Resonant Rydberg-atom-microwave-field interactions in the ultrastrong-driving regime: Beyond the rotating-wave approximation

The coherent interaction of Rydberg atoms with microwave fields in the ultrastrong-driving regime, in which the Rabi frequency is of the same order of magnitude as the transition frequency, has been studied for states with principal quantum number n=105 in helium. Experiments were performed in pulsed supersonic beams, and the effects of the ultrastrong 1.280 GHz microwave driving field, tuned to near resonance with the 1s105sS13→1s105pP3 transition, were identified from Autler-Townes splittings of the 1s3pP23→1s105sS13 transition by cw laser spectroscopy. The microwave field strength was calibrated in situ in the apparatus from Autler-Townes splittings measured in the weak-driving regime in which the rotating-wave approximation holds. The results of the experiments were compared to the energy-level structure of the atoms in the presence of the microwave field calculated using Floquet methods. From this comparison, the microwave-field strengths for which the rotating-wave approximation and the two-level approximation break down have been identified. The feasibility of implementing microwave traps for Rydberg atoms and molecules, which operate in the ultrastrong-driving regime, has been evaluated

Moving Military Energy “Behind the Fence:” Renewable Energy Generation on U.S. Defense Lands

The United States Department of Defense stands as the world’s single largest consumer of energy—domestic consumption alone by the Department amounts to nearly one percent of the United States’ total energy consumption and nearly eighty percent of the energy consumed by the Federal Government. Although a cadre of statutes, Executive Orders, and agency priorities set high goals for the introduction of renewable energy into the Department’s portfolio, it has historically failed to meet both its target for reducing facility energy use and its target for renewables integration. This Note suggests moving the Department’s energy production “behind the fence,” fixing technology to place to increase security and reduce environmental and economic impacts. To do so, however, a mountain of challenges will have to be overcome, including federal permitting restrictions on new energy projects, high capital costs for increased generation, a number of technological challenges with emerging renewable energy sources, and the existing contracts with traditional energy producers. Ultimately, a comprehensive and expansive initiative that couples site-specific technologies with agency-wide coordination will help the Department both meet its statutorily mandated targets for energy efficiency and production and also effect positive change in the environmental impact of our nation’s single largest energy consumer

Matter-wave interferometry with helium atoms in low- l Rydberg states

Electric Rydberg-atom interferometry has been performed with helium atoms in coherent superpositions of the 1s56s 3S1 and 1s57s 3S1 Rydberg levels. The experiments were carried out in a longitudinal geometry with the atoms traveling at 2000 m/s in pulsed supersonic beams. After laser photoexcitation from the 1s2s 3S1 metastable level, coherent manipulation of the population of the Rydberg states was achieved using sequences of microwave pulses. The difference in the static electric dipole polarizabilities of the 1s56s 3S1 and 1s57s 3S1 levels allowed superpositions of external momentum states to be generated when inhomogeneous electric fields were used to exerted forces on the atoms prepared in superpositions of these internal states. Interference fringes, with contributions arising from the spatial separation of these Rydberg-atom wave packets in the direction of propagation of the atomic beam, were identified through changes in the internal-state populations as the magnitudes and durations of the time-dependent electric-field gradient pulses were adjusted. The maximal displacement of the atomic wave packets for which interference fringes were observed was ∼0.75 nm, limited by the longitudinal velocity spread in the atomic beam and the characteristics of the inhomogeneous electric-field distribution in the apparatus. The experimental data are in good quantitative agreement with the results of numerical calculations of the time evolution of the atomic states under the experimental conditions

Two-Photon Excitation of trans-Stilbene: Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Electronically Excited States Above S1

