matrix model. We also compute the partition function and give a new matrix model formula for the expectation value of a supersymmetric circular Wilson loop operator for the pure N=2 and the N=2* supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a four-sphere. A four-dimensional N=2 superconformal gauge theory is treated similarly.Comment: 63 pages, 1 figure; v2: correction of mass parameter; v3: typos correcte

Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study

A41 Use of SMS texts for facilitating access to online alcohol interventions: a feasibility study In: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 2017, 12(Suppl 1): A4

Vascular Remodeling in Health and Disease

The term vascular remodeling is commonly used to define the structural changes in blood vessel geometry that occur in response to long-term physiologic alterations in blood flow or in response to vessel wall injury brought about by trauma or underlying cardiovascular diseases.1, 2, 3, 4 The process of remodeling, which begins as an adaptive response to long-term hemodynamic alterations such as elevated shear stress or increased intravascular pressure, may eventually become maladaptive, leading to impaired vascular function. The vascular endothelium, owing to its location lining the lumen of blood vessels, plays a pivotal role in regulation of all aspects of vascular function and homeostasis.5 Thus, not surprisingly, endothelial dysfunction has been recognized as the harbinger of all major cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes.6, 7, 8 The endothelium elaborates a variety of substances that influence vascular tone and protect the vessel wall against inflammatory cell adhesion, thrombus formation, and vascular cell proliferation.8, 9, 10 Among the primary biologic mediators emanating from the endothelium is nitric oxide (NO) and the arachidonic acid metabolite prostacyclin [prostaglandin I2 (PGI2)], which exert powerful vasodilatory, antiadhesive, and antiproliferative effects in the vessel wall

Non-dispersive sensing scheme based on mid-infrared LED and differential mode excitation photoacoustic spectroscopy

A robust and simple sensing scheme utilizing a Mid-Infrared Light Emitting Diode (MIR-LED) and based on Differential Mode Excitation Photoacoustic (DME-PA) spectroscopy is presented. A MIR-LED light source in combination with optical correlation is used for simplicity and compactness. The sensing setup takes advantage of the non-linearity in the excitation of various acoustic modes in a cylindrical resonant photoacoustic cell to provide a high selectivity. The sensing device is tested using methane and hydrocarbon mixtures (propane, butane). The obtained limit of detection for methane is 25 ppm m−1. Using the presented DME-PA scheme, the derived gas concentration is hardly affected neither by intensity fluctuations of the light source nor by any microphone or electronics drifts. Furthermore, a considerably improved selectivity is obtained compared to conventional Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) techniques

Photothermal diffuse reflectance: a new tool for spectroscopic investigation of scattering samples

ISSN:0946-2171ISSN:1432-0649ISSN:0721-7269ISSN:0340-379

Investigation and optimisation of a multipass resonant photoacoustic cell at high absorption levels

ISSN:0946-2171ISSN:1432-0649ISSN:0721-7269ISSN:0340-379