Mining cosmic dust from the blue ice lakes of Greenland

Extraterrestrial material, most of which invisible settles to Earth's surface as dust particles smaller than a millimeter in size were investigated. Particles of 1/10 millimeter size fall at a rate of one/sq m/yr collection of extraterrestrial dust is important because the recovered cosmic dust particles can provide important information about comets. Comets are the most important source of dust in the solar system and they are probably the major source of extraterrestrial dust that is collectable at the Earth's surface. A new collection site for cosmic dust, in an environment where degradation by weathering is minimal is reported. It is found that the blue ice lakes on the Greenland ice cap provide an ideal location for collection of extraterrestrial dust particles larger than 0.1 mm in size. It is found that the lakes contain large amounts of cosmic dust which is much better preserved than similar particles recovered from the ocean floor

The phonon dispersion of graphite by inelastic x-ray scattering

We present the full in-plane phonon dispersion of graphite obtained from inelastic x-ray scattering, including the optical and acoustic branches, as well as the mid-frequency range between the $K$ and $M$ points in the Brillouin zone, where experimental data have been unavailable so far. The existence of a Kohn anomaly at the $K$ point is further supported. We fit a fifth-nearest neighbour force-constants model to the experimental data, making improved force-constants calculations of the phonon dispersion in both graphite and carbon nanotubes available.Comment: 7 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Exciton binding energies in carbon nanotubes from two-photon photoluminescence

One- and two-photon luminescence excitation spectroscopy showed a series of distinct excitonic states in single-walled carbon nanotubes. The energy splitting between one- and two-photon-active exciton states of different wavefunction symmetry is the fingerprint of excitonic interactions in carbon nanotubes. We determine exciton binding energies of 0.3-0.4 eV for different nanotubes with diameters between 0.7 and 0.9 nm. Our results, which are supported by ab-initio calculations of the linear and non-linear optical spectra, prove that the elementary optical excitations of carbon nanotubes are strongly Coulomb-correlated, quasi-one dimensionally confined electron-hole pairs, stable even at room temperature. This alters our microscopic understanding of both the electronic structure and the Coulomb interactions in carbon nanotubes, and has direct impact on the optical and transport properties of novel nanotube devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Expression of cadherin and NCAM in human small cell lung cancer cell lines and xenografts.

Tumour cell adhesion, detachment and aggregation seem to play an important part in tumour invasion and metastasis, and numerous cell adhesion molecules are expressed by tumour cells. Several families of cell-cell adhesion molecules have been described, of which two groups are particularly well characterised, the cadherin family and the Ig superfamily member, neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM). We investigated expression of these two adhesion molecule families in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines and xenografts by immunoblotting. Nineteen tumours established from 15 patients with SCLC were examined. All tumours but one expressed both cadherin and NCAM. The tumours expressed one, two or rarely three cadherin bands, and different combinations of two major isoforms of NCAM with M(r)'s of approximately 190,000 and 135,000. Polysialylation of NCAM, a feature characteristic of NCAM during embryonic development, which may play a role in connection with tumour invasion and metastasis, was found in 14/18 NCAM expressing SCLC tumours. Individual tumours grown as cell lines and as nude mouse xenografts showed no qualitative differences in cadherin or NCAM expression

The Vulnerability and Resilience of Seagrass Ecosystems to Marine Heatwaves in New Zealand: A Remote Sensing Analysis of Seascape Metrics Using PlanetScope Imagery

