1,448 research outputs found
Novel techniques to cool and rotate Bose-Einstein condensates in time-averaged adiabatic potentials
We report two novel techniques for cooling and rotating Bose-Einstein
condensates in a dilute rubidium vapour that highlight the control and
versatility afforded over cold atom systems by time-averaged adiabatic
potentials (TAAPs). The intrinsic loss channel of the TAAP has been
successfully employed to evaporatively cool a sample of trapped atoms to
quantum degeneracy. The speed and efficiency of this process compares well with
that of conventional forced rf-evaporation. In an independent experiment, we
imparted angular momentum to a cloud of atoms forming a Bose-Einstein
condensate by introducing a rotating elliptical deformation to the TAAP
geometry. Triangular lattices of up to 60 vortices were created. All findings
reported herein result from straightforward adjustments of the magnetic fields
that give rise to the TAAP.Comment: The first two authors contributed equally to this wor
Technical innovation changes standard radiographic protocols in veterinary medicine: is it necessary to obtain two dorsoproximal-palmarodistal oblique views of the equine foot when using computerised radiography systems?
Since the 1950s, veterinary practitioners have included two separate dorsoproximalâpalmarodistal oblique (DPrâPaDiO) radiographs as part of a standard series of the equine foot. One image is obtained to visualise the distal phalanx and the other to visualise the navicular bone. However, rapid development of computed radiography and digital radiography and their post-processing capabilities could mean that this practice is no longer required. The aim of this study was to determine differences in perceived image quality between DPrâPaDiO radiographs that were acquired with a computerised radiography system with exposures, centring and collimation recommended for the navicular bone versus images acquired for the distal phalanx but were subsequently manipulated post-acquisition to highlight the navicular bone. Thirty images were presented to four clinicians for quality assessment and graded using a 1â3 scale (1=textbook quality, 2=diagnostic quality, 3=non-diagnostic image). No significant difference in diagnostic quality was found between the original navicular bone images and the manipulated distal phalanx images. This finding suggests that a single DPrâPaDiO image of the distal phalanx is sufficient for an equine foot radiographic series, with appropriate post-processing and manipulation. This change in protocol will result in reduced radiographic study time and decreased patient/personnel radiation exposure
Validation of purdue engineering shape benchmark clusters by crowdsourcing
The effective organization of CAD data archives is central to PLM and consequently content based retrieval of 2D drawings and 3D models is often seen as a "holy grail" for the industry. Given this context, it is not surprising that the vision of a "Google for shape", which enables engineers to search databases of 3D models for components similar in shape to a query part, has motivated numerous researchers to investigate algorithms for computing geometric similarity. Measuring the effectiveness of the many approaches proposed has in turn lead to the creation of benchmark datasets against which researchers can compare the performance of their search engines. However to be useful the datasets used to measure the effectiveness of 3D retrieval algorithms must not only define a collection of models, but also provide a canonical specification of their relative similarity. Because the objective of shape retrieval algorithms is (typically) to retrieve groups of objects that humans perceive as "similar" these benchmark similarity relationships have (by definition) to be manually determined through inspection
Trapping Ultracold Atoms in a Time-Averaged Adiabatic Potential
We report the first experimental realization of ultracold atoms confined in a
time-averaged, adiabatic potential (TAAP). This novel trapping technique
involves using a slowly oscillating ( kHz) bias field to time-average the
instantaneous potential given by dressing a bare magnetic potential with a high
frequency ( MHz) magnetic field. The resultant potentials provide a
convenient route to a variety of trapping geometries with tunable parameters.
