959 research outputs found
Surface-plasmon-enhanced light scattering from microscopic spheres
Copyright © 2003 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 83 (2003) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/83/3006/1The enhanced light scattering from microscopic latex spheres placed in the optical field associated with a surface-plasmon resonance is explored. Spheres of 200 nm diameter are placed on an optically thin gold film that supports the surface-plasmon and the scattered intensity is then measured as a function of scattering angle. This is compared to the scattering profiles obtained from spheres placed on a bare glass substrate. In both cases, the experimental data are compared to theory. This system is of interest in the field of optical biosensing
Completability vs (In)completeness
In everyday conversation, no notion of âcomplete sentenceâ is required for syntactic licensing. However, so-called âfragmentaryâ, âincompleteâ, and abandoned utterances are problematic for standard formalisms. When contextualised, such data show that (a) non-sentential utterances are adequate to underpin agent coordination, while (b) all linguistic dependencies can be systematically distributed across participants and turns. Standard models have problems accounting for such data because their notions of âconstituencyâ and âsyntactic domainâ are independent of performance considerations. Concomitantly, we argue that no notion of âfull propositionâ or encoded speech act is necessary for successful interaction: strings, contents, and joint actions emerge in conversation without any single participant having envisaged in advance the outcome of their own or their interlocutorsâ actions. Nonetheless, morphosyntactic and semantic licensing mechanisms need to apply incrementally and subsententially. We argue that, while a representational level of abstract syntax, divorced from conceptual structure and physical action, impedes natural accounts of subsentential coordination phenomena, a view of grammar as a âskillâ employing domain-general mechanisms, rather than fixed form-meaning mappings, is needed instead. We provide a sketch of a predictive and incremental architecture (Dynamic Syntax) within which underspecification and time-relative update of meanings and utterances constitute the sole concept of âsyntaxâ
Hydrous Carbonatitic Liquids Drive CO2 Recycling From Subducted Marls and Limestones
This research was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research (MIUR) program PRIN2017 and by the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO). We are greatly indebted to Andrea Risplendente for careful examination of run charges at the Electron Microprobe.Pelagic limestones are subducted in a variety of subduction zones worldwide. Despite the geochemical relevance
of systems enriched in CaCO3, previous experimental investigations mostly focused on carbonated pelites, with
low Ca/(Ca+Mg+Fe) ratio. We present the compositions and the formation conditions of liquids in the model
system CaOâAl2O3âSiO2âH2OâCO2 (CASHC), building on phase relationships in the subsystems CHC and
CSHC, where a second critical endpoint was suggested at temperatures as low as 515 °C, and 3.2 GPa. Multianvil
experiments were performed at 4.2 and 6.0 GPa on five bulk compositions at variable Ca/Si/Al ratios. H2O
contents
vary from 5.6 to 21 wt%. Aragonite + kyanite + vapor and minor lawsonite form at 700 °C, replaced by
zoisite/grossular at 800 °C. Between 850 °C and 950 °C, a complex sequence of textural features is observed
upon quenching of a single volatileârich liquid phase formed at run conditions. Precipitates include dendritic
CaCO3, silicate glass, and Alârich whiskers. The bulk composition of such hydrous carbonatitic liquids is
retrieved by image analysis on Xâray maps, showing Ca/Si ratio increasing with pressure and temperature.
Hydrous Caâcarbonatitic liquids are efficient media for scavenging volatiles from subducted crustal material and
for metasomatizing the mantle wedge.Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO
Effect of Particle Size on Droplet Infiltration into Hydrophobic Porous Media As a Model of Water Repellent Soil
The wettability of soil is of great importance for plants and soil biota, and in determining the risk for preferential flow, surface runoff, flooding,and soil erosion. The molarity of ethanol droplet (MED) test is widely used for quantifying the severity of water repellency in soils that show reduced wettability and is assumed to be independent of soil particle size. The minimum ethanol concentration at which droplet penetration occurs within a short time (â€10 s) provides an estimate of the initial advancing contact angle at which spontaneous wetting is expected. In this study, we test the assumption of particle size independence using a simple model of soil, represented by layers of small (0.2â2 mm) diameter beads that predict the effect of changing bead radius in the top layer on capillary driven imbibition. Experimental results using a three-layer bead system show broad agreement with the model and demonstrate a dependence of the MED test on particle size. The results show that the critical initial advancing contact angle for penetration can be considerably less than 90° and varies with particle size, demonstrating that a key assumption currently used in the MED testing of soil is not necessarily valid
Doubly charged silicon vacancy center, Si-N complexes, and photochromism in N and Si codoped diamond
Diamond samples containing silicon and nitrogen are shown to be heavily photochromic, with the dominant visible changes due to simultaneous change in total SiV0/â concentration. The photochromism treatment is not capable of creating or destroying SiV defects, and thus we infer the presence of the optically inactive
SiV2â . We measure spectroscopic signatures we attribute to substitutional silicon in diamond, and identify a silicon-vacancy complex decorated with a nearest-neighbor nitrogen SiVN, supported by theoretical calculations
The KELT Follow-Up Network And Transit False-Positive Catalog: Pre-Vetted False Positives For TESS
