859 research outputs found
Identification, release and olfactory detection of bile salts in the intestinal fluid of the Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis)
Olfactory sensitivity to bile salts is wide-spread
in teleosts; however, which bile salts are released in suYcient quantities to be detected is unclear. The current study identiWed bile salts in the intestinal and bile Xuids of Solea
senegalensis by mass spectrometry–liquid chromatography and assessed their olfactory potency by the electro-olfactogram
An accelerator facility for intermediate energy proton irradiation and testing of nuclear materials
The bulk irradiation of materials with 10-30 MeV protons promises to advance
the study of radiation damage for fission and fusion power plants. Intermediate
energy proton beams can now be dedicated to materials irradiation within
university-scale laboratories. This paper describes the first such facility,
with an Ionetix ION-12SC cyclotron producing 12 MeV proton beams. Samples are
mm-scale tensile specimens with thicknesses up to 300 um, mounted to a cooled
beam target with control over temperature. A specialized tensile tester for
radioactive specimens at high temperature (500+ {\deg}C) and/or vacuum
represents the conditions in fission and fusion systems, while a digital image
correlation system remotely measures strain. Overall, the facility provides
university-scale irradiation and testing capability with intermediate energy
protons to complement traditional in-core fission reactor and micro-scale ion
irradiation. This facility demonstrates that bulk proton irradiation is a
scalable and effective approach for nuclear materials research, down-selection,
and qualification.Comment: Submitted to NIM B journa
Ferromagnetic/superconducting proximity effect in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 / YBa2Cu3O7 superlattices
We study the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity in high
quality YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) / La0.7Ca0.3MnO3(LCMO)superlattices. We find evidence
for the YBCO superconductivity depression in presence of the LCMO layers. We
show that due to its short coherence length superconductivity survives in the
YBCO down to much smaller thickness in presence of the magnetic layer than in
low Tc superconductors. We also find that for a fixed thickness of the
superconducting layer, superconductivity is depressed over a thickness interval
of the magnetic layer in the 100 nm range. This is a much longer length scale
than that predicted by the theory of ferromagnetic/superconducting proximity
effect.Comment: 10 pages + 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The Influence of Molecular Adsorption on Elongating Gold Nanowires
Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the impact of physisorbing
adsorbates on the structural and mechanical evolution of gold nanowires (AuNWs)
undergoing elongation. We used various adsorbate models in our simulations,
with each model giving rise to a different surface coverage and mobility of the
adsorbed phase. We find that the local structure and mobility of the adsorbed
phase remains relatively uniform across all segments of an elongating AuNW,
except for the thinning region of the wire where the high mobility of Au atoms
disrupts the monolayer structure, giving rise to higher solvent mobility. We
analyzed the AuNW trajectories by measuring the ductile elongation of the wires
and detecting the presence of characteristic structural motifs that appeared
during elongation. Our findings indicate that adsorbates facilitate the
formation of high-energy structural motifs and lead to significantly higher
ductile elongations. In particular, our simulations result in a large number of
monatomic chains and helical structures possessing mechanical stability in
excess of what we observe in vacuum. Conversely, we find that a molecular
species that interacts weakly (i.e., does not adsorb) with AuNWs worsens the
mechanical stability of monatomic chains.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physical Chemistry
Framework for evaluating the health impact of the scale-up of malaria control interventions on all-cause child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa
Concerted efforts from national and international partners have scaled up malaria control interventions, including insecticide-treated nets, indoor residual spraying, diagnostics, prompt and effective treatment of malaria cases, and intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This scale-up warrants an assessment of its health impact to guide future efforts and investments; however, measuring malaria-specific mortality and the overall impact of malaria control interventions remains challenging. In 2007, Roll Back Malaria's Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group proposed a theoretical framework for evaluating the impact of full-coverage malaria control interventions on morbidity and mortality in high-burden SSA countries. Recently, several evaluations have contributed new ideas and lessons to strengthen this plausibility design. This paper harnesses that new evaluation experience to expand the framework, with additional features, such as stratification, to examine subgroups most likely to experience improvement if control programs are working; the use of a national platform framework; and analysis of complete birth histories from national household surveys. The refined framework has shown that, despite persisting data challenges, combining multiple sources of data, considering potential contributions from both fundamental and proximate contextual factors, and conducting subnational analyses allows identification of the plausible contributions of malaria control interventions on malaria morbidity and mortality
Statistical modeling of ground motion relations for seismic hazard analysis
We introduce a new approach for ground motion relations (GMR) in the
probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), being influenced by the extreme
value theory of mathematical statistics. Therein, we understand a GMR as a
random function. We derive mathematically the principle of area-equivalence;
wherein two alternative GMRs have an equivalent influence on the hazard if
these GMRs have equivalent area functions. This includes local biases. An
interpretation of the difference between these GMRs (an actual and a modeled
one) as a random component leads to a general overestimation of residual
variance and hazard. Beside this, we discuss important aspects of classical
approaches and discover discrepancies with the state of the art of stochastics
and statistics (model selection and significance, test of distribution
assumptions, extreme value statistics). We criticize especially the assumption
of logarithmic normally distributed residuals of maxima like the peak ground
acceleration (PGA). The natural distribution of its individual random component
(equivalent to exp(epsilon_0) of Joyner and Boore 1993) is the generalized
extreme value. We show by numerical researches that the actual distribution can
be hidden and a wrong distribution assumption can influence the PSHA negatively
as the negligence of area equivalence does. Finally, we suggest an estimation
concept for GMRs of PSHA with a regression-free variance estimation of the
individual random component. We demonstrate the advantages of event-specific
GMRs by analyzing data sets from the PEER strong motion database and estimate
event-specific GMRs. Therein, the majority of the best models base on an
anisotropic point source approach. The residual variance of logarithmized PGA
is significantly smaller than in previous models. We validate the estimations
for the event with the largest sample by empirical area functions. etc
Large-Scale Atomistic Simulations of Environmental Effects on the Formation and Properties of Molecular Junctions
Using an updated simulation tool, we examine molecular junctions comprised of
benzene-1,4-dithiolate bonded between gold nanotips, focusing on the importance
of environmental factors and inter-electrode distance on the formation and
structure of bridged molecules. We investigate the complex relationship between
monolayer density and tip separation, finding that the formation of
multi-molecule junctions is favored at low monolayer density, while
single-molecule junctions are favored at high density. We demonstrate that tip
geometry and monolayer interactions, two factors that are often neglected in
simulation, affect the bonding geometry and tilt angle of bridged molecules. We
further show that the structures of bridged molecules at 298 and 77 K are
similar.Comment: To appear in ACS Nano, 30 pages, 5 figure
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