Recent experiences with ultrasonic inservice inspection systems with phased array probes on spherical bottoms of boiling water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wustenberg, H.; Brekow, G.; Erhard, A.; Hein, E.

1988-01-01

The special geometry of the spherical bottom of boiling water reactors with control rods and measuring nozzles requires a very special surveillance technique during the in-service inspection. Reside visual inspection an ultrasonic inspection has been established due to the requirements of German authorities. A first application of a new phased array system took place August 1987. The 100% inspection of a spherical bottom had been enabled by the application of phased array probes with electronically controlled skewing angles. The data acquisition had been based on the storage of whole A-scans, which had been pixellized into 256 points. This A-scan storage procedure makes possible the application of a simple and fast algorithm to present the data as TD-(time displacement)-scans. Defect reconstruction by echotomographique approaches are under development. This paper presents the ultrasonic technique applied including the phased array probes, the electronic system, as well as the software package used for the control of the inspection parameters depending on the probe position

Flyby Characterization of Lower-Degree Spherical Harmonics Around Small Bodies

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Yu; Broschart, Stephen; Lantoine, Gregory

2014-01-01

Interest in studying small bodies has grown significantly in the last two decades, and there are a number of past, present, and future missions. These small body missions challenge navigators with significantly different kinds of problems than the planets and moons do. The small bodies' shape is often irregular and their gravitational field significantly weak, which make the designing of a stable orbit a complex dynamical problem. In the initial phase of spacecraft rendezvous with a small body, the determination of the gravitational parameter and lower-degree spherical harmonics are of crucial importance for safe navigation purposes. This motivates studying how well one can determine the total mass and lower-degree spherical harmonics in a relatively short time in the initial phase of the spacecraft rendezvous via flybys. A quick turnaround for the gravity data is of high value since it will facilitate the subsequent mission design of the main scientific observation campaign. We will present how one can approach the problem to determine a desirable flyby geometry for a general small body. We will work in the non-dimensional formulation since it will generalize our results across different size/mass bodies and the rotation rate for a specific combination of gravitational coefficients.

SNAP: Small Next-generation Atmospheric Probe Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Sayanagi, K. M.; Dillman, R. A.; Atkinson, D. H.; Li, J.; Saikia, S.; Simon, A. A.; Spilker, T. R.; Wong, M. H.; Hope, D.

2017-12-01

We present a concept for a small, atmospheric probe that could be flexibly added to future missions that orbit or fly-by a giant planet as a secondary payload, which we call the Small Next-generation Atmospheric Probe (SNAP). SNAP's main scientific objectives are to determine the vertical distribution of clouds and cloud-forming chemical species, thermal stratification, and wind speed as a function of depth. As a case study, we present the advantages, cost and risk of adding SNAP to the future Uranus Orbiter and Probe flagship mission; in combination with the mission's main probe, SNAP would perform atmospheric in-situ measurements at a second location, and thus enable and enhance the scientific objectives recommended by the 2013 Planetary Science Decadal Survey and the 2014 NASA Science Plan to determine atmospheric spatial variabilities. We envision that the science objectives can be achieved with a 30-kg entry probe 0.5m in diameter (less than half the size of the Galileo probe) that reaches 5-bar pressure-altitude and returns data to Earth via the carrier spacecraft. As the baseline instruments, the probe will carry an Atmospheric Structure Instrument (ASI) that measures the temperature, pressure and acceleration, a carbon nanotube-based NanoChem atmospheric composition sensor, and an Ultra-Stable Oscillator (USO) to conduct a Doppler Wind Experiment (DWE). We also catalog promising technologies currently under development that will strengthen small atmospheric entry probe missions in the future. While SNAP is applicable to multiple planets, we examine the feasibility, benefits and impacts of adding SNAP to the Uranus Orbiter and Probe flagship mission. Our project is supported by NASA PSDS3 grant NNX17AK31G.

Contamination-free sounding rocket Langmuir probe

Science.gov (United States)

Amatucci, W. E.; Schuck, P. W.; Walker, D. N.; Kintner, P. M.; Powell, S.; Holback, B.; Leonhardt, D.

2001-04-01

A technique for removing surface contaminants from a sounding rocket spherical Langmuir probe is presented. Contamination layers present on probe surfaces can skew the collected data, resulting in the incorrect determination of plasma parameters. Despite following the usual probe cleaning techniques that are used prior to a launch, the probe surface can become coated with layers of adsorbed neutral gas in less than a second when exposed to atmosphere. The laboratory tests reported here show that by heating the probe from the interior using a small halogen lamp, adsorbed neutral particles can be removed from the probe surface, allowing accurate plasma parameter measurements to be made.

Small molecule probes for cellular death machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ying; Qian, Lihui; Yuan, Junying

2017-08-01

The past decade has witnessed a significant expansion of our understanding about the regulated cell death mechanisms beyond apoptosis. The application of chemical biological approaches had played a major role in driving these exciting discoveries. The discovery and use of small molecule probes in cell death research has not only revealed significant insights into the regulatory mechanism of cell death but also provided new drug targets and lead drug candidates for developing therapeutics of human diseases with huge unmet need. Here, we provide an overview of small molecule modulators for necroptosis and ferroptosis, two non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms, and discuss the molecular pathways and relevant pathophysiological mechanisms revealed by the judicial applications of such small molecule probes. We suggest that the development and applications of small molecule probes for non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms provide an outstanding example showcasing the power of chemical biology in exploring novel biological mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved analysis techniques for cylindrical and spherical double probes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beal, Brian; Brown, Daniel; Bromaghim, Daron [Air Force Research Laboratory, 1 Ara Rd., Edwards Air Force Base, California 93524 (United States); Johnson, Lee [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, California 91109 (United States); Blakely, Joseph [ERC Inc., 1 Ara Rd., Edwards Air Force Base, California 93524 (United States)

2012-07-15

A versatile double Langmuir probe technique has been developed by incorporating analytical fits to Laframboise's numerical results for ion current collection by biased electrodes of various sizes relative to the local electron Debye length. Application of these fits to the double probe circuit has produced a set of coupled equations that express the potential of each electrode relative to the plasma potential as well as the resulting probe current as a function of applied probe voltage. These equations can be readily solved via standard numerical techniques in order to determine electron temperature and plasma density from probe current and voltage measurements. Because this method self-consistently accounts for the effects of sheath expansion, it can be readily applied to plasmas with a wide range of densities and low ion temperature (T{sub i}/T{sub e} Much-Less-Than 1) without requiring probe dimensions to be asymptotically large or small with respect to the electron Debye length. The presented approach has been successfully applied to experimental measurements obtained in the plume of a low-power Hall thruster, which produced a quasineutral, flowing xenon plasma during operation at 200 W on xenon. The measured plasma densities and electron temperatures were in the range of 1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 12}-1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 17} m{sup -3} and 0.5-5.0 eV, respectively. The estimated measurement uncertainty is +6%/-34% in density and +/-30% in electron temperature.

Double phi-Step theta-Scanning Technique for Spherical Near-Field Antenna Measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laitinen, Tommi

2008-01-01

Probe-corrected spherical near-field antenna measurements with an arbitrary probe set certain requirements on an applicable scanning technique. The computational complexity of the general high-order probe correction technique for an arbitrary probe, that is based on the Phi scanning, is O(N4...... a specific double Phi-step thetas scanning technique for spherical near-field antenna measurements. This technique not only constitutes an alternative spherical scanning technique, but it also enables formulating an associated probe correction technique for arbitrary probes with the computational complexity...

Kinetic theory of a spherical probe in a stationary collision-dominated isothermal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brailsford, A.D.

1977-01-01

Constitutive equations for the charge carrier fluxes in a stationary collision-dominated isothermal plasma surrounding a spherical electrode are derived, from the Boltzmann equation, by a moment method using a two-stream Maxwellian distribution of the type introduced by Lees. In contrast to previous treatments, the constraint of uniform temperature is imposed and its importance emphasized. This condition, together with particle conservation, is shown to necessitate the use of a four-parameter Lees distribution and leads to generalized hydrodynamic equations. These are shown to reduce to conventional flux equations in terms of diffusion and mobility components only when the fields are spatially slowly varying. In addition, boundary conditions are derived by the same formalism. They are formulated for typical physical processes which may be operative at a real probe surface. As an example, the effect of the nonlinearity on the pure diffusion problem is analyzed in detail in the Appendix. A semiquantitative discussion of the current-voltage characteristics for negative probe potentials is also presented. It is shown that the charge carrier distribution around the probe conforms to the ''free-fall'' model only at low probe voltages. Otherwise, the model proposed by Su and Lam holds. The domain covered by the present analysis is determined by the following conditions on the probe radius r/sub p/, mean free path l, and Debye length lambda: (i) l 3 very-much-less-thanlambda 2 r/sub p/, (ii) (e vertical-barphi/sub p/ vertical-barl/kTr/sub p/) 2 /l 2 for l>lambda, where phi/sub p/ is the probe voltage. Analytic approximations to the current-voltage characteristics in both these regimes are presented

Minimum Q circularly polarized electrically small spherical antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Oleksiy S.

2011-01-01

The radiation problem for the TM10- and TE10-mode electric current densities on the surface of a spherical magnetic-coated PEC core is solved analytically. The combination of the electric and magnetic dipole modes reduces the radiation Q of the antenna. Moreover, with an appropriately designed...... magnetic-coated PEC core the stored energies of these modes balance each other making the antenna self-resonant and at the same time ensuring a perfect circularly polarized radiation. Numerical results for a practical dual-mode electrically small antenna confirm the theoretical predictions. A 4-arm...

Contact of a spherical probe with a stretched rubber substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Frétigny, Christian; Chateauminois, Antoine

2017-07-01

We report on a theoretical and experimental investigation of the normal contact of stretched neo-Hookean substrates with rigid spherical probes. Starting from a published formulation of surface Green's function for incremental displacements on a prestretched, neo-Hookean, substrate [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 56, 2957 (2008), 10.1016/j.jmps.2008.07.002], a model is derived for both adhesive and nonadhesive contacts. The shape of the elliptical contact area together with the contact load and the contact stiffness are predicted as a function of the in-plane stretch ratios λx and λy of the substrate. The validity of this model is assessed by contact experiments carried out using an uniaxally stretched silicone rubber. For stretch ratio below about 1.25, a good agreement is observed between theory and experiments. Above this threshold, some deviations from the theoretical predictions are induced as a result of the departure of the mechanical response of the silicone rubber from the neo-Hokeean description embedded in the model.