We demonstrate the TAAP trap in a standard time-averaged orbiting potential
trap with additional Helmholtz coils for the introduction of the radio
frequency dressing field. We have evaporatively cooled 5 atoms of
Rb to quantum degeneracy and observed condensate lifetimes of over
\unit[3]{s}.-Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Tunable fibre-coupled multiphoton microscopy with a negative curvature fibre
Negative curvature fibre (NCF) guides light in its core by inhibiting the coupling of core and cladding modes. In this work, an NCF was designed and fabricated to transmit ultrashort optical pulses for multiphoton microscopy with low group velocity dispersion (GVD) at 800 nm. Its attenuation was measured to be <0.3 dB m(-1) over the range 600-850 nm and the GVD was -180 ± 70 fs(2)  m(-1) at 800 nm. Using an average fibre output power of âŒ20 mW and pulse repetition rate of 80 MHz, the NCF enabled pulses with a duration of <200 fs to be transmitted through a length of 1.5 m of fibre over a tuning range of 180 nm without the need for dispersion compensation. In a 4 m fibre, temporal and spectral pulse widths were maintained to within 10% of low power values up to the maximum fibre output power achievable with the laser system used of 278 mW at 700 nm, 808 mW at 800 nm and 420 mW at 860 nm. When coupled to a multiphoton microscope, it enabled imaging of ex vivo tissue using excitation wavelengths from 740 nm to 860 nm without any need for adjustments to the set-up
Self-Assessment and Planned Change of Placement and Career Services Center
In the 1990s, college and university career services and placement units face many challenges which may influence their success including (a) increased budgetary constraints, (b) changing student demographics, (c) increased availability of computer technologies, (d) new service delivery models, and (e) changing employer recruitment practices. In an effort to address these issues and examine its role within the university (Roth, 1994), the Placement and Career Information Center (PCIC) at Central Michigan University undertook a program of applied research, self-assessment and planned change. The purpose of this article is to briefly report our experiences in conducting this program of applied research. The assessment strategy is presented in the first part of this report. Next, the methods used to collect data and assessment, sampling procedures and response rates are described. Following this, highlights of the assessment results are presented including a summary of some changes already made and those planned for the future. The results of this study are presented in detail in Adams, et at. (1994)
Geometric reasoning via internet crowdsourcing
The ability to interpret and reason about shapes is a peculiarly human capability that has proven difficult to reproduce algorithmically. So despite the fact that geometric modeling technology has made significant advances in the representation, display and modification of shapes, there have only been incremental advances in geometric reasoning. For example, although today's CAD systems can confidently identify isolated cylindrical holes, they struggle with more ambiguous tasks such as the identification of partial symmetries or similarities in arbitrary geometries. Even well defined problems such as 2D shape nesting or 3D packing generally resist elegant solution and rely instead on brute force explorations of a subset of the many possible solutions. Identifying economic ways to solving such problems would result in significant productivity gains across a wide range of industrial applications. The authors hypothesize that Internet Crowdsourcing might provide a pragmatic way of removing many geometric reasoning bottlenecks.This paper reports the results of experiments conducted with Amazon's mTurk site and designed to determine the feasibility of using Internet Crowdsourcing to carry out geometric reasoning tasks as well as establish some benchmark data for the quality, speed and costs of using this approach.After describing the general architecture and terminology of the mTurk Crowdsourcing system, the paper details the implementation and results of the following three investigations; 1) the identification of "Canonical" viewpoints for individual shapes, 2) the quantification of "similarity" relationships with-in collections of 3D models and 3) the efficient packing of 2D Strips into rectangular areas. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possibilities and limitations of the approach
A comparison of non-local electron transport models for laser-plasmas relevant to inertial confinement fusion
Modification of classical electron transport due to collisions between electrons and fast ions
A Fokker-Planck model for the interaction of fast ions with the thermal
electrons in a quasi-neutral plasma is developed. When the fast ion population
has a net flux (i.e. the distribution of the fast ions is anisotropic in
velocity space) the electron distribution function is significantly perturbed
from Maxwellian by collisions with the fast ions, even if the fast ion density
is orders of magnitude smaller than the electron density. The Fokker-Planck
model is used to derive classical electron transport equations (a generalized
Ohm's law and a heat flow equation) that include the effects of the
electron-fast ion collisions. It is found that these collisions result in a
current term in the transport equations which can be significant even when
total current is zero. The new transport equations are analyzed in the context
of a number of scenarios including particle heating in ICF and MIF
plasmas and ion beam heating of dense plasmas
Fibre-coupled multiphoton microscope with adaptive motion compensation
To address the challenge of sample motion during in vivo imaging, we present a fibre-coupled multiphoton microscope with active axial motion compensation. The position of the sample surface is measured using optical coherence tomography and fed back to a piezo actuator that adjusts the axial location of the objective to compensate for sample motion. We characterise the systemâs performance and demonstrate that it can compensate for axial sample velocities up to 700 ”m/s. Finally we illustrate the impact of motion compensation when imaging multiphoton excited autofluorescence in ex vivo mouse skin
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