The photoisomerization dynamics of trans-stilbene have been well studied in the lowest excited state, but much less is known about the behavior following excitation to higher-lying electronically excited states. This contribution reports a combined study of the spectroscopy and dynamics of two-photon accessible states above S1. Two-photon absorption (2PA) measurements using a broadband pump–probe technique reveal distinct bands near 5.1 and 6.4 eV. The 2PA bands have absolute cross sections of 40 ± 16 and 270 ± 110 GM, respectively, and a pump–probe polarization dependence that suggests both of the transitions access Ag-symmetry excited states. Separate transient absorption measurements probe the excited-state dynamics following two-photon excitation into each of the bands using intense pulses of 475 and 380 nm light, respectively. The initially excited states rapidly relax via internal conversion, leading to the formation of an S1 excited-state absorption band that is centered near 585 nm and evolves on a time scale of 1–2 ps due to intramolecular vibrational relaxation. The subsequent evolution of the S1 excited-state absorption is identical to the behavior following direct one-photon excitation of the lowest excited state at 4.0 eV. The complementary spectroscopy and dynamics measurements provide new benchmarks for computational studies of the electronic structure and dynamics of this model system on excited states above S1. Probing the dynamics of molecules in their higher-lying excited states is an important frontier in chemical reaction dynamics

Triticum durum metallothionein: isolation of the gene and structural characterization of the protein using solution scattering and molecular modeling

A novel gene sequence, with two exons and one intron, encoding a metallothionein (MT) has been identified in durum wheat Triticum durum cv. Balcali85 genomic DNA. Multiple alignment analyses on the cDNA and the translated protein sequences showed that T. durum MT (dMT) can be classified as a type 1 MT. dMT has three Cys-X-Cys motifs in each of the N- and C-terminal domains and a 42-residue-long hinge region devoid of cysteines. dMT was overexpressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein (GSTdMT), and bacteria expressing the fusion protein showed increased tolerance to cadmium in the growth medium compared with controls. Purified GSTdMT was characterized by SDS- and native-PAGE, size exclusion chromatography, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. It was shown that the recombinant protein binds 4 ± 1 mol of cadmium/mol of protein and has a high tendency to form stable oligomeric structures. The structure of GSTdMT and dMT was investigated by synchrotron x-ray solution scattering and computational methods. X-ray scattering measurements indicated a strong tendency for GSTdMT to form dimers and trimers in solution and yielded structural models that were compatible with a stable dimeric form in which dMT had an extended conformation. Results of homology modeling and ab initio solution scattering approaches produced an elongated dMT structure with a long central hinge region. The predicted model and those obtained from x-ray scattering are in agreement and suggest that dMT may be involved in functions other than metal detoxification

The control of flowering in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) and its influence on yield potential

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX170256 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Identifying and investigating the current status of industrial design