Small molecule probes for plant cell wall polysaccharide imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian eWallace

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Plant cell walls are composed of interlinked polymer networks consisting of cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectins, proteins, and lignin. The ordered deposition of these components is a dynamic process that critically affects the development and differentiation of plant cells. However, our understanding of cell wall synthesis and remodeling, as well as the diverse cell wall architectures that result from these processes, has been limited by a lack of suitable chemical probes that are compatible with live-cell imaging. In this review, we summarize the currently available molecular toolbox of probes for cell wall polysaccharide imaging in plants, with particular emphasis on recent advances in small molecule-based fluorescent probes. We also discuss the potential for further development of small molecule probes for the analysis of cell wall architecture and dynamics.

Gauge/gravity duality for interactions of spherical membranes in 11-dimensional pp-wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hok Kong; McLoughlin, Tristan; Wu Xinkai

2005-01-01

We investigate the gauge/gravity duality in the interaction between two spherical membranes in the 11-dimensional pp-wave background. On the supergravity side, we find the solution to the field equations at locations close to a spherical source membrane, and use it to obtain the light-cone Lagrangian of a spherical probe membrane very close to the source, i.e., with their separation much smaller than their radii. On the gauge theory side, using the BMN matrix model, we compute the one-loop effective potential between two membrane fuzzy spheres. Perfect agreement is found between the two sides. Moreover, the one-loop effective potential we obtain on the gauge theory side is valid beyond the small-separation approximation, giving the full interpolation between interactions of membrane-like objects and that of graviton-like objects

Gravitational sedimentation of cloud of solid spherical particles at small Reynolds numbers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arkhipov Vladimir

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The experimental results of study of gravitational sedimentation of highly-concentrated systems of solid spherical particles at small Reynolds numbers Re<1 are presented. Empirical equation for drag coefficient of the particle assembly has been obtained. The influence of initial particle concentration in the cloud on its dynamics and velocity has been analysed.

Spherical near-field scanning at the Technical University of Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, J. E.; Jensen, F.

1988-01-01

The early work (1969-79) on spherical near-field antenna measurements at the Technical University of Denmark (TUD) is outlined. A spherical near-field transmission formula is described and the first probe-corrected spherical near-field measurements are discussed. The TUD-ESA (European Space Agency...

Asymmetric double Langmuir probe: Small signal application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uckan, T.

1987-11-01

We discuss the asymmetric double Langmuir probe (ADLP) and demonstrate the possibility of using it to measure plasma temperature T/sub e/ and density n when it is operated in the region of small signal response. The area of one of the ADLP collectors is considerably larger than the other. This probe can be operated at a relatively low applied voltage, eV/sub a/T/sub e/ < 1, and still provides sufficient information to determine the plasma T/sub e/ and n. There is no need for a direct measurement of the ion saturation current, which can be on the order of a few amperes in large fusion devices. This reduces the requirements on the probe power supply. 6 refs., 6 figs

Spherical Pendulum Small Oscillations for Slewing Crane Motion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander V. Perig

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The present paper focuses on the Lagrange mechanics-based description of small oscillations of a spherical pendulum with a uniformly rotating suspension center. The analytical solution of the natural frequencies’ problem has been derived for the case of uniform rotation of a crane boom. The payload paths have been found in the inertial reference frame fixed on earth and in the noninertial reference frame, which is connected with the rotating crane boom. The numerical amplitude-frequency characteristics of the relative payload motion have been found. The mechanical interpretation of the terms in Lagrange equations has been outlined. The analytical expression and numerical estimation for cable tension force have been proposed. The numerical computational results, which correlate very accurately with the experimental observations, have been shown.

Spherical neutron generator

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Ka-Ngo

2006-11-21

A spherical neutron generator is formed with a small spherical target and a spherical shell RF-driven plasma ion source surrounding the target. A deuterium (or deuterium and tritium) ion plasma is produced by RF excitation in the plasma ion source using an RF antenna. The plasma generation region is a spherical shell between an outer chamber and an inner extraction electrode. A spherical neutron generating target is at the center of the chamber and is biased negatively with respect to the extraction electrode which contains many holes. Ions passing through the holes in the extraction electrode are focused onto the target which produces neutrons by D-D or D-T reactions.

A detailed analysis of adhesion mechanics between a compliant elastic coating and a spherical probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sridhar, I; Zheng, Z W; Johnson, K L

2004-01-01

As length scales decrease, adhesive forces become increasingly important. These adhesive forces contribute to the normal load in experiments conducted on thin layered systems using micro-probe instruments such as the surface force apparatus (SFA) and the atomic force microscope (AFM). Adhesion between these thin-layer systems was analysed by Sridhar et al (1997 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 30 1710) for the SFA geometry and Johnson and Sridhar (2001 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 34 683) for AFM using a numerical SJF (Sridhar-Johnson-Fleck) version of the JKR (Johnson-Kendal-Roberts) theory. In this paper, adhesion mechanics between a compliant elastic coating and a spherical probe is investigated using the SJF model in detail. When the substrate is rigid, the non-dimensional pull-off force may differ from the JKR value of -0.5 by as much as 90%. Computations of the contact size at zero load and pull-off force are presented for a range of values of adhesion energy. Finally, empirical relations for the contact load and contact compliance as a function of contact radius were obtained from the numerical data for practical layer-substrate material systems

Small Probes for Orbital Return of Experiments Mission Design

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Currently the Georgia Tech Small Probes for Orbital Return of Experiments (SPORE) team is collaborating with Aurora Flight Sciences to provide a launch, re-entry,...

Profile measurements in the plasma edge of mega amp spherical tokamak using a ball pen probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walkden, N. R.; Adamek, J.; Komm, M.; Allan, S.; Elmore, S.; Fishpool, G.; Harrison, J.; Kirk, A.; Dudson, B. D.

2015-01-01

The ball pen probe (BPP) technique is used successfully to make profile measurements of plasma potential, electron temperature, and radial electric field on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak. The potential profile measured by the BPP is shown to significantly differ from the floating potential both in polarity and profile shape. By combining the BPP potential and the floating potential, the electron temperature can be measured, which is compared with the Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic. Excellent agreement between the two diagnostics is obtained when secondary electron emission is accounted for in the floating potential. From the BPP profile, an estimate of the radial electric field is extracted which is shown to be of the order ∼1 kV/m and increases with plasma current. Corrections to the BPP measurement, constrained by the TS comparison, introduce uncertainty into the E R measurements. The uncertainty is most significant in the electric field well inside the separatrix. The electric field is used to estimate toroidal and poloidal rotation velocities from E × B motion. This paper further demonstrates the ability of the ball pen probe to make valuable and important measurements in the boundary plasma of a tokamak

Profile measurements in the plasma edge of mega amp spherical tokamak using a ball pen probe

Science.gov (United States)

Walkden, N. R.; Adamek, J.; Allan, S.; Dudson, B. D.; Elmore, S.; Fishpool, G.; Harrison, J.; Kirk, A.; Komm, M.

2015-02-01

The ball pen probe (BPP) technique is used successfully to make profile measurements of plasma potential, electron temperature, and radial electric field on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak. The potential profile measured by the BPP is shown to significantly differ from the floating potential both in polarity and profile shape. By combining the BPP potential and the floating potential, the electron temperature can be measured, which is compared with the Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic. Excellent agreement between the two diagnostics is obtained when secondary electron emission is accounted for in the floating potential. From the BPP profile, an estimate of the radial electric field is extracted which is shown to be of the order ˜1 kV/m and increases with plasma current. Corrections to the BPP measurement, constrained by the TS comparison, introduce uncertainty into the ER measurements. The uncertainty is most significant in the electric field well inside the separatrix. The electric field is used to estimate toroidal and poloidal rotation velocities from E × B motion. This paper further demonstrates the ability of the ball pen probe to make valuable and important measurements in the boundary plasma of a tokamak.

Profile measurements in the plasma edge of mega amp spherical tokamak using a ball pen probe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walkden, N. R., E-mail: nrw504@york.ac.uk [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon,Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, York Plasma Institute, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Adamek, J.; Komm, M. [Institute of Plasma Physics of AS CR, v. v. i., Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Praha 8 (Czech Republic); Allan, S.; Elmore, S.; Fishpool, G.; Harrison, J.; Kirk, A. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon,Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Dudson, B. D. [Department of Physics, York Plasma Institute, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom)

2015-02-15

The ball pen probe (BPP) technique is used successfully to make profile measurements of plasma potential, electron temperature, and radial electric field on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak. The potential profile measured by the BPP is shown to significantly differ from the floating potential both in polarity and profile shape. By combining the BPP potential and the floating potential, the electron temperature can be measured, which is compared with the Thomson scattering (TS) diagnostic. Excellent agreement between the two diagnostics is obtained when secondary electron emission is accounted for in the floating potential. From the BPP profile, an estimate of the radial electric field is extracted which is shown to be of the order ∼1 kV/m and increases with plasma current. Corrections to the BPP measurement, constrained by the TS comparison, introduce uncertainty into the E{sub R} measurements. The uncertainty is most significant in the electric field well inside the separatrix. The electric field is used to estimate toroidal and poloidal rotation velocities from E × B motion. This paper further demonstrates the ability of the ball pen probe to make valuable and important measurements in the boundary plasma of a tokamak.

Electrostatic noise measurement with a pair of spherical probes near interplanetary shocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solomon, J.; Touzin, F.