The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) project has been conducting a photometric survey of transiting planets orbiting bright stars for over 10 years. The KELT images have a pixel scale of ~23\u27\u27 pixelâ»Âčâvery similar to that of NASA\u27s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)âas well as a large point-spread function, and the KELT reduction pipeline uses a weighted photometric aperture with radius 3\u27. At this angular scale, multiple stars are typically blended in the photometric apertures. In order to identify false positives and confirm transiting exoplanets, we have assembled a follow-up network (KELT-FUN) to conduct imaging with spatial resolution, cadence, and photometric precision higher than the KELT telescopes, as well as spectroscopic observations of the candidate host stars. The KELT-FUN team has followed-up over 1600 planet candidates since 2011, resulting in more than 20 planet discoveries. Excluding ~450 false alarms of non-astrophysical origin (i.e., instrumental noise or systematics), we present an all-sky catalog of the 1128 bright stars (6 \u3c V \u3c 13) that show transit-like features in the KELT light curves, but which were subsequently determined to be astrophysical false positives (FPs) after photometric and/or spectroscopic follow-up observations. The KELT-FUN team continues to pursue KELT and other planet candidates and will eventually follow up certain classes of TESS candidates. The KELT FP catalog will help minimize the duplication of follow-up observations by current and future transit surveys such as TESS
A Novel Method for Quantitative Three-Dimensional Analysis of Zygomatico-Maxillary Complex Symmetry
Objective: To develop a reliable and accurate method to quantify the symmetry of the zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC). Methods: Virtual three-dimensional models were created from 53 computed-tomography scans: 15 healthy cases without maxillofacial disorders and 38 patients with ZMC fractures requiring surgical treatment. Asymmetry of the ZMC was measured using a mirroring and surface-based matching technique that uses the anterior cranial fossa as reference to determine the symmetrical position of the ZMC. The measure for ZMC asymmetry was defined as mean surface distance (MSD) between the ZMC-surface and the symmetrical position. Reliability of the method was tested in the 15 healthy cases. Inter-and intra-observer correlation coefficients (Ce) and variabilities were assessed. Accuracy was assessed by comparing ZMC asymmetry between healthy and ZMC fracture cases, and by assessing correlation of ZMC fracture severity with ZMC asymmetry. Results: The average MSD of the 15 healthy cases was 1.40 ± 0.54 mm and the average MSD of the 38 ZMC fracture cases was 2.69 ± 0.95 mm (P < 0.01). Zygomaticomaxillary complex asymmetry correlated with fracture severity (P = 0.01). Intra-rater CC was 0.97 with an intra-rater variability of 0.09 ± 0.11 mm. Inter-rater Ce was 0.95 with an inter-rater variability of 0.12 ± 0.13 mm. Conclusions: Our method is reliable and accurate for quantitative three-dimensional analysis of ZMC-symmetry. It takes into account asymmetry caused by the shape of the ZMC as well as asymmetry caused by the position of the ZMC. Clinical relevance: This method is useful for the evaluation of ZMC asymmetry associated with congenital and acquired disorders of craniofacial skeleton, for surgical planning and for evaluation of postoperative results
The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe
The recent genealogical history of human populations is a complex mosaic
formed by individual migration, large-scale population movements, and other
demographic events. Population genomics datasets can provide a window into this
recent history, as rare traces of recent shared genetic ancestry are detectable
due to long segments of shared genomic material. We make use of genomic data
for 2,257 Europeans (the POPRES dataset) to conduct one of the first surveys of
recent genealogical ancestry over the past three thousand years at a
continental scale. We detected 1.9 million shared genomic segments, and used
the lengths of these to infer the distribution of shared ancestors across time
and geography. We find that a pair of modern Europeans living in neighboring
populations share around 10-50 genetic common ancestors from the last 1500
years, and upwards of 500 genetic ancestors from the previous 1000 years. These
numbers drop off exponentially with geographic distance, but since genetic
ancestry is rare, individuals from opposite ends of Europe are still expected
to share millions of common genealogical ancestors over the last 1000 years.
There is substantial regional variation in the number of shared genetic
ancestors: especially high numbers of common ancestors between many eastern
populations likely date to the Slavic and/or Hunnic expansions, while much
lower levels of common ancestry in the Italian and Iberian peninsulas may
indicate weaker demographic effects of Germanic expansions into these areas
and/or more stably structured populations. Recent shared ancestry in modern
Europeans is ubiquitous, and clearly shows the impact of both small-scale
migration and large historical events. Population genomic datasets have
considerable power to uncover recent demographic history, and will allow a much
fuller picture of the close genealogical kinship of individuals across the
world.Comment: Full size figures available from
http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/~plralph/research.html; or html version at
http://ralphlab.usc.edu/ibd/ibd-paper/ibd-writeup.xhtm
One step forward and two steps back? The â20 Principlesâ for questioning vulnerable witnesses and the lack of an evidence-based approach
It is a widely held belief that questioning vulnerable witnesses is a specialist skill. In England and Wales vulnerable witness advocacy training built around â20 Principlesâ has been developed and is being delivered. The 20 Principles do not cite a tested theoretical framework(s) or empirical evidence in support. This paper considers whether the 20 Principles are underpinned by research evidence. It is submitted that advocacy training and the approach to questioning witnesses in the courtroom should take into account the already available research evidence. The authors make recommendations for revision of the training and for a wider review of the approach taken to the handling of witness evidence
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