Seagrasses are foundation species that provide ecosystem functions and services, including increased biodiversity, sediment retention, carbon sequestration, and fish nursery habitat. However, anthropogenic stressors that reduce water quality, impose large-scale climate changes, and amplify weather patterns, such as marine heatwaves, are altering seagrass meadow configurations. Quantifying large-scale trends in seagrass distributions will help evaluate the impacts of climate drivers on their functions and services. Here, we quantified spatiotemporal dynamics in abundances and configurations of intertidal and shallow subtidal seagrass (Zostera muelleri) meadows in 20 New Zealand (NZ) estuaries that span a 5-year period (mid/late 2016–early 2022) just before, during and after the Tasman Sea 2017/18 marine heatwave, the warmest summer ever recorded in NZ. We used high-resolution PlanetScope satellite imagery to map interseasonal seagrass extent and quantify seascape metrics across 20 estuaries along a latitudinal gradient spanning 12° in NZ. We also explored the association of changes in seagrass metrics with satellite-derived predictors such as sea surface temperature (SST), SST anomaly (SSTa), water column turbidity, and nutrient concentration. Our analyses revealed that NZ seagrass meadows varied in areal extent between years and seasons, but with no clear patterns over the 5-year period, implying resilience to large-scale stressors like the 2017/18 marine heatwave. Small-scale patterns were also dynamic, for example, patch sizes and patch configurations differed across estuaries, seasons, and years. Furthermore, seagrass patches expanded in some estuaries with increasing SST and SSTa. These results highlight dynamic seagrass patterns that likely affect local processes such as biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Our analyses demonstrate that a combination of high-resolution satellite remote sensing and seascape metrics is an efficient and novel approach to detect impacts from anthropogenic stressors, like eutrophication and climate changes, and climate extremes like cyclones and heatwaves

The Impact of Analog and Bang-Bang Steering Gear Control on Ship's Fuel Economy

The latest years have shown considerable efforts towards improving steering generated propulsion losses of ships by the introduction of various sophisticated control algorithms in the autopilots. However, little previous attention has been given to the steering gear control loop, although it is found to be at least equally important regarding steering performance and fuel economy. The paper presents a comprehensive survey of steering gear principles commonly used, including relevant details of three analog steering gear servo principles, which have outperformed conventional designs. Control system performance is evaluated from direct measurements of speed and fuel consumption, and results from several ships are given. The results presented should enhance the ability of ship owners and steering gear manufacturers to choose and design systems, which will minimize steering generated propulsion losse

H-1-MRS Measured Ectopic Fat in Liver and Muscle in Danish Lean and Obese Children and Adolescents

This cross sectional study aims to investigate the associations between ectopic lipid accumulation in liver and skeletal muscle and biochemical measures, estimates of insulin resistance, anthropometry, and blood pressure in lean and overweight/obese children.Fasting plasma glucose, serum lipids, serum insulin, and expressions of insulin resistance, anthropometry, blood pressure, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy of liver and muscle fat were obtained in 327 Danish children and adolescents aged 8-18 years.In 287 overweight/obese children, the prevalences of hepatic and muscular steatosis were 31% and 68%, respectively, whereas the prevalences in 40 lean children were 3% and 10%, respectively. A multiple regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, body mass index z-score (BMI SDS), and pubertal development showed that the OR of exhibiting dyslipidemia was 4.2 (95%CI: [1.8; 10.2], p = 0.0009) when hepatic steatosis was present. Comparing the simultaneous presence of hepatic and muscular steatosis with no presence of steatosis, the OR of exhibiting dyslipidemia was 5.8 (95%CI: [2.0; 18.6], p = 0.002). No significant associations between muscle fat and dyslipidemia, impaired fasting glucose, or blood pressure were observed. Liver and muscle fat, adjusted for age, sex, BMI SDS, and pubertal development, associated to BMI SDS and glycosylated hemoglobin, while only liver fat associated to visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue and intramyocellular lipid associated inversely to high density lipoprotein cholesterol.Hepatic steatosis is associated with dyslipidemia and liver and muscle fat depositions are linked to obesity-related metabolic dysfunctions, especially glycosylated hemoglobin, in children and adolescents, which suggest an increased cardiovascular disease risk

Comparison of Current Balancing Configurations for Primary Parallel Isolated Boost Converter

Different current balancing configurations have been investigated for Primary Parallel Isolated Boost Converter (PPIBC). It has been shown that parallel branch current balancing is possible with several configurations of coupled/uncoupled inductors. Analytical expressions for branch currents have been derived for different cases of gate signal mismatch causing current imbalance. It has been observed that turn-on and turn-off delays in parallel power stages of the PPIBC have different effects in the branch currents deviating from ideal. It has also been observed that in some configurations inductance differences due to core tolerances play an important role in current imbalance. Analytical and simulation results have shown that another side effect of the gate signal delay and inductor value difference is additional voltage stress over the switches during the mismatch times. Advantages of each configuration in terms of effective current balancing, efficiency and manufacturing simplicity have been highlighted. Simulations with ideal components for each case have been carried out to confirm the analytical derivations. Experimental results have also been included to show the performances of different configurations where component non-idealities like transformer leakage inductances also become effective