1991-01-01

In order to obtain accurate measurements of electrostatic noise spectra on board the ISEE 1 satellite, near interplanetary shock waves, the authors perform a detailed theoretical and numerical study of an antenna consisting of a pair of spherical probes. They compute the quasi-thermal electrostatic noise observed theoretically on the antenna by assuming that the solar wind plasma can be properly represented by the sum of two Maxwellian distributions (core and halo). They study the dependence of the electrostatic spectra on the antenna length and on the different plasma parameters, particularly on the density and temperature ratio of the core and of the halo. They show that by also taking into account the instrumental noise and the shot noise on the antenna, a calibration factor can be precisely determined for the antenna that they consider. They display some results obtained from measurements of electrostatic noise spectra behind interplanetary shock waves. Finally, they discuss the real meaning of a specific halo temperature, and they show that, in a first approximation, the theoretical results are only slightly modified when they consider types of distributions other than Maxwellians

A high excitation magnetic quadrupole lens quadruplet incorporating a single octupole lens for a low spherical aberration probe forming lens system

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Yanxin; Jamieson, David N.; Liu, Jianli; Li, Liyi

2018-03-01

This paper describes the design of a new probe forming lens system consisting of a high excitation magnetic quadrupole lens quadruplet that incorporates a single magnetic octupole lens. This system achieves both a high demagnification and a low spherical aberration compared to conventional high excitation systems and is intended for deployment for the Harbin 300 MeV proton microprobe for applications in space science and ion beam therapy. This relative simplicity of the ion optical design to include a single octupole lens minimizes the risks associated with the constructional and operational precision usually needed for the probe forming lens system and this system could also be deployed in microprobe systems that operate with less magnetically rigid ions. The design of the new system is validated with reference to two independent ion optical computer codes.

Mass amplifying probe for sensitive fluorescence anisotropy detection of small molecules in complex biological samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Liang; Zou, Yuan; Lin, Ninghang; Zhu, Zhi; Jenkins, Gareth; Yang, Chaoyong James

2012-07-03

Fluorescence anisotropy (FA) is a reliable and excellent choice for fluorescence sensing. One of the key factors influencing the FA value for any molecule is the molar mass of the molecule being measured. As a result, the FA method with functional nucleic acid aptamers has been limited to macromolecules such as proteins and is generally not applicable for the analysis of small molecules because their molecular masses are relatively too small to produce observable FA value changes. We report here a molecular mass amplifying strategy to construct anisotropy aptamer probes for small molecules. The probe is designed in such a way that only when a target molecule binds to the probe does it activate its binding ability to an anisotropy amplifier (a high molecular mass molecule such as protein), thus significantly increasing the molecular mass and FA value of the probe/target complex. Specifically, a mass amplifying probe (MAP) consists of a targeting aptamer domain against a target molecule and molecular mass amplifying aptamer domain for the amplifier protein. The probe is initially rendered inactive by a small blocking strand partially complementary to both target aptamer and amplifier protein aptamer so that the mass amplifying aptamer domain would not bind to the amplifier protein unless the probe has been activated by the target. In this way, we prepared two probes that constitute a target (ATP and cocaine respectively) aptamer, a thrombin (as the mass amplifier) aptamer, and a fluorophore. Both probes worked well against their corresponding small molecule targets, and the detection limits for ATP and cocaine were 0.5 μM and 0.8 μM, respectively. More importantly, because FA is less affected by environmental interferences, ATP in cell media and cocaine in urine were directly detected without any tedious sample pretreatment. Our results established that our molecular mass amplifying strategy can be used to design aptamer probes for rapid, sensitive, and selective

MIMO OTA Testing in Small Multi-Probe Anechoic Chamber Setups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Llorente, Ines Carton; Fan, Wei; Pedersen, Gert F.

2016-01-01

OTA testing of MIMO capable terminals is often performed in large anechoic chambers, where planar waves impinging the test area are assumed. Furthermore, reflections from the chamber, and probe coupling are often considered negligible due to the large dimensions of the chamber. This paper...... investigates the feasibility of reducing the physical dimension of 2D multi-probe anechoic chamber setups for MIMO OTA testing, with the purpose of reducing the cost and space of the setup. In the paper, a channel emulation algorithm and chamber compensation technique are proposed for MIMO OTA testing in small...... anechoic chambers. The performance deterioration in a small anechoic chamber, i.e., with a ring radius of 0.5 m, is demonstrated via simulations....

Electrical four-point probing of spherical metallic thin films coated onto micron sized polymer particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pettersen, Sigurd R., E-mail: sigurd.r.pettersen@ntnu.no, E-mail: jianying.he@ntnu.no; Stokkeland, August Emil; Zhang, Zhiliang; He, Jianying, E-mail: sigurd.r.pettersen@ntnu.no, E-mail: jianying.he@ntnu.no [NTNU Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim (Norway); Kristiansen, Helge [NTNU Nanomechanical Lab, Department of Structural Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim (Norway); Conpart AS, Dragonveien 54, NO-2013 Skjetten (Norway); Njagi, John; Goia, Dan V. [Center for Advanced Materials Processing, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York 13699-5814 (United States); Redford, Keith [Conpart AS, Dragonveien 54, NO-2013 Skjetten (Norway)

2016-07-25

Micron-sized metal-coated polymer spheres are frequently used as filler particles in conductive composites for electronic interconnects. However, the intrinsic electrical resistivity of the spherical thin films has not been attainable due to deficiency in methods that eliminate the effect of contact resistance. In this work, a four-point probing method using vacuum compatible piezo-actuated micro robots was developed to directly investigate the electric properties of individual silver-coated spheres under real-time observation in a scanning electron microscope. Poly(methyl methacrylate) spheres with a diameter of 30 μm and four different film thicknesses (270 nm, 150 nm, 100 nm, and 60 nm) were investigated. By multiplying the experimental results with geometrical correction factors obtained using finite element models, the resistivities of the thin films were estimated for the four thicknesses. These were higher than the resistivity of bulk silver.

UPAR targeted molecular imaging of cancers with small molecule-based probes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Feng; Chen, Seng; Zhang, Wanshu; Tu, Yufeng; Sun, Yao

2017-10-15

Molecular imaging can allow the non-invasive characterization and measurement of biological and biochemical processes at the molecular and cellular levels in living subjects. The imaging of specific molecular targets that are associated with cancers could allow for the earlier diagnosis and better treatment of diseases. Small molecule-based probes play prominent roles in biomedical research and have high clinical translation ability. Here, with an emphasis on small molecule-based probes, we review some recent developments in biomarkers, imaging techniques and multimodal imaging in molecular imaging and highlight the successful applications for molecular imaging of cancers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Minimum Q Electrically Small Spherical Magnetic Dipole Antenna - Theory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breinbjerg, Olav; Kim, Oleksiy S.

2009-01-01

The stored energies, radiated power, and quality factor of a magnetic-dipole antenna, consisting of a spherical electrical surface current density enclosing a magnetic core, is obtained through direct spatial integration of the internally and externally radiated field expressed in terms...... of spherical vector waves. The obtained quality factor agrees with that of Wheeler and Thal for vanishing free-space electric radius but holds also for larger radii and facilitates the optimal choice of permeability in the presence of the resonances....

Superdirective Magnetic Dipole Array as a First-Order Probe for Spherical Near-Field Antenna Measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Oleksiy S.; Pivnenko, Sergey; Breinbjerg, Olav

2012-01-01

The theory as well as numerical and experimental results are presented for a superdirective array composed of closely spaced electrically small resonant magnetic dipole elements. The array operates on a metal ground plane and can exhibit a maximum directivity of 11.5 dBi, 15.2 dBi, and 17.8 d......Bi (including 3 dB due to the ground plane), for 2, 3, and 4 magnetic dipoles, respectively. The array is self-resonant and is directly excited by a 50-ohm coaxial cable through the ground plane. The array radiates essentially the $\\vert\\mu\\vert=1$ spherical modes, which, despite a narrow bandwidth, makes...

Reaction-based small-molecule fluorescent probes for dynamic detection of ROS and transient redox changes in living cells and small animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Lü, Rui

2017-09-01

Dynamic detection of transient redox changes in living cells and animals has broad implications for human health and disease diagnosis, because intracellular redox homeostasis regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays important role in cell functions, normal physiological functions and some serious human diseases (e.g., cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, etc.) usually have close relationship with the intracellular redox status. Small-molecule ROS-responsive fluorescent probes can act as powerful tools for dynamic detection of ROS and redox changes in living cells and animals through fluorescence imaging techniques; and great advances have been achieved recently in the design and synthesis of small-molecule ROS-responsive fluorescent probes. This article highlights up-to-date achievements in designing and using the reaction-based small-molecule fluorescent probes (with high sensitivity and selectivity to ROS and redox cycles) in the dynamic detection of ROS and transient redox changes in living cells and animals through fluorescence imaging. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The use of small diameter probing equipment for contaminated site investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christy, T.M.; Spradlin, S.C.

1992-01-01

The past decade has witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of contaminated sites being investigated in the United States. This increase in subsurface investigation has spurred a corresponding increase in the development of subsurface sampling tools and methods. The past five years, in particular, have seen the development of small diameter (1 double-prime to 1.4 double-prime O.D.) percussion driven probing tools which can be used for the recovery of soil vapor, soil core and groundwater samples. This development has placed heretofore unavailable tools at the disposal of site investigators. Mechanized, vehicle mounted soil probe systems apply both static force and hydraulically powered percussion hammers for tool placement. Static down forces up to 3,000 lbs combined with percussion hammers of eight (8) horsepower continuous output are typical on equipment available to the field investigator. Using these energies, probing tools have been used for sampling a variety of media at depths exceeding 70 feet. Advantages of probing equipment which have contributed to its increasing usage in recent years include: ease of mobilization, absence of borehole cuttings, minimization of surface disturbance, and speed of sample collection. This paper focuses on the field application of hydraulic probing equipment including: the suitability of probing operations with respect to various Boil types and lithologies to probing operations; sampler types and recovery quantities for various media, and innovative probing applications presently being tested

Strain mapping under spherical indentations using transmission Kikuchi diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cackett, A.; Hardie, C.; Wilkinson, A.; Dicks, K.