The current status of industrial design has been identified, investigated and assessed in this thesis through the development of a literature review and three focused studies. Numerous relevant topics have been covered, including the definition and identity of industrial design, how well it is recognised, the significance of design movements and how they relate to the status of the discipline, what industrial design currently represents and industrial design leadership. Following an extensive literature review of the discipline, including its history and associated pivotal design movements, three studies were conducted to identify and investigate the current status of industrial design. As a means to address the literature review findings, a preliminary study (Study I) was implemented to scope the status of industrial design from a range of participants with varying degrees of experience in and of the discipline, termed the 'design community'. Study I comprised an online survey based on open and closed-ended questions of n=120 participants, including design students, design academics, design practitioners and design historians. Key findings pertained to industrial design lacking identity, the absence of a consistent definition of industrial design, and the lack of an overarching design movement. Following the completion of the study, a draft publication was submitted for peer review and was subsequently published in the Journal of Design Research. It was considered necessary to assess the consistency, repeatability and validity of the conclusions drawn from Study I and to expand upon the findings. Study II was conducted with experts to identify a well-informed perspective on the current status of industrial design and assess whether expert participants agreed or disagreed with the findings from Study I and why. Study II was conducted via semi-structured interviews of n=20 'design expert' participants, individually possessing over 15 years of design-related experience. Participants for Study II hailed from a broad and often overlapping range of design-related experience, including Practitioner, Academic and Historian backgrounds. Key findings from Study II strongly confirmed the results of Study I, with expert participants broadly concurring with the faltering position of industrial design identified in Study I whilst also highlighting contributing factors as to why it currently resides in this situation. The final study (Study III) was used to substantiate the results from Study II by identifying whether the perspectives of 'design experts' in tandem with the 'design community' were generally synonymous with a broader scope of participants or if they existed in isolation. Study III consisted of n=100 participants and used an online Likert-Scale survey to assess the degree to which 'design familiar individuals' agreed or disagreed with a set of statements derived from the expert conclusions from Study II regarding the current state of industrial design. The study's results highlighted a high correlation between the participants' perspectives within Study III and the conclusions from Study II. The critical finding of Study III evidenced that the issues identified throughout the research are recognised and agreed upon amongst a range of individuals familiar with design and are not solely held by those with more expertise and experience in design. Results from the research identified a shift within industrial design from the late 1960s – 70s that marked the beginning of the discipline's decline. Identified factors responsible for the continued erosion of industrial design include the deindustrialisation of countries that pioneered it, a shift in social consciousness, and the failure and corresponding crisis of industrial design leadership. According to the results from Studies I, II and III, the status of industrial design continues to deteriorate unaddressed, resulting in increasing disorientation with the discipline's definition, identity, function and purpose. Correspondingly, findings evidenced no unanimously accepted definition of industrial design, nor does there appear to be an overarching design movement (or, at the very least, one that is unanimously recognised or accepted). The results of the studies effectively highlighted industrial design's disarray and resultant fading from relevance in the modern world. Such a situation is further evidenced by the difficulty of finding industrial design as a standalone discipline within practice or academic curriculum. It is often replaced by newer, more refined, more recognised, more consistent and more defendable disciplines such as product design.  Moreover, findings identified that within academia, non-designers and career academics have infiltrated the discipline, often in positions of influence and power. Furthermore, the research highlighted that a political push for inclusivity in academia and practice have driven out concepts of excellence, talent, and creativity in favour of quotas and box-ticking. The internal conflicts and disarray within industrial design combined with the external threat of deindustrialisation and the post?industrial age have resulted in a discipline without an identity or defendable existence. The fact that society has continued unhindered despite the evident faltering of industrial design further questions its relevance, suggesting that even highly competent industrial designers may soon be equivalent to gas lamplighters in a world of electrification. Findings have been discussed further in-depth following the conclusion of each Study and covered the shifts within industrial design, as well as the current status of the discipline, implicating factors, issues facing it, and potential prospects.</p

Safety risk management for Homeland Defense and Security responders

CHDS State/LocalResponders at the Federal, state, and local level are critical to Homeland Defense and Security (HLDS). Building from the recently published RAND and National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) report on responder safety, this thesis explores the issues associated with creating a safety risk management capability that will enable HLDS responders to better protect themselves from harm and enhance their readiness. Risk management experiences within the military were benchmarked with emphasis upon lessons learned from the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy. This revealed that Operational Risk Management (ORM), a risk-based decision-making tool that systematically balances risk and mission completion, and Crew Resource Management (CRM), a human factors-based team coordination training, should be the primary components focused upon to build the safety risk management capability. Development of ORM and CRM capabilities for HLDS responders will require strong national and local leadership, innovative measurement tools, clear accountability, and should be implemented via the national preparedness model outlined in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD- 5) and HSPD-8. ORM and CRM, if successfully established, can provide HLDS responders with the safety risk management capability that enables them to safely and effectively provide their vital services to the Nation.http://archive.org/details/safetyriskmanage109451947Chief - Afloat & Marine Safety, US Coast Guard (USCG

The state of industrial design or industrial design in a state: an exploration of the current status of industrial design

Industrial design appears to be losing relevance in the post-industrial world, overtaken by newer fields of the digital information age. As a consequence, industrial design finds itself in an uncertain position, lacking clear definition, identity and purpose. This paper attempts to identify the current status of industrial design via a survey of individuals (n=120) with an understanding of the field and an appreciation of design movements. Focus was directed towards the definition of industrial design, the existence of design movements and the extent to which these factors impact upon present-day industrial design. Conclusions drawn from the results suggest that the field requires reform and reassessment of core values, towards reassertion with a clear and concise identity to enforce relevance and position