311 research outputs found
Sub-100 nanosecond temporally resolved imaging with the Medipix3 direct electron detector
Detector developments are currently enabling new capabilities in the field of
transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We have investigated the limits of a
hybrid pixel detector, Medipix3, to record dynamic, time varying, electron
signals. Operating with an energy of 60keV, we have utilised electrostatic
deflection to oscillate electron beam position on the detector. Adopting a
pump-probe imaging strategy we have demonstrated that temporal resolutions
three orders of magnitude smaller than are available for typically used TEM
imaging detectors are possible. Our experiments have shown that energy
deposition of the primary electrons in the hybrid pixel detector limits the
overall temporal resolution. Through adjustment of user specifiable thresholds
or the use of charge summing mode, we have obtained images composed from
summing 10,000s frames containing single electron events to achieve temporal
resolution less than 100ns. We propose that this capability can be directly
applied to studying repeatable material dynamic processes but also to implement
low-dose imaging schemes in scanning transmission electron microscopy.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; improve ref formatting + revise tex
Shaping, imaging and controlling plasmonic interference fields at buried interfaces
Filming and controlling plasmons at buried interfaces with nanometer (nm) and
femtosecond (fs) resolution has yet to be achieved and is critical for next
generation plasmonic/electronic devices. In this work, we use light to excite
and shape a plasmonic interference pattern at a buried metal-dielectric
interface in a nanostructured thin film. Plasmons are launched from a
photoexcited array of nanocavities and their propagation is filmed via
photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM). The resulting movie
directly captures the plasmon dynamics, allowing quantification of their group
velocity at approximately 0.3c, consistent with our theoretical predictions.
Furthermore, we show that the light polarization and nanocavity design can be
tailored to shape transient plasmonic gratings at the nanoscale. These results,
demonstrating dynamical imaging with PINEM, pave the way for the fs/nm
visualization and control of plasmonic fields in advanced heterostructures
based on novel 2D materials such as graphene, MoS, and ultrathin metal
films.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 3 supplementary figure
Ultrafast Imaging of Plasmons in a Transmission Electron Microscope
Miniaturized plasmonic and photonic integrated circuits are generally considered as the core of future generations of optoelectronic devices, due to their potential to bridge the size-compatibility gap between photonics and electronics. However, as the nanoscale is approached in increasingly small plasmonic and photonic systems, experimentally observing their behavior involves ever more stringent requirements in terms of both temporal and spatial resolution. This talk focuses on the use of time-resolved Photon-Induced Near-Field Electron Microscopy (PINEM) to study the excitation, propagation, (self-)interference and dynamics of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in various plasmonic nanostructures with both nanometer and ultrafast resolution in a transmission electron microscope. Using this field-ofview technique, we directly show how photo-excited plasmonic interference patterns are controlled through the combination of excitation polarization and nanostructure geometry. Moreover, we capture the propagation of the photoinduced self-interfering plasmonic wave, clearly demonstrating the effects of axial confinement in nanostructured plasmonic thin film stacks
Cloud microphysical effects of turbulent mixing and entrainment
Turbulent mixing and entrainment at the boundary of a cloud is studied by
means of direct numerical simulations that couple the Eulerian description of
the turbulent velocity and water vapor fields with a Lagrangian ensemble of
cloud water droplets that can grow and shrink by condensation and evaporation,
respectively. The focus is on detailed analysis of the relaxation process of
the droplet ensemble during the entrainment of subsaturated air, in particular
the dependence on turbulence time scales, droplet number density, initial
droplet radius and particle inertia. We find that the droplet evolution during
the entrainment process is captured best by a phase relaxation time that is
based on the droplet number density with respect to the entire simulation
domain and the initial droplet radius. Even under conditions favoring
homogeneous mixing, the probability density function of supersaturation at
droplet locations exhibits initially strong negative skewness, consistent with
droplets near the cloud boundary being suddenly mixed into clear air, but
rapidly approaches a narrower, symmetric shape. The droplet size distribution,
which is initialized as perfectly monodisperse, broadens and also becomes
somewhat negatively skewed. Particle inertia and gravitational settling lead to
a more rapid initial evaporation, but ultimately only to slight depletion of
both tails of the droplet size distribution. The Reynolds number dependence of
the mixing process remained weak over the parameter range studied, most
probably due to the fact that the inhomogeneous mixing regime could not be
fully accessed when phase relaxation times based on global number density are
considered.Comment: 17 pages, 10 Postscript figures (figures 3,4,6,7,8 and 10 are in
reduced quality), to appear in Theoretical Computational Fluid Dynamic
Cataclysmic Variables from SDSS II. The Second Year
The first full year of operation following the commissioning year of the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey has revealed a wide variety of newly discovered
cataclysmic variables. We show the SDSS spectra of forty-two cataclysmic
variables observed in 2002, of which thirty-five are new classifications, four
are known dwarf novae (CT Hya, RZ Leo, T Leo and BZ UMa), one is a known CV
identified from a previous quasar survey (Aqr1) and two are known ROSAT or
FIRST discovered CVs (RX J09445+0357, FIRST J102347.6+003841). The SDSS
positions, colors and spectra of all forty-two systems are presented. In
addition, the results of follow-up studies of several of these objects identify
the orbital periods, velocity curves and polarization that provide the system
geometry and accretion properties. While most of the SDSS discovered systems
are faint (>18th mag) with low accretion rates (as implied from their spectral
characteristics), there are also a few bright objects which may have escaped
previous surveys due to changes in the mass transfer rate.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 126, Sep.