2015-01-01

Due to restrictions on both the specimen volumes available and the activity levels research facilities can handle, testing techniques on the micron-scale are very attractive for the study of irradiated material. However, the results of such small tests are convoluted by plasticity size-effects. Spherical nano-indentation is increasingly used to probe irradiated material, but to characterise the area of plastic deformation surrounding indentations a method capable of providing crystallographic information at extremely high spatial resolution is required. Transmission Kikuchi Diffraction (TKD) is a novel diffraction technique that can be performed in a scanning electron microscope. Using this technique, spatial resolutions below 10 nm have been achieved. Initial results, shown here, demonstrate the use of TKD in mapping the lattice rotations caused by indentation produced with a spherical diamond tip. With the addition of strain mapping software the plastic zone size was also evaluated for the first time using diffraction patterns generated via TKD. For a tip of radius 15 μm, inserted into Fe to a strain of 0.07, the plastic zone was observed to extend 1.3 μm to either side of the incident location of indentation and the deformation depth was approximately 0.5 μm. (authors)

Aspheric surface measurement using capacitive probes

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Xin; Yuan, Daocheng; Li, Shaobo

2017-02-01

With the application of aspheres in optical fields, high precision and high efficiency aspheric surface metrology becomes a hot research topic. We describe a novel method of non-contact measurement of aspheric surface with capacitive probe. Taking an eccentric spherical surface as the object of study, the averaging effect of capacitive probe measurement and the influence of tilting the capacitive probe on the measurement results are investigated. By comparing measurement results from simultaneous measurement of the capacitive probe and contact probe of roundness instrument, this paper indicates the feasibility of using capacitive probes to test aspheric surface and proposes the compensation method of measurement error caused by averaging effect and the tilting of the capacitive probe.

Sensitivity study of micro four-point probe measurements on small samples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Fei; Petersen, Dirch Hjorth; Hansen, Torben Mikael

2010-01-01

probes than near the outer ones. The sensitive area is defined for infinite film, circular, square, and rectangular test pads, and convergent sensitivities are observed for small samples. The simulations show that the Hall sheet resistance RH in micro Hall measurements with position error suppression...

Reflection-mode micro-spherical fiber-optic probes for in vitro real-time and single-cell level pH sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qingbo; Wang, Hanzheng; Lan, Xinwei; Cheng, Baokai; Chen, Sisi; Shi, Honglan; Xiao, Hai; Ma, Yinfa

2015-02-01

pH sensing at the single-cell level without negatively affecting living cells is very important but still a remaining issue in the biomedical studies. A 70 μm reflection-mode fiber-optic micro-pH sensor was designed and fabricated by dip-coating thin layer of organically modified aerogel onto a tapered spherical probe head. A pH sensitive fluorescent dye 2', 7'-Bis (2-carbonylethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) was employed and covalently bonded within the aerogel networks. By tuning the alkoxide mixing ratio and adjusting hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) priming procedure, the sensor can be optimized to have high stability and pH sensing ability. The in vitro real-time sensing capability was then demonstrated in a simple spectroscopic way, and showed linear measurement responses with a pH resolution up to an average of 0.049 pH unit within a narrow, but biological meaningful pH range of 6.12-7.81. Its novel characterizations of high spatial resolution, reflection mode operation, fast response and high stability, great linear response within biological meaningful pH range and high pH resolutions, make this novel pH probe a very cost-effective tool for chemical/biological sensing, especially within the single cell level research field.

Limitation of the Mellin transform for small angle scattering by nearly spherical particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melone, S.; Puliti, P.

1983-01-01

An analysis of the limit of validity of the Mellin transform when applied to small angle scattering curves produced by nearly spherical particles, i.e. by ellipsoids of semi-axes, a, a, va, was performed. The width of the assumed Gaussian distribution for the v values was used as a parameter. When this width tends to zero the inaccuracy of the Mellin transform vanishes as expected. However the inaccuracy becomes appreciable for large values of the width. In spite of this, the total volume fraction and the average radius of the scattering particles is also obtained by the Mellin transform with very high accuracy for large values of the width of the Gaussian distribution. (orig.)

Spiral CT manifestations of spherical pneumonia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xiaohong; Yang Hongwei; Xu Chunmin; Qin Xiu

2008-01-01

Objective: To explore the Spiral CT manifestations and differential diagnosis of spherical pneumonia. Methods: 18 cases of spherical pneumonia and 20 cases of peripheral pulmonary carcinoma were selected, both of them were confirmed by clinic and/or pathology. The SCT findings of both groups were compared retrospectively. Results: Main spiral CT findings of spherical pneumonia were showed as followings: square or triangular lesions adjacent to pleura; with irregular shape, blurry, slightly lobulated margin, sometimes with halo sign. Small inflammatory patches and intensified vascular markings around the lesions were seen. Lesions became smaller or vanished after short-term anti-inflammatory treatment. Conclusion: Spherical pneumonia showed some characteristics on Spiral CT scan, which are helpful in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of this disease. (authors)

Self Absorbed Fraction for Electrons and Beta Particles in Small Spherical Volumes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grosev, D.

2003-01-01

Absorbed fraction and target organ mass are important parameters of internal dosimetry calculations that define the geometry of the system. Standard MIRD (Medical Internal Radiation Dosimetry) formalism assumes that the absorbed fraction for non-penetrating radiations (e.g., electrons, beta particles) is 1. This may not be correct in cases where dimensions of organs/tissues are comparable with the ranges of electrons/beta particles. Such is the case for example in radiodine ablation of thyroid remnant tissue. In this work the self-absorbed fraction (source and target volumes are the same) for monoenergetic electrons and beta particles is calculated for small spherical volumes of various sizes and unit density. Absorbed fraction can be expressed as an integral of the product of two quantities: (a) Scaled beta dose point kernel (mean absorbed dose rate per activity of the point source in infinite homogenous medium), F β ; (b) special geometrical reduction factor (GRF). F β is calculated using EGS4 Monte Carlo (MC) code for transport of electrons and photons. MC source code calculates the deposition of energy inside concentric spherical shells around the isotropic point source of electrons/beta particles in infinite medium (water). Shell thickness was δr=0.02·X 90 , where X 90 represents the radius of the sphere inside which 90% of the source energy is absorbed. Number of concentric spherical shells was 100, 10000 electron histories were started in each program run, and 10 runs were repeated for statistical reason. Numerical integration of the product of F β , calculated by MC program, and GRF for sphere was done using Simpson method. Absorbed fractions were calculated for spheres with mass from 0.01-20 g (r = 0.13 - 1.68 cm). Results are given for monoenergetic electrons with kinetic energy T=0.2, 0.4, 1.0 MeV, and for three beta emitters 1 31I , 3 2P , 9 0Y . For quantitative dosimetric protocols in radioiodine ablation therapy, results for 1 31I are of

Spherical nanoindentation of proton irradiated 304 stainless steel: A comparison of small scale mechanical test techniques for measuring irradiation hardening

Science.gov (United States)

Weaver, Jordan S.; Pathak, Siddhartha; Reichardt, Ashley; Vo, Hi T.; Maloy, Stuart A.; Hosemann, Peter; Mara, Nathan A.

2017-09-01

Experimentally quantifying the mechanical effects of radiation damage in reactor materials is necessary for the development and qualification of new materials for improved performance and safety. This can be achieved in a high-throughput fashion through a combination of ion beam irradiation and small scale mechanical testing in contrast to the high cost and laborious nature of bulk testing of reactor irradiated samples. The current work focuses on using spherical nanoindentation stress-strain curves on unirradiated and proton irradiated (10 dpa at 360 °C) 304 stainless steel to quantify the mechanical effects of radiation damage. Spherical nanoindentation stress-strain measurements show a radiation-induced increase in indentation yield strength from 1.36 GPa to 2.72 GPa and a radiation-induced increase in indentation work hardening rate of 10 GPa-30 GPa. These measurements are critically compared against Berkovich nanohardness, micropillar compression, and micro-tension measurements on the same material and similar grain orientations. The ratio of irradiated to unirradiated yield strength increases by a similar factor of 2 when measured via spherical nanoindentation or Berkovich nanohardness testing. A comparison of spherical indentation stress-strain curves to uniaxial (micropillar and micro-tension) stress-strain curves was achieved using a simple scaling relationship which shows good agreement for the unirradiated condition and poor agreement in post-yield behavior for the irradiated condition. The disagreement between spherical nanoindentation and uniaxial stress-strain curves is likely due to the plastic instability that occurs during uniaxial tests but is absent during spherical nanoindentation tests.

Statistical Mechanics of Thin Spherical Shells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrej Košmrlj

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We explore how thermal fluctuations affect the mechanics of thin amorphous spherical shells. In flat membranes with a shear modulus, thermal fluctuations increase the bending rigidity and reduce the in-plane elastic moduli in a scale-dependent fashion. This is still true for spherical shells. However, the additional coupling between the shell curvature, the local in-plane stretching modes, and the local out-of-plane undulations leads to novel phenomena. In spherical shells, thermal fluctuations produce a radius-dependent negative effective surface tension, equivalent to applying an inward external pressure. By adapting renormalization group calculations to allow for a spherical background curvature, we show that while small spherical shells are stable, sufficiently large shells are crushed by this thermally generated “pressure.” Such shells can be stabilized by an outward osmotic pressure, but the effective shell size grows nonlinearly with increasing outward pressure, with the same universal power-law exponent that characterizes the response of fluctuating flat membranes to a uniform tension.

Stability of the spherical form of nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabry, A.A.

1976-08-01

An extension of the mass formula for a spherical nucleus in the drop model to include a largely deformed nucleus of different forms is investigated. It is found that although the spherical form is stable under small deformations from equilibrium, there exists for heavier nuclei another more favourable stable form, which can be approximated by two, or three touching prolate ellipsoids of revolution

Creation of transgenic rice plants producing small interfering RNA of Rice tungro spherical virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Dung Tien; Chu, Ha Duc; Sasaya, Takahide

2015-01-01

Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV), also known as Rice waika virus, does not cause visible symptoms in infected rice plants. However, the virus plays a critical role in spreading Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV), which is the major cause of severe symptoms of rice tungro disease. Recent studies showed that RNA interference (RNAi) can be used to develop virus-resistance transgenic rice plants. In this report, we presented simple procedures and protocols needed for the creation of transgenic rice plants capable of producing small interfering RNA specific against RTSV sequences. Notably, our study showed that 60 out of 64 individual hygromycin-resistant lines (putative transgenic lines) obtained through transformation carried transgenes designed for producing hairpin double-stranded RNA. Northern blot analyses revealed the presence of small interfering RNA of 21- to 24-mer in 46 out of 56 confirmed transgenic lines. Taken together, our study indicated that transgenic rice plants carrying an inverted repeat of 500-bp fragments encoding various proteins of RTSV can produce small interfering RNA from the hairpin RNA transcribed from that transgene. In light of recent studies with other viruses, it is possible that some of these transgenic rice lines might be resistant to RTSV.

