13,865 research outputs found
Vacuum-isolation vessel and method for measurement of thermal noise in microphones
The vacuum isolation vessel and method in accordance with the present invention are used to accurately measure thermal noise in microphones. The apparatus and method could be used in a microphone calibration facility or any facility used for testing microphones. Thermal noise is measured to determine the minimum detectable sound pressure by the microphone. Conventional isolation apparatus and methods have been unable to provide an acoustically quiet and substantially vibration free environment for accurately measuring thermal noise. In the present invention, an isolation vessel assembly comprises a vacuum sealed outer vessel, a vacuum sealed inner vessel, and an interior suspension assembly coupled between the outer and inner vessels for suspending the inner vessel within the outer vessel. A noise measurement system records thermal noise data from the isolation vessel assembly. A vacuum system creates a vacuum between an internal surface of the outer vessel and an external surface of the inner vessel. The present invention thus provides an acoustically quiet environment due to the vacuum created between the inner and outer vessels and a substantially vibration free environment due to the suspension assembly suspending the inner vessel within the outer vessel. The thermal noise in the microphone, effectively isolated according to the invention, can be accurately measured
Grain-boundary grooving and agglomeration of alloy thin films with a slow-diffusing species
We present a general phase-field model for grain-boundary grooving and
agglomeration of polycrystalline alloy thin films. In particular, we study the
effects of slow-diffusing species on grooving rate. As the groove grows, the
slow species becomes concentrated near the groove tip so that further grooving
is limited by the rate at which it diffuses away from the tip. At early times
the dominant diffusion path is along the boundary, while at late times it is
parallel to the substrate. This change in path strongly affects the
time-dependence of grain boundary grooving and increases the time to
agglomeration. The present model provides a tool for agglomeration-resistant
thin film alloy design. keywords: phase-field, thermal grooving, diffusion,
kinetics, metal silicidesComment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Doping Dependence of Spin Dynamics in Electron-Doped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2
The spin dynamics in single crystal, electron-doped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 has been
investigated by inelastic neutron scattering over the full range from undoped
to the overdoped regime. We observe damped magnetic fluctuations in the normal
state of the optimally doped compound (x=0.06) that share a remarkable
similarity with those in the paramagnetic state of the parent compound (x=0).
In the overdoped superconducting compound (x=0.14), magnetic excitations show a
gap-like behavior, possibly related to a topological change in the hole Fermi
surface (Lifshitz transition), while the imaginary part of the spin
susceptibility prominently resembles that of the overdoped cuprates. For the
heavily overdoped, non-superconducting compound (x=0.24) the magnetic
scattering disappears, which could be attributed to the absence of a hole
Fermi-surface pocket observed by photoemission.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, published versio
Destruction of Neel order and appearance of superconductivity in electron-doped cuprates by oxygen annealing process
We use thermodynamic and neutron scattering measurements to study the effect
of oxygen annealing on the superconductivity and magnetism in
PrLaCeCuO. Although the transition temperature
measured by susceptibility and superconducting coherence length increase
smoothly with gradual oxygen removal from the annealing process, bulk
superconductivity, marked by a specific heat anomaly at and the presence
of a neutron magnetic resonance, only appears abruptly when is close to
the largest value. These results suggest that the effect of oxygen annealing
must be first determined in order to establish a Ce-doping dependence of
antiferromagnetism and superconductivity phase diagram for electron-doped
copper oxides.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
A putative stimulatory role for activator turnover in gene expression
The ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) promotes the destruction of target proteins by attaching to them a ubiquitin chain that is recognized by the 26S proteasome. The UPS influences most cellular processes, and its targets include transcriptional activators that are primary determinants of gene expression. Emerging evidence indicates that non-proteolytic functions of the UPS might stimulate transcriptional activity. Here we show that the proteolysis of some transcriptional activators by the UPS can stimulate their function. We focused on the role of UPS-dependent proteolysis in the function of inducible transcriptional activators in yeast, and found that inhibition of the proteasome reduced transcription of the targets of the activators Gcn4, Gal4 and Ino2/4. In addition, mutations in SCF^(Cdc4), the ubiquitin ligase for Gcn4 (ref. 5), or mutations in ubiquitin that prevent degradation, also impaired the transcription of Gcn4 targets. These transcriptional defects were manifested despite the enhanced abundance of Gcn4 on cognate promoters. Proteasome inhibition also decreased the association of RNA polymerase II with Gcn4, Gal4 and Ino2/4 targets, as did mutations in SCFCdc4 for Gcn4 targets. Expression of a stable phospho-site mutant of Gcn4 (ref. 7) or disruption of the kinases that target Gcn4 for turnover alleviated the sensitivity of Gcn4 activity to defects in the UPS
BL Lacertae are probable sources of the observed ultra-high energy cosmic rays
We calculate angular correlation function between ultra-high energy cosmic
rays (UHECR) observed by Yakutsk and AGASA experiments, and most powerful BL
Lacertae objects. We find significant correlations which correspond to the
probability of statistical fluctuation less than , including penatly
for selecting the subset of brightest BL Lacs. We conclude that some of BL Lacs
are sources of the observed UHECR and present a list of most probable
candidates.Comment: Replaced with the version accepted for publication in JETP Let
The Case for Dynamic Models of Learners' Ontologies in Physics
In a series of well-known papers, Chi and Slotta (Chi, 1992; Chi & Slotta,
1993; Chi, Slotta & de Leeuw, 1994; Slotta, Chi & Joram, 1995; Chi, 2005;
Slotta & Chi, 2006) have contended that a reason for students' difficulties in
learning physics is that they think about concepts as things rather than as
processes, and that there is a significant barrier between these two
ontological categories. We contest this view, arguing that expert and novice
reasoning often and productively traverses ontological categories. We cite
examples from everyday, classroom, and professional contexts to illustrate
this. We agree with Chi and Slotta that instruction should attend to learners'
ontologies; but we find these ontologies are better understood as dynamic and
context-dependent, rather than as static constraints. To promote one
ontological description in physics instruction, as suggested by Slotta and Chi,
could undermine novices' access to productive cognitive resources they bring to
their studies and inhibit their transition to the dynamic ontological
flexibility required of experts.Comment: The Journal of the Learning Sciences (In Press
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