Origin and reduction of wakefields in photonic crystal accelerator cavities

Photonic crystal (PhC) defect cavities that support an accelerating mode tend to trap unwanted higher-order modes (HOMs) corresponding to zero-group-velocity PhC lattice modes at the top of the bandgap. The effect is explained quite generally from photonic band and perturbation theoretical arguments. Transverse wakefields resulting from this effect are observed in a hybrid dielectric PhC accelerating cavity based on a triangular lattice of sapphire rods. These wakefields are, on average, an order of magnitude higher than those in the waveguide-damped Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) copper cavities. The avoidance of translational symmetry (and, thus, the bandgap concept) can dramatically improve HOM damping in PhC-based structures.Comment: 11 pages, 18 figures, 2 table

A computational study of dielectric photonic-crystal-based accelerator cavities

Future particle accelerator cavities may use dielectric photonic crystals to reduce harmful wakefields and increase the accelerating electric field (or gradient). Reduced wakefields are predicted based on the bandgap property of some photonic crystals (i.e. frequency-selective reflection/ transmission). Larger accelerating gradients are predicted based on certain dielectrics’ strong resistance to electrical breakdown. Using computation, this thesis investigated a hybrid design of a 2D sapphire photonic crystal and traditional copper conducting cavity. The goals were to test the claim of reduced wakefields and, in general, judge the effectiveness of such structures as practical accelerating cavities. In the process, we discovered the following: (1) resonant cavities in truncated photonic crystals may confine radiation weakly compared to conducting cavities (depending on the level of truncation); however, confinement can be dramatically increased through optimizations that break lattice symmetry (but retain certain rotational symmetries); (2) photonic crystal cavities do not ideally reduce wakefields; using band structure calculations, we found that wakefields are increased by flat portions of the frequency dispersion (where the waves have vanishing group velocities). A complete comparison was drawn between the proposed photonic crystal cavities and the copper cavities for the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC); CLIC is one of the candidates for a future high-energy electron-positron collider that will study in greater detail the physics learned at the Large Hadron Collider. We found that the photonic crystal cavity, when compared to the CLIC cavity: (1) can lower maximum surface magnetic fields on conductors (growing evidence suggests this limits accelerating gradients by inducing electrical breakdown); (2) shows increased transverse dipole wakefields but decreased longitudinal monopole wakefields; and (3) exhibits lower accelerating efficiencies (unless a large photonic crystal is used)

Preoperative Volume Determination for Pituitary Adenoma

The most common sellar lesion is the pituitary adenoma, and sellar tumors are approximately 10-15% of all intracranial neoplasms. Manual slice-by-slice segmentation takes quite some time that can be reduced by using the appropriate algorithms. In this contribution, we present a segmentation method for pituitary adenoma. The method is based on an algorithm that we have applied recently to segmenting glioblastoma multiforme. A modification of this scheme is used for adenoma segmentation that is much harder to perform, due to lack of contrast-enhanced boundaries. In our experimental evaluation, neurosurgeons performed manual slice-by-slice segmentation of ten magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cases. The segmentations were compared to the segmentation results of the proposed method using the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC). The average DSC for all datasets was 75.92% +/- 7.24%. A manual segmentation took about four minutes and our algorithm required about one second.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, 16 references in Proc. SPIE 7963, Medical Imaging 2011: Computer-Aided Diagnosis, 79632T (9 March 2011). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1103.177

Metabolic flexibility revealed in the genome of the cyst-forming α-1 proteobacterium Rhodospirillum centenum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Rhodospirillum centenum </it>is a photosynthetic non-sulfur purple bacterium that favors growth in an anoxygenic, photosynthetic N₂-fixing environment. It is emerging as a genetically amenable model organism for molecular genetic analysis of cyst formation, photosynthesis, phototaxis, and cellular development. Here, we present an analysis of the genome of this bacterium.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>R. centenum </it>contains a singular circular chromosome of 4,355,548 base pairs in size harboring 4,105 genes. It has an intact Calvin cycle with two forms of Rubisco, as well as a gene encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) for mixotrophic CO₂fixation. This dual carbon-fixation system may be required for regulating internal carbon flux to facilitate bacterial nitrogen assimilation. Enzymatic reactions associated with arsenate and mercuric detoxification are rare or unique compared to other purple bacteria. Among numerous newly identified signal transduction proteins, of particular interest is a putative bacteriophytochrome that is phylogenetically distinct from a previously characterized <it>R. centenum </it>phytochrome, Ppr. Genes encoding proteins involved in chemotaxis as well as a sophisticated dual flagellar system have also been mapped.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Remarkable metabolic versatility and a superior capability for photoautotrophic carbon assimilation is evident in <it>R. centenum</it>.</p