Exploring the Hybridization Thermodynamics of Spherical Nucleic Acids to Tailor Probes for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Randeria, Pratik Shailesh

Spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), three-dimensional nanoparticle conjugates composed of densely packed and highly oriented oligonucleotides around organic or inorganic nanoparticles, are an emergent class of nanostructures that show promise as single-entity agents for intracellular messenger RNA (mRNA) detection and gene regulation. SNAs exhibit superior biocompatibility and biological properties compared to linear oligonucleotides, enabling them to overcome many of the limitations of linear oligonucleotides for use in biomedical applications. However, the origins of these biologically attractive properties are not well understood. In this dissertation, the chemistry underlying one such property is studied in detail, and the findings are applied towards the rational design of more effective SNAs for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Chapter 1 introduces the synthesis of SNAs, the unique properties that make them superior to linear nucleic acids for biomedicine, and previously studied applications of these structures. Chapter 2 focuses on quantitatively studying the impact of the chemical structure of the SNA on its ability to hybridize multiple complementary nucleic acids. This chapter lays the groundwork for understanding the factors that govern SNA hybridization thermodynamics and how to tailor SNAs to increase their binding affinity to target mRNA strands. Chapters 3 and 4 capitalize on this knowledge to engineer probes for intracellular mRNA detection and gene regulation applications. Chapter 3 reports the development of an SNA-based probe that can simultaneously report the expression level of two different mRNA transcripts in live cells and differentiate diseased cells from non-diseased cells. Chapter 4 investigates the use of topically-applied SNAs to down-regulate a critical mediator of impaired wound healing in diabetic mice to accelerate wound closure. This study represents the first topical therapeutic application of SNA nanotechnology to treat open

Spherical torus, compact fusion at low field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Y.K.M.

1985-02-01

A spherical torus is obtained by retaining only the indispensable components on the inboard side of a tokamak plasma, such as a cooled, normal conductor that carries current to produce a toroidal magnetic field. The resulting device features an exceptionally small aspect ratio (ranging from below 2 to about 1.3), a naturally elongated D-shaped plasma cross section, and ramp-up of the plasma current primarily by noninductive means. As a result of the favorable dependence of the tokamak plasma behavior to decreasing aspect ratio, a spherical torus is projected to have small size, high beta, and modest field. Assuming Mirnov confinement scaling, an ignition spherical torus at a field of 2 T features a major radius of 1.5 m, a minor radius of 1.0 m, a plasma current of 14 MA, comparable toroidal and poloidal field coil currents, an average beta of 24%, and a fusion power of 50 MW. At 2 T, a Q = 1 spherical torus will have a major radius of 0.8 m, a minor radius of 0.5 m, and a fusion power of a few megawatts

Theory of Langmuir probes in anisotropic plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sudit, I.D.; Woods, R.C.

1994-01-01

A theory has been developed for electron retardation by Langmuir probes of several geometries in a general anisotropic plasma with arbitrary probe orientation and valid for any sheath thickness. Electron densities and electron velocity distribution functions (EVDFs) are obtained from the second derivative of probe I-V curves, as in Druyvesteyn's original method, which was developed for isotropic plasmas. Fedorov had extended the latter method in the context of a thin sheath approximation, to axisymmetric plasmas, in which the EVDF is expanded in a series of Legendary polynomials. In the present work an expansion in a series of spherical harmonics is employed, and the coordinate transformations are handled using the irreducible representation of the three dimensional rotation group. It is shown that the Volterra integral equations that must be solved to obtain the expansion coefficients of the EVDF from the second derivative data are no more complicated in the general case that hose for the axisymmetric plasma. Furthermore in the latter case the results can be shown to be equivalent to Fedrov's thin sheath expression. For the case of planar probes a formulation based on first derivatives of the I-V curves has been obtained. If data is obtained at enough different probe orientation of a one sided planar disc probe, any number of spherical harmonic coefficient functions may be obtained by inverting a set of linear equations and the complete EVDF deduced. For a cylindrical probe or a two-sided planar disc probe the integration of the second derivative of the probe current gives the exact electron density with any arbitrary probe orientation and any degree of plasma anisotropy

Thermal motion of a holographically trapped SPM-like probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simpson, Stephen H; Hanna, Simon

2009-01-01

By holding a complex object in multiple optical traps, it may be harmonically bound with respect to both its position and its orientation. In this way a small probe, or nanotool, can be manipulated in three dimensions and used to measure and apply directed forces, in the manner of a scanning probe microscope. In this paper we evaluate the thermal motion of such a probe held in holographic optical tweezers, by solving the Langevin equation for the general case of a set of spherical vertices linked by cylindrical rods. The concept of a corner frequency, familiar from the case of an optically trapped sphere, is appropriately extended to represent a set of characteristic frequencies given by the eigenvalues of the product of the stiffness matrix and the inverse hydrodynamic resistance matrix of the tool. These eigenvalues may alternatively be interpreted as inverses of a set of characteristic relaxation times for the system. The approach is illustrated by reference to a hypothetical tool consisting of a triangular arrangement of spheres with a lateral probe. The characteristic frequencies and theoretical resolution of the device are derived; variations of these quantities with tool size and orientation and with the optical power distribution, are also considered.

Plasma gradient effects on double-probe measurements in the magnetosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Laakso

1995-02-01

Full Text Available The effects on double-probe electric field measurements induced by electron density and temperature gradients are investigated. We show that on some occasions such gradients may lead to marked spurious electric fields if the probes are assumed to lie at the same probe potential with respect to the plasma. The use of a proper bias current will decrease the magnitude of such an error. When the probes are near the plasma potential, the magnitude of these error signals, ∆E, can vary as ∆E ~ Te(∆ne/ne+0.5∆Te, where Te is the electron temperature, ∆ne/ne the relative electron density variation between the two sensors, and ∆Te the electron temperature difference between the two sensors. This not only implies that the error signals will increase linearly with the density variations but also that such signatures grow with Te, i.e., such effects are 10 times larger in a 10-eV plasma than in a 1-eV plasma. This type of error is independent of the probe separation distance provided the gradient scale length is much larger than this distance. The largest errors occur when the probes are near to the plasma potential. At larger positive probe potentials with respect to the plasma potential, the error becomes smaller if the probes are biased, as is usually the case with spherical double-probe experiments in the tenuous magnetospheric plasmas. The crossing of a plasma boundary (like the plasmapause or magnetopause yields an error signal of a single peak. During the crossing of a small structure (e.g., a double layer the error signal appears as a bipolar signature. Our analysis shows that errors in double-probe measurements caused by plasma gradients are not significant at large scale (»1 km plasma boundaries, and may only be important in cases where small-scale (<1 km, internal gradient structures exist. Bias currents tailored for each plasma parameter regime (i.e., variable bias current would o1q1improve the double-probe response to gradient

START: the creation of a spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sykes, Alan

1992-01-01

The START (Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak) plasma fusion experiment is now operational at AEA Fusion's Culham Laboratory. It is the world's first experiment to explore an extreme limit of the tokamak - the Spherical Tokamak - which theoretical studies predict may have substantial advantages in the search for economic fusion power. The Head of the START project, describes the concept, some of the initial experimental results and the possibility of developing a spherical tokamak power reactor. (author)

Innovative Design of a Laparoscopic Probe for Non-Invasive Intraoperative Detection of Small Endoluminal Digestive Tumours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Mocan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper highlights the design methodology, the prototype development and the ex-vivo testing of a sensing laparoscopic probe that could be used by surgeons and by surgeon’s assistive robotic systems for detection of small endoluminal digestive tumours. The proposed design framework guides the decision-makers towards a superior balance between quality, efficiency and surgical procedure issues in medical instruments development. A prototype of the sensitive laparoscopic probe for non-invasive intraoperative detection of small endoluminal digestive tumours was developed. The prototype was tested in ex-vivo experimental conditions – open and laparoscopic surgery. The results reveals that the developed prototype is easy to use, adequate and efficient in precise detection of small endoluminal digestive tumours in-between 60÷85% of cases.

Non-foster impedance matching sensitivity of electrically small electric and magnetic spherical dipole antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yoon, Ick-Jae; Christensen, S.; Zhurbenko, Vitaliy

2016-01-01

The impedance bandwidth (BW) improvement property of a self-resonant folded spherical helix electric dipole and a spherical split ring (SSR) magnetic dipole is compared when a negative reactance element is loaded on the parasitic resonator of the antennas. They have the same electrical size of ka...

Surface- and interface-plasmon modes on small semiconducting spheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ugarte, D.; Colliex, C.; Trebbia, P.

1992-01-01

The study of the electronic properties of small particles is of major interest because of their intriguing physicochemical properties. The very small electron probes available in scanning transmission electron microscopes offer unique capabilities for investigating small particles with subnanometer spatial resolution. The correlation between electron-energy-loss spectra and energy-filtered images is of great help in pinpointing the excitations under study. This paper presents a theoretical and experimental study of collective excitation modes in the bulk and at the interfaces and surfaces of small spherical silicon particles covered with a thin oxide coating. Among other results, our experimental measurements have shown that there exists a surface-mode excitation at 3--4 eV, precisely localized on the external surface of the oxide layer. Classical dielectric theory is used in interpreting these results, by invoking the presence of an ultrathin conductive layer

Double Layer of a Gold Electrode Probed by AFM Force Measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barten, D.; Kleijn, J.M.; Duval, J.F.L.; Leeuwen, van H.P.; Lyklema, J.; Cohen Stuart, M.A.

