2,681 research outputs found
A tutorial task and tertiary courseware model for collaborative learning communities
RAED provides a computerised infrastructure to support the development and administration of Vicarious Learning in collaborative learning communities spread across multiple universities and workplaces. The system is based on the OASIS middleware for Role-based Access Control. This paper describes the origins of the model and the approach to implementation and outlines some of its benefits to collaborative teachers and learners
Direct imaging of a digital-micromirror device for configurable microscopic optical potentials
Programable spatial light modulators (SLMs) have significantly advanced the
configurable optical trapping of particles. Typically, these devices are
utilized in the Fourier plane of an optical system, but direct imaging of an
amplitude pattern can potentially result in increased simplicity and
computational speed. Here we demonstrate high-resolution direct imaging of a
digital micromirror device (DMD) at high numerical apertures (NA), which we
apply to the optical trapping of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). We utilise a
(1200 x 1920) pixel DMD and commercially available 0.45 NA microscope
objectives, finding that atoms confined in a hybrid optical/magnetic or
all-optical potential can be patterned using repulsive blue-detuned (532 nm)
light with 630(10) nm full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) resolution, within 5%
of the diffraction limit. The result is near arbitrary control of the density
the BEC without the need for expensive custom optics. We also introduce the
technique of time-averaged DMD potentials, demonstrating the ability to produce
multiple grayscale levels with minimal heating of the atomic cloud, by
utilising the high switching speed (20 kHz maximum) of the DMD. These
techniques will enable the realization and control of diverse optical
potentials for superfluid dynamics and atomtronics applications with quantum
gases. The performance of this system in a direct imaging configuration has
wider application for optical trapping at non-trivial NAs.Comment: 9 page
Dynamic and Energetic Stabilization of Persistent Currents in Bose-Einstein Condensates
We study conditions under which vortices in a highly oblate harmonically
trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) can be stabilized due to pinning by a
blue-detuned Gaussian laser beam, with particular emphasis on the potentially
destabilizing effects of laser beam positioning within the BEC. Our approach
involves theoretical and numerical exploration of dynamically and energetically
stable pinning of vortices with winding number up to , in correspondence
with experimental observations. Stable pinning is quantified theoretically via
Bogoliubov-de Gennes excitation spectrum computations and confirmed via direct
numerical simulations for a range of conditions similar to those of
experimental observations. The theoretical and numerical results indicate that
the pinned winding number, or equivalently the winding number of the superfluid
current about the laser beam, decays as a laser beam of fixed intensity moves
away from the BEC center. Our theoretical analysis helps explain previous
experimental observations, and helps define limits of stable vortex pinning for
future experiments involving vortex manipulation by laser beams.Comment: 8 pages 5 figure
Enhancement and suppression in a lexical interference fMRI-paradigm
Previous picture-word interference (PWI) fMRI-paradigms revealed ambiguous mechanisms underlying facilitation and inhibition in healthy subjects. Lexical distractors revealed increased (enhancement) or decreased (suppression) activation in language and monitoring/control areas. Performing a secondary examination and data analysis, we aimed to illuminate the relation between behavioral and neural interference effects comparing target-related distractors (REL) with unrelated distractors (UNREL). We hypothesized that interference involves both (A) suppression due to priming and (B) enhancement due to simultaneous distractor and target processing. Comparisons to UNREL should remain distractor unspecific even at a low threshold. (C) Distractor types with common characteristics should reveal overlapping brain areas. In a 3T MRI scanner, participants were asked to name pictures while auditory words were presented (stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA] = –200 msec). Associatively and phonologically related distractors speeded responses (facilitation), while categorically related distractors slowed them down (inhibition) compared to UNREL. As a result, (A) reduced brain activations indeed resembled previously reported patterns of neural priming. Each target-related distractor yielded suppressions at least in areas associated with vision and conflict/competition monitoring (anterior cingulate cortex [ACC]), revealing least priming for inhibitors. (B) Enhancements concerned language-related but distractor-unspecific regions. (C) Some wider brain regions were commonly suppressed for combinations of distractor types. Overlapping areas associated with conceptual priming were found for facilitatory distractors (inferior frontal gyri), and areas related to phonetic/articulatory processing (precentral gyri and left parietal operculum/insula) for distractors sharing feature overlap. Each distractor with semantic relatedness revealed nonoverlapping suppressions in lexical-phonological areas (superior temporal regions). To conclude, interference combines suppression of areas well known from neural priming and enhancement of language-related areas caused by dual activation from target and distractor. Differences between interference and priming need to be taken into account. The present interference paradigm has the potential to reveal the functioning of word-processing stages, cognitive control, and responsiveness to priming at the same time
Characteristics of Two-Dimensional Quantum Turbulence in a Compressible Superfluid
Under suitable forcing a fluid exhibits turbulence, with characteristics
strongly affected by the fluid's confining geometry. Here we study
two-dimensional quantum turbulence in a highly oblate Bose-Einstein condensate
in an annular trap. As a compressible quantum fluid, this system affords a rich
phenomenology, allowing coupling between vortex and acoustic energy.
Small-scale stirring generates an experimentally observed disordered vortex
distribution that evolves into large-scale flow in the form of a persistent
current. Numerical simulation of the experiment reveals additional
characteristics of two-dimensional quantum turbulence: spontaneous clustering
of same-circulation vortices, and an incompressible energy spectrum with
dependence for low wavenumbers and dependence for high
.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Reference [29] updated for v
Soft X-ray harmonic comb from relativistic electron spikes
We demonstrate a new high-order harmonic generation mechanism reaching the
`water window' spectral region in experiments with multi-terawatt femtosecond
lasers irradiating gas jets. A few hundred harmonic orders are resolved, giving
uJ/sr pulses. Harmonics are collectively emitted by an oscillating electron
spike formed at the joint of the boundaries of a cavity and bow wave created by
a relativistically self-focusing laser in underdense plasma. The spike
sharpness and stability are explained by catastrophe theory. The mechanism is
corroborated by particle-in-cell simulations
Phenotype standardization for statin-induced myotoxicity
Statins are widely used lipid-lowering drugs that are effective in reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Although they are generally well tolerated, they can cause muscle toxicity, which can lead to severe rhabdomyolysis. Research in this area has been hampered to some extent by the lack of standardized nomenclature and phenotypic definitions. We have used numerical and descriptive classifications and developed an algorithm to define statin-related myotoxicity phenotypes, including myalgia, myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, and necrotizing autoimmune myopathy.</p
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