2003, 44 pages, 25 figures (now with adjacent captions), AASTeX v5.
Pearling and Pinching: Propagation of Rayleigh Instabilities
A new category of front propagation problems is proposed in which a spreading
instability evolves through a singular configuration before saturating. We
examine the nature of this front for the viscous Rayleigh instability of a
column of one fluid immersed in another, using the marginal stability criterion
to estimate the front velocity, front width, and the selected wavelength in
terms of the surface tension and viscosity contrast. Experiments are suggested
on systems that may display this phenomenon, including droplets elongated in
extensional flows, capillary bridges, liquid crystal tethers, and viscoelastic
fluids. The related problem of propagation in Rayleigh-like systems that do not
fission is also considered.Comment: Revtex, 7 pages, 4 ps figs, PR
Association of measures of body fat with serum alpha-tocopherol and its metabolites in middle-aged individuals
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The accumulation of fat increases the formation of lipid peroxides, which are partly scavenged by alpha-tocopherol (α-TOH). Here, we aimed to investigate the associations between different measures of (abdominal) fat and levels of urinary α-TOH metabolites in middle-aged individuals. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this cross-sectional analysis in the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study (N = 511, 53% women; mean [SD] age of 55 [6.1] years), serum α-TOH and α-TOH metabolites from 24-h urine were measured as alpha-tocopheronolactone hydroquinone (α-TLHQ, oxidized) and alpha-carboxymethyl-hydroxychroman (α-CEHC, enzymatically converted) using liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Body mass index and total body fat were measured, and abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue (aSAT and VAT) were assessed using magnetic resonance imaging. Using multivariable-adjusted linear regression analyses, we analysed the associations of BMI, TBF, aSAT and VAT with levels of urinary α-TOH metabolites, adjusted for confounders. We observed no evidence for associations between body fat measures and serum α-TOH. Higher BMI and TBF were associated with lower urinary levels of TLHQ (0.95 [95%CI: 0.90, 1.00] and 0.94 [0.88, 1.01] times per SD, respectively) and with lower TLHQ relative to CEHC (0.93 [0.90, 0.98] and 0.93 [0.87, 0.98] times per SD, respectively). We observed similar associations for VAT (TLHQ: 0.94 [0.89, 0.99] times per SD), but not for aSAT. CONCLUSIONS: Opposite to our research hypothesis, higher abdominal adiposity was moderately associated with lower levels of oxidized α-TOH metabolites, which might reflect lower vitamin E antioxidative activity in individuals with higher abdominal fat instead
The formation of planetary disks and winds: an ultraviolet view
Planetary systems are angular momentum reservoirs generated during star
formation. This accretion process produces very powerful engines able to drive
the optical jets and the molecular outflows. A fraction of the engine energy is
released into heating thus the temperature of the engine ranges from the 3000K
of the inner disk material to the 10MK in the areas where magnetic reconnection
occurs. There are important unsolved problems concerning the nature of the
engine, its evolution and the impact of the engine in the chemical evolution of
the inner disk. Of special relevance is the understanding of the shear layer
between the stellar photosphere and the disk; this layer controls a significant
fraction of the magnetic field building up and the subsequent dissipative
processes ougth to be studied in the UV.
This contribution focus on describing the connections between 1 Myr old suns
and the Sun and the requirements for new UV instrumentation to address their
evolution during this period. Two types of observations are shown to be needed:
monitoring programmes and high resolution imaging down to, at least,
milliarsecond scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science 9 figure
1918 Influenza Pandemic and Highly Conserved Viruses with Two Receptor-Binding Variants
The “Spanish influenza pandemic swept the globe in the autumn and winter of 1918–19, and resulted in the deaths of approximately 40 million people. Clinically, epidemiologically, and pathologically, the disease was remarkably uniform, which suggests that similar viruses were causing disease around the world. To assess the homogeneity of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, partial hemagglutinin gene sequences have been determined for five cases, including two newly identified samples from London, United Kingdom. The strains show 98.9% to 99.8% nucleotide sequence identity. One of the few differences between the strains maps to the receptor-binding site of hemagglutinin, suggesting that two receptor-binding configurations were co-circulating during the pandemic. The results suggest that in the early stages of an influenza A pandemic, mutations that occur during replication do not become fixed so that a uniform “consensus” strain circulates for some time
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