2003-01-01

Colloidal probe atomic force microscopy was used to determine the electric double layer interactions between a gold electrode and a spherical silica probe. The double layer properties of the gold/solution interface were varied through the pH and salt concentration of the electrolyte, as well as by

Observation of a High Performance Operating Regime with Small Edge-Localized Modes in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maingi, R.; Tritz, K.; Fredrickson, E.D.; Menard, J.E.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Stutman, D.; Bell, M.G.; Bell, R.E.; Bush, C.E.; Gates, D.A.; Johnson, D.W.; Kaita, R.; Kaye, S.M.; Kugel, H.W.; LeBlanc, B.P.; Mueller, D.; Raman, R.; Roquemore, A.L.; Soukhanovskii, V.A.

2004-01-01

We report observation of a high performance scenario in the National Spherical Torus Experiment with very small edge-localized modes (ELMs). These ELMs have no measurable impact on stored energy and are consistent with high bootstrap current operation with line average density approaching Greenwald scaling. The ELM perturbation is observed to typically originate near the lower divertor region, as opposed to the outer midplane for ELMs described in the literature. If extrapolable, this scenario would provide an attractive operating regime for next step fusion experiments

Probing the Small-scale Structure in Strongly Lensed Systems via Transdimensional Inference

Science.gov (United States)

Daylan, Tansu; Cyr-Racine, Francis-Yan; Diaz Rivero, Ana; Dvorkin, Cora; Finkbeiner, Douglas P.

2018-02-01

Strong lensing is a sensitive probe of the small-scale density fluctuations in the Universe. We implement a pipeline to model strongly lensed systems using probabilistic cataloging, which is a transdimensional, hierarchical, and Bayesian framework to sample from a metamodel (union of models with different dimensionality) consistent with observed photon count maps. Probabilistic cataloging allows one to robustly characterize modeling covariances within and across lens models with different numbers of subhalos. Unlike traditional cataloging of subhalos, it does not require model subhalos to improve the goodness of fit above the detection threshold. Instead, it allows the exploitation of all information contained in the photon count maps—for instance, when constraining the subhalo mass function. We further show that, by not including these small subhalos in the lens model, fixed-dimensional inference methods can significantly mismodel the data. Using a simulated Hubble Space Telescope data set, we show that the subhalo mass function can be probed even when many subhalos in the sample catalogs are individually below the detection threshold and would be absent in a traditional catalog. The implemented software, Probabilistic Cataloger (PCAT) is made publicly available at https://github.com/tdaylan/pcat.

Buckling strength of spherical shells under combined loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagashima, H.; Kokubo, K.; Takayanagi, M.; Hayasaka, Y.; Kume, T.; Nagata, T.

1995-01-01

Many studies on buckling of cylindrical shells have been conducted, and many buckling evaluation equations have been proposed for actual plant designs; however, buckling of spherical shells under combined horizontal and vertical loads cannot be evaluated due to insufficient data. There is a particular lack of buckling data for spherical shells under lateral loads. To establish a method for estimating the buckling strength of spherical shells, we investigate the interactions between horizontal and vertical (compressive tensile) loads by conducting buckling tests. Applying several combinations of these loads in tests and using computer linear analysis, we obtain interaction curves. This study reports on the buckling tests conducted using spherical shell 1120 mm in dia., 0.7 mm thick and 696 mm high, which are shaped individually by press-forming and finally joined together by four meridional welds, using a specially made jig. Initial imperfections before testing and local deformations after each loading increment during testing are measured with special measuring equipment, and the interaction curve of horizontal and vertical loads and effect of imperfection on the buckling strength of spherical shells are obtained. Nonlinear FEM programs are developed using an 8-node isoparametric shell element and a four-node quadrilateral element of C 0 type with reduced integration based upon a Mindlin-Reissner theory which includes transverse shear. Actual initial imperfections are generally in irregular patterns. Thus, there may be several definitions of the equivalent magnitudes of initial imperfections related to buckling loads. Equivalent magnitudes have no practical meaning unless they can be obtained easily not only for small structures such as test shells but also for large actual structures. In the present study, we define the equivalent magnitude of initial imperfections as the maximum local ruggedness measured radially from a circular temperature having a radius equal

Endocytic trafficking from the small intestinal brush border probed with FM dye

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Gert H; Rasmussen, Karina; Niels-Christiansen, Lise-Lotte

2009-01-01

-linking galectins/intelectin, but little is known about the dynamic properties of this highly specialized membrane. Here, we probed the endocytic membrane trafficking from the brush border of organ cultured pig intestinal mucosal explants by use of a fixable, lipophilic FM dye. The fluorescent dye readily......, contributes to the overall permeability barrier of the gut. Key words: FM dye, small intestine, brush border, endocytosis....

Full-angle tomographic phase microscopy of flowing quasi-spherical cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Villone, Massimiliano M; Memmolo, Pasquale; Merola, Francesco; Mugnano, Martina; Miccio, Lisa; Maffettone, Pier Luca; Ferraro, Pietro

2017-12-19

We report a reliable full-angle tomographic phase microscopy (FA-TPM) method for flowing quasi-spherical cells along microfluidic channels. This method lies in a completely passive optical system, i.e. mechanical scanning or multi-direction probing of the sample is avoided. It exploits the engineered rolling of cells while they are flowing along a microfluidic channel. Here we demonstrate significant progress with respect to the state of the art of in-flow TPM by showing a general extension to cells having almost spherical shapes while they are flowing in suspension. In fact, the adopted strategy allows the accurate retrieval of rotation angles through a theoretical model of the cells' rotation in a dynamic microfluidic flow by matching it with phase-contrast images resulting from holographic reconstructions. So far, the proposed method is the first and the only one that permits to get in-flow TPM by probing the cells with full-angle, achieving accurate 3D refractive index mapping and the simplest optical setup, simultaneously. Proof of concept experiments were performed successfully on human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells, opening the way for the full characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the new paradigm of liquid biopsy.

Experimental studies of the large Debye length probe theory in a continuum plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamitsuma, M.; Chen, S.

1977-01-01

The Laplace limit probe theory for continuum plasmas, i.e., probe theory under the condition r/sub p//lambda/sub D/→0, where r/sub p/ is probe radius and lambda/sub D/ is Debye length, has been experimentally studied. The results show that the application limit of this theory is r/sub p//lambda/sub D/=0.44 for a spherical probe and r/sub p//lambda/sub D/=0.23 for a cylindrical probe

Phased array concept for the ultrasonic inservice inspection of the spherical bottom of BWR-pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brekow, G.; Wuestenberg, H.; Moehrle, W.; Schulz, E.

1989-01-01

The spherical bottom of BWR-pressure vessels contains holes for the nozzles of control rods and instrumentation. Up to now the detectable areas for the ultrasonic inspection are the accessible ligaments between the nozzles with an orientation parallel and transverse to the manipulator rails. Some licensing authorities demand an inspection technique capable of reliably detecting significant crack initiation in all critical areas near the cladding of the spherical inner surface. By order and in cooperation with the HEW we have developed a computer controlled equipment with two ultrasonic probes containing four linear arrays and a digitized A-scan storage for documentation and evaluation of inspection results. The manipulator guided probe movement in the paths between the nozzles of the spherical bottom is controlled by a computer program. This program determines for each array system and for each coupling position the beam angle as a function of the variable skewing angle to realize detection conditions suited to possible crack positions at the longitudinal, transverse and diagonal ligaments between the nozzles for control rods and instrumentation. (orig./HP)

Linear Viscoelasticity of Spherical SiO 2 Nanoparticle-Tethered Poly(butyl acrylate) Hybrids

KAUST Repository

Goel, Vivek; Pietrasik, Joanna; Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof; Krishnamoorti, Ramanan

2010-01-01

The melt state linear viscoelastic properties of spherical silica nanoparticles with grafted poly(n-butyl acrylate) chains of varying molecular weight were probed using linear small amplitude dynamic oscillatory measurements and complementary linear stress relaxation measurements. While the pure silica-tethered-polymer hybrids with no added homopolymer exhibit solid-like response, addition of matched molecular weight free matrix homopolymer chains to this hybrid, at low concentrations of added homopolymer, maintains the solid-like response with a lowered modulus that can be factored into a silica concentration dependence and a molecular weight dependence. While the silica concentration dependence of the modulus is strong, the dependence on molecular weight is weak. On the other hand, increasing the amount of added homopolymer changes the viscoelastic response to that of a liquid with a relaxation time that scales exponentially with hybrid concentration. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Linear Viscoelasticity of Spherical SiO 2 Nanoparticle-Tethered Poly(butyl acrylate) Hybrids

KAUST Repository

Goel, Vivek

2010-12-01

The melt state linear viscoelastic properties of spherical silica nanoparticles with grafted poly(n-butyl acrylate) chains of varying molecular weight were probed using linear small amplitude dynamic oscillatory measurements and complementary linear stress relaxation measurements. While the pure silica-tethered-polymer hybrids with no added homopolymer exhibit solid-like response, addition of matched molecular weight free matrix homopolymer chains to this hybrid, at low concentrations of added homopolymer, maintains the solid-like response with a lowered modulus that can be factored into a silica concentration dependence and a molecular weight dependence. While the silica concentration dependence of the modulus is strong, the dependence on molecular weight is weak. On the other hand, increasing the amount of added homopolymer changes the viscoelastic response to that of a liquid with a relaxation time that scales exponentially with hybrid concentration. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Spherical collapse of small masses in the ghost-free gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frolov, Valeri P.; Zelnikov, Andrei; Netto, Tibério de Paula

2015-01-01

We discuss some properties of recently proposed models of a ghost-free gravity. For this purpose we study solutions of linearized gravitational equations in the framework of such a theory. We mainly focus on the version of the ghost-free theory with the exponential modification exp (◻/μ 2 )◻ −1 of the free propagator. The following three problems are discussed: (i) gravitational field of a point mass; (ii) Penrose limit of a point source boosted to the speed of light; and (iii) spherical gravitational collapse of null fluid. For the first problem we demonstrate that it can be solved by using the method of heat kernels and obtain a solution in a spacetime with arbitrary number of dimensions. For the second problem we also find the corresponding gyraton-type solutions of the ghost-free gravitational equations for any number of dimensions. For the third problem we obtain solutions for the gravitational field for the collapse of both “thin" and “thick" spherical null shells. We demonstrate how the ghost-free modification of the gravitational equations regularize the solutions of the linearized Einstein equations and smooth out their singularities.

