692 research outputs found
Formation and Characterization of Oriented Micro-and Nanofibers Containing Poly (ethylene oxide) and Pectin
Formation of oriented or aligned micro- and nanofibers using biocompatible materials opens the possibility to obtain engineered tissues that can be used in medicine, environmental engineering, security and defense, among other applications. Pectin, a heteropolysaccharide, is a promising material to be incorporated into the fibers because, besides being biocompatible, this material is also biodegradable and bioactive. In this work, the formation of oriented fibers using solutions containing pectin and polyethylene oxide (biocompatible polymers), and chloroform (as the solvent) is investigated. The injection of solution into an intense electric field defined between two parallel electrodes was used to obtain oriented fibers. This novel approach is a modification of the conventional electrospinning process. The presence of pectin in the fibers was confirmed by FTIR analysis. Fibers with diameters of hundreds of nanometers and several centimeters long can be collected. The incorporation of pectin leads to a higher variation of the diameter of the fibers, and a trend to larger fiber diameters. This behavior can be related to the presence of pectin clusters in the fibers. (C) 2012 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.057203jes] All rights reserved.NIHRISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement)NIH-RISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement
MAGIC J0616+225 as delayed TeV emission of cosmic-rays diffusing from SNR IC 443
We present a theoretical model that explains the high energy phenomenology of
the neighborhood of SNR IC 443, as observed with the Major Atmospheric Gamma
Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescope and the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment
Telescope (EGRET). We interpret MAGIC J0616+225 as delayed TeV emission of
cosmic-rays diffusing from IC 443 and interacting with a known cloud located at
a distance of about 20 pc in the foreground of the remnant. This scenario
naturally explains the displacement between EGRET and MAGIC sources, their
fluxes, and their spectra. We compare this model with others recently
presented, and discuss how it can be tested with observations by the Gamma-ray
Large Area Telescope (GLAST).Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
Nuclear astrophysics with radioactive ions at FAIR
R. Reifarth et al: ; 12 pĂĄgs.; 9 figs.; Open Access funded by Creative Commons Atribution Licence 3.0 ; Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics VI (NPA6)The nucleosynthesis of elements beyond iron is dominated by neutron captures
in the s and r processes. However, 32 stable, proton-rich isotopes cannot be formed during
those processes, because they are shielded from the s-process
ow and r-process -decay chains.
These nuclei are attributed to the p and rp process.
For all those processes, current research in nuclear astrophysics addresses the need for more
precise reaction data involving radioactive isotopes. Depending on the particular reaction, direct
or inverse kinematics, forward or time-reversed direction are investigated to determine or at least
to constrain the desired reaction cross sections.
The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) will oer unique, unprecedented
opportunities to investigate many of the important reactions. The high yield of radioactive
isotopes, even far away from the valley of stability, allows the investigation of isotopes involved
in processes as exotic as the r or rp processes.This project was supported by the HGF Young Investigators Project VH-NG-327, EMMI, H4F,
HGS-HIRe, JINA, NAVI, DFG and ATHENA.Peer Reviewe
Highlights from the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is the world's largest cosmic ray observatory.
Our current exposure reaches nearly 40,000 km str and provides us with an
unprecedented quality data set. The performance and stability of the detectors
and their enhancements are described. Data analyses have led to a number of
major breakthroughs. Among these we discuss the energy spectrum and the
searches for large-scale anisotropies. We present analyses of our X
data and show how it can be interpreted in terms of mass composition. We also
describe some new analyses that extract mass sensitive parameters from the 100%
duty cycle SD data. A coherent interpretation of all these recent results opens
new directions. The consequences regarding the cosmic ray composition and the
properties of UHECR sources are briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, talk given at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray
Conference, Rio de Janeiro 201
Operations of and Future Plans for the Pierre Auger Observatory
Technical reports on operations and features of the Pierre Auger Observatory,
including ongoing and planned enhancements and the status of the future
northern hemisphere portion of the Observatory. Contributions to the 31st
International Cosmic Ray Conference, Lodz, Poland, July 2009.Comment: Contributions to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200
Measurement of the Depth of Maximum of Extensive Air Showers above 10^18 eV
We describe the measurement of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of the
longitudinal development of air showers induced by cosmic rays. Almost four
thousand events above 10^18 eV observed by the fluorescence detector of the
Pierre Auger Observatory in coincidence with at least one surface detector
station are selected for the analysis. The average shower maximum was found to
evolve with energy at a rate of (106 +35/-21) g/cm^2/decade below 10^(18.24 +/-
0.05) eV and (24 +/- 3) g/cm^2/decade above this energy. The measured
shower-to-shower fluctuations decrease from about 55 to 26 g/cm^2. The
interpretation of these results in terms of the cosmic ray mass composition is
briefly discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication by PR
Large enhancement of deuteron polarization with frequency modulated microwaves
We report a large enhancement of 1.7 in deuteron polarization up to values of
0.6 due to frequency modulation of the polarizing microwaves in a two liters
polarized target using the method of dynamic nuclear polarization. This target
was used during a deep inelastic polarized muon-deuteron scattering experiment
at CERN. Measurements of the electron paramagnetic resonance absorption spectra
show that frequency modulation gives rise to additional microwave absorption in
the spectral wings. Although these results are not understood theoretically,
they may provide a useful testing ground for the deeper understanding of
dynamic nuclear polarization.Comment: 10 pages, including the figures coming in uuencoded compressed tar
files in poltar.uu, which also brings cernart.sty and crna12.sty files neede
The Pierre Auger Observatory III: Other Astrophysical Observations
Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre
Auger ObservatoryComment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference,
Beijing, China, August 201
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