Spherical collapse of small masses in the ghost-free gravity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frolov, Valeri P.; Zelnikov, Andrei [Theoretical Physics Institute, Department of Physics, University of Alberta,Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1 (Canada); Netto, Tibério de Paula [Theoretical Physics Institute, Department of Physics, University of Alberta,Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1 (Canada); Departamento de Fisica - ICE, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora,Campus da UFJF, CEP: 36036-900, Juiz de Fora, MG (Brazil)

2015-06-17

We discuss some properties of recently proposed models of a ghost-free gravity. For this purpose we study solutions of linearized gravitational equations in the framework of such a theory. We mainly focus on the version of the ghost-free theory with the exponential modification exp (◻/μ{sup 2})◻{sup −1} of the free propagator. The following three problems are discussed: (i) gravitational field of a point mass; (ii) Penrose limit of a point source boosted to the speed of light; and (iii) spherical gravitational collapse of null fluid. For the first problem we demonstrate that it can be solved by using the method of heat kernels and obtain a solution in a spacetime with arbitrary number of dimensions. For the second problem we also find the corresponding gyraton-type solutions of the ghost-free gravitational equations for any number of dimensions. For the third problem we obtain solutions for the gravitational field for the collapse of both “thin' and “thick' spherical null shells. We demonstrate how the ghost-free modification of the gravitational equations regularize the solutions of the linearized Einstein equations and smooth out their singularities.

Spherical grating based x-ray Talbot interferometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cong, Wenxiang, E-mail: congw@rpi.edu, E-mail: xiy2@rpi.edu, E-mail: wangg6@rpi.edu; Xi, Yan, E-mail: congw@rpi.edu, E-mail: xiy2@rpi.edu, E-mail: wangg6@rpi.edu; Wang, Ge, E-mail: congw@rpi.edu, E-mail: xiy2@rpi.edu, E-mail: wangg6@rpi.edu [Biomedical Imaging Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180 (United States)

2015-11-15

Purpose: Grating interferometry is a state-of-the-art x-ray imaging approach, which can acquire information on x-ray attenuation, phase shift, and small-angle scattering simultaneously. Phase-contrast imaging and dark-field imaging are very sensitive to microstructural variation and offers superior contrast resolution for biological soft tissues. However, a common x-ray tube is a point-like source. As a result, the popular planar grating imaging configuration seriously restricts the flux of photons and decreases the visibility of signals, yielding a limited field of view. The purpose of this study is to extend the planar x-ray grating imaging theory and methods to a spherical grating scheme for a wider range of preclinical and clinical applications. Methods: A spherical grating matches the wave front of a point x-ray source very well, allowing the perpendicular incidence of x-rays on the grating to achieve a higher visibility over a larger field of view than the planer grating counterpart. A theoretical analysis of the Talbot effect for spherical grating imaging is proposed to establish a basic foundation for x-ray spherical gratings interferometry. An efficient method of spherical grating imaging is also presented to extract attenuation, differential phase, and dark-field images in the x-ray spherical grating interferometer. Results: Talbot self-imaging with spherical gratings is analyzed based on the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction formula, featuring a periodic angular distribution in a polar coordinate system. The Talbot distance is derived to reveal the Talbot self-imaging pattern. Numerical simulation results show the self-imaging phenomenon of a spherical grating interferometer, which is in agreement with the theoretical prediction. Conclusions: X-ray Talbot interferometry with spherical gratings has a significant practical promise. Relative to planar grating imaging, spherical grating based x-ray Talbot interferometry has a larger field of view and

Spherical grating based x-ray Talbot interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cong, Wenxiang; Xi, Yan; Wang, Ge

2015-01-01

Purpose: Grating interferometry is a state-of-the-art x-ray imaging approach, which can acquire information on x-ray attenuation, phase shift, and small-angle scattering simultaneously. Phase-contrast imaging and dark-field imaging are very sensitive to microstructural variation and offers superior contrast resolution for biological soft tissues. However, a common x-ray tube is a point-like source. As a result, the popular planar grating imaging configuration seriously restricts the flux of photons and decreases the visibility of signals, yielding a limited field of view. The purpose of this study is to extend the planar x-ray grating imaging theory and methods to a spherical grating scheme for a wider range of preclinical and clinical applications. Methods: A spherical grating matches the wave front of a point x-ray source very well, allowing the perpendicular incidence of x-rays on the grating to achieve a higher visibility over a larger field of view than the planer grating counterpart. A theoretical analysis of the Talbot effect for spherical grating imaging is proposed to establish a basic foundation for x-ray spherical gratings interferometry. An efficient method of spherical grating imaging is also presented to extract attenuation, differential phase, and dark-field images in the x-ray spherical grating interferometer. Results: Talbot self-imaging with spherical gratings is analyzed based on the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction formula, featuring a periodic angular distribution in a polar coordinate system. The Talbot distance is derived to reveal the Talbot self-imaging pattern. Numerical simulation results show the self-imaging phenomenon of a spherical grating interferometer, which is in agreement with the theoretical prediction. Conclusions: X-ray Talbot interferometry with spherical gratings has a significant practical promise. Relative to planar grating imaging, spherical grating based x-ray Talbot interferometry has a larger field of view and

Development and characterization of a small electromembrane extraction probe coupled with mass spectrometry for real-time and online monitoring of in vitro drug metabolism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dugstad, Helene Bonkerud; Petersen, Nickolaj J.; Jensen, Henrik

2014-01-01

A small and very simple electromembrane extraction probe (EME-probe) was developed and coupled directly to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and this system was used to monitor in real time in vitro metabolism by rat liver microsomes of drug substances from a small reaction...... (soft extraction). Soft extraction was mandatory in order not to affect the reaction kinetics by sample composition changes induced by the EME-probe. The EME-probe/MS-system was used to establish kinetic profiles for the in vitro metabolism of promethazine, amitriptyline and imipramine as model...

Fluorescence of molecules placed near a spherical particle: Rabi splitting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.M. Dvoynenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Theoretical study of spontaneously emitted spectra of point-like source placed near spherical Ag particle was performed. It was shown that near-field electromagnetic interaction between a point-like emitter and spherical Ag particle leads to strong coupling between them at very small emitter-metal surface distances. It was shown that values of Rabi splitting are quantitatively close to that of emitter-flat substrate interaction.

Probing Small Lakes on Titan Using the Cassini RADAR Altimeter

Science.gov (United States)

Mastrogiuseppe, M.; Poggiali, V.; Hayes, A.; Lunine, J. I.; Seu, R.; Lorenz, R. D.; Mitri, G.; Mitchell, K. L.; Janssen, M. A.; Casarano, D.; Notarnicola, C.; Le Gall, A. A.

2017-12-01

The T126 Cassini's final flyby of Titan has offered a unique opportunity to observe an area in the Northern Polar terrain, where several small - medium size (10 - 50 km) hydrocarbon lakes are present and have been previously imaged by Cassini. The successful observation allowed the radar to operate at the closest approach over several small lakes, using its altimetry mode for the investigation of depth and liquid composition. Herein we present the result of a dedicate processing previously applied to altimetric data acquired over Ligeia Mare where the radar revealed the bathymetry and composition of the sea [1,2]. We show that, the optimal geometry condition met during the T126 fly-by allowed the radar to probe Titan's lakes revealing that such small liquid bodies can exceed one-hundred meters of depth. [1] M. Mastrogiuseppe et al. (2014, Mar.). The bathymetry of a Titan Sea. Geophysical Research Letters. [Online]. 41 (5), pp. 1432-1437. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058618 [2] M.Mastrogiuseppe et al. (2016, Oct). Radar Sounding Using the Cassini Altimeter: Waveform Modeling and Monte Carlo Approach for Data Inversion of Observations of Titan's Seas, IEEE Transactions On Geoscience And Remote Sensing, Vol. 54, No. 10, doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2016.2563426.

Biasing, acquisition, and interpretation of a dense Langmuir probe array in NSTX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaworski, M. A.; Kallman, J.; Kaita, R.; Kugel, H.; LeBlanc, B.; Marsala, R. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Ruzic, D. N. [Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 60181 (United States)

2010-10-15

A dense array of 99 Langmuir probes has been installed in the lower divertor region of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). This array is instrumented with a system of electronics that allows flexibility in the choice of probes to bias as well as the type of measurement (including standard swept, single probe, triple probe, and operation as passive floating potential and scrape-off-layer SOL current monitors). The use of flush-mounted probes requires careful interpretation. The time dependent nature of the SOL makes swept-probe traces difficult to interpret. To overcome these challenges, the single- and triple-Langmuir probe signals are used in complementary fashion to determine the temperature and density at the probe location. A comparison to midplane measurements is made.

Collisions of droplets on spherical particles

Science.gov (United States)

Charalampous, Georgios; Hardalupas, Yannis

2017-10-01

Head-on collisions between droplets and spherical particles are examined for water droplets in the diameter range between 170 μm and 280 μm and spherical particles in the diameter range between 500 μm and 2000 μm. The droplet velocities range between 6 m/s and 11 m/s, while the spherical particles are fixed in space. The Weber and Ohnesorge numbers and ratio of droplet to particle diameter were between 92 deposition and splashing regimes, a regime is observed in the intermediate region, where the droplet forms a stable crown, which does not breakup but propagates along the particle surface and passes around the particle. This regime is prevalent when the droplets collide on small particles. The characteristics of the collision at the onset of rim instability are also described in terms of the location of the film on the particle surface and the orientation and length of the ejected crown. Proper orthogonal decomposition identified that the first 2 modes are enough to capture the overall morphology of the crown at the splashing threshold.

SIC, an intracerebral radiosensitive probe for in vivo neuropharmacology investigations in small laboratory animals: theoretical considerations and practical characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Pain, F.; Laniece, P.; Mastrippolito, R.; Charon, Y.; Comar, D.; Leviel, V.; Pujol, J. F.; Valentin, L.

2000-02-01

Although high-resolution tomographs provide a new approach that strongly simplifies the measurement of in vivo tracer biodistribution and kinetics in small animals, they suffer from an important drawback: the need for animal anesthesia or immobilization, which restricts the neurophysiological investigations. Furthermore, quantitative in vivo experiments realized on the brain sometimes only require a simple measurement of the radioactivity achieved on a few local points and do not necessarily imply the use of a tomograph, which is a detector of high cost. These constraints led the authors to develop an interacerebral /spl beta/ sensitive probe, sonde intracerebrate (SIC) (French acronym of intracerebral probe) that will allow chronic measurements of the neurophysiological activity in awake and unrestrained small animals. The volume to which the probe is sensitive and the noise contributions to the relevant signal have been evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations. Characterizations of a first prototype based on a small piece of scintillating fiber (500-/spl mu/m diameter and 1-mm length) fused to a same diameter optical fiber coupled in turn to a photomultiplier are also presented. A first configuration of the detector is finally proposed.

Theoretical study on the laser-driven ion-beam trace probe in toroidal devices with large poloidal magnetic field

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, X.; Xiao, C.; Chen, Y.; Xu, T.; Yu, Y.; Xu, M.; Wang, L.; Wang, X.; Lin, C.

2018-03-01

Recently, a new diagnostic method, Laser-driven Ion-beam Trace Probe (LITP), has been proposed to reconstruct 2D profiles of the poloidal magnetic field (Bp) and radial electric field (Er) in the tokamak devices. A linear assumption and test particle model were used in those reconstructions. In some toroidal devices such as the spherical tokamak and the Reversal Field Pinch (RFP), Bp is not small enough to meet the linear assumption. In those cases, the error of reconstruction increases quickly when Bp is larger than 10% of the toroidal magnetic field (Bt), and the previous test particle model may cause large error in the tomography process. Here a nonlinear reconstruction method is proposed for those cases. Preliminary numerical results show that LITP could be applied not only in tokamak devices, but also in other toroidal devices, such as the spherical tokamak, RFP, etc.

Biasing, Acquisition and Interpretation of a Dense Langmuir Probe Array in NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaworski, M.A.; Kallman, J.; Kaita, R.; Kugel, H.; LeBlanc, B.; Marsala, R.; Ruzic, D.

2010-01-01

A dense array of 99 Langmuir probes has been installed in the lower divertor region of the National Spherical Torus Experiments (NSTX). This array is instrumented with a system of elec- tronics that allows flexibility in the choice of probes to bias as well as the type of measurement (including standard swept, single probe, triple probe and operation as passive floating potential and scrape-off-layer (SOL) current monitors). The use of flush-mounted probes requires careful inter- pretation. The time dependent nature of the SOL makes swept-probe traces difficult to interpret. To overcome these challenges, the single- and triple-Langmuir probe signals are used in comple- mentary fashion to determine the temperature and density at the probe location. A comparison to mid-plane measurements is made.

Thermo-mechanical screening tests to qualify beryllium pebble beds with non-spherical pebbles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reimann, Joerg, E-mail: joerg.reimann@partner.kit.edu [IKET, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe (Germany); Fretz, Benjamin [KBHF GmbH, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Pupeschi, Simone [IAM, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe (Germany)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • In present ceramic breeder blankets, pebble-shaped beryllium is used as a neutron multiplier. • Spherical pebbles are considered as the candidate material, however, non-spherical particles are of economic interest. • Thermo-mechanical pebble bed data do merely exist for non-spherical beryllium grades. • Uniaxial compression tests (UCTs), combined with the Hot Wire Technique (HWT) were used to measure the stress–strain relations and the thermal conductivity. • A small experimental set-up had to be used and a detailed 3D modelling was of prime importance. • Compared to spherical pebble beds, non-spherical pebble beds are generally softer and mainly the thermal conductivity is lower. - Abstract: In present ceramic breeder blankets, pebble-shaped beryllium is used as a neutron multiplier. Fairly spherical pebbles are considered as a candidate material, however, non-spherical particles are of economic interest because production costs are much lower. Yet, thermo-mechanical pebble bed data do merely exist for these beryllium grades, and the blanket relevant potential of these grades cannot be judged. Screening experiments were performed with three different grades of non-spherical beryllium pebbles, produced by different companies, accompanied by experiments with the reference beryllium pebble beds. Uniaxial compression tests (UCTs), combined with the Hot Wire Technique (HWT), were performed to measure both the stress–strain relation and the thermal conductivity, k, at different stress levels. Because of the limited amounts of the non-spherical materials, the experimental set-ups were small and a detailed 3D modelling was of prime importance in order to prove that the used design was appropriate. Compared to the pebble beds consisting of spherical pebbles, non-spherical pebble beds are generally softer (smaller stress for a given strain), and, mainly as a consequence of this, for a given strain value, the thermal conductivity is lower. This

Confinement of Neutral Beam Ions in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darrow, D.S.; Medley, S.S.; Roquemore, A.L.; Rosenberg, A.

2001-01-01

The loss of neutral-beam ions to the wall has been measured in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) by means of thermocouples, an infrared (IR) camera, and a Faraday cup probe. The losses tend to exhibit the expected dependences on plasma current, tangency radius of the injector, and plasma outer gap. However, the thermocouples and the Faraday cups indicate substantially different levels of loss and this difference has yet to be understood

Direct comparison of Fe-Cr unmixing characterization by atom probe tomography and small angle scattering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Couturier, Laurent, E-mail: laurent.couturier55@hotmail.fr [Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SIMAP, F-38000 Grenoble (France); CNRS, SIMAP, F-38000 Grenoble (France); Department of Materials Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (Canada); De Geuser, Frédéric; Deschamps, Alexis [Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SIMAP, F-38000 Grenoble (France); CNRS, SIMAP, F-38000 Grenoble (France)

2016-11-15

The fine microstructure obtained by unmixing of a solid solution either by classical precipitation or spinodal decomposition is often characterized either by small angle scattering or atom probe tomography. This article shows that a common data analysis framework can be used to analyze data obtained from these two techniques. An example of the application of this common analysis is given for characterization of the unmixing of the Fe-Cr matrix of a 15-5 PH stainless steel during long-term ageing at 350 °C and 400 °C. A direct comparison of the Cr composition fluctuations amplitudes and characteristic lengths obtained with both techniques is made showing a quantitative agreement for the fluctuation amplitudes. The origin of the discrepancy remaining for the characteristic lengths is discussed. - Highlights: •Common analysis framework for atom probe tomography and small angle scattering •Comparison of same microstructural characteristics obtained using both techniques •Good correlation of Cr composition fluctuations amplitudes from both techniques •Good correlation of Cr composition fluctuations amplitudes with classic V parameter.

A cable-free impedance and gain measurement technique for electrically small antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pivnenko, Sergey; Zhang, Jiaying; Breinbjerg, Olav

2010-01-01

are represented in terms of spherical wave expansions (SWEs), and the propagation is accounted for by a transmission formula. In this paper the measurement results by the proposed technique will be presented for several AUTs, including a standard gain horn antenna, a monopole antenna, and an electrically small......Impedance and gain measurements for electrically small antennas represent a great challenge due to influences of the feeding cable. The leaking current along the cable and scattering effects are two main issues caused by the feed line. In this paper, a novel cable-free antenna impedance and gain...... measurement technique for electrically small antennas is proposed. The antenna properties are extracted by measuring the signal scattered by the antenna under test (AUT), when it is loaded with three known loads. The technique is based on a rigorous electromagnetic model where the probe and AUT...

Design and performance verification of a wideband scalable dual-polarized probe for spherical near-field antenna measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pivnenko, Sergey; Kim, Oleksiy S.; Nielsen, Jeppe Majlund

2012-01-01

A wideband scalable dual-polarized probe designed by the Electromagnetic Systems group at the Technical University of Denmark is presented. The design was scaled and two probes were manufactured for the frequency bands 1-3 GHz and 0.4-1.2 GHz. The results of the acceptance tests of the 0.4-1.2 GHz...... probe are briefly discussed. Since these probes represent so-called higher-order antennas, applicability of the recently developed higher-order probe correction technique [3] for these probes was investigated. Extensive tests were carried out for two representative antennas under test using...

Ultrasmooth, Highly Spherical Monocrystalline Gold Particles for Precision Plasmonics

KAUST Repository

Lee, You-Jin; Schade, Nicholas B.; Sun, Li; Fan, Jonathan A.; Bae, Doo Ri; Mariscal, Marcelo M.; Lee, Gaehang; Capasso, Federico; Sacanna, Stefano; Manoharan, Vinothan N.; Yi, Gi-Ra

2013-01-01

isotropic, so that spheres are favored under quasi-static conditions. It is scalable up to particle sizes of 200 nm or more. The resulting spherical crystals display uniform scattering spectra and consistent optical coupling at small separations, even

Ultrasmooth, Highly Spherical Monocrystalline Gold Particles for Precision Plasmonics

KAUST Repository

Lee, You-Jin

2013-12-23

Ultrasmooth, highly spherical monocrystalline gold particles were prepared by a cyclic process of slow growth followed by slow chemical etching, which selectively removes edges and vertices. The etching process effectively makes the surface tension isotropic, so that spheres are favored under quasi-static conditions. It is scalable up to particle sizes of 200 nm or more. The resulting spherical crystals display uniform scattering spectra and consistent optical coupling at small separations, even showing Fano-like resonances in small clusters. The high monodispersity of the particles we demonstrate should facilitate the self-assembly of nanoparticle clusters with uniform optical resonances, which could in turn be used to fabricate optical metafluids. Narrow size distributions are required to control not only the spectral features but also the morphology and yield of clusters in certain assembly schemes. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

A 60 GHz Dual-Polarized Probe for Spherical Near-Field Measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Popa, Paula Irina; Breinbjerg, Olav

2017-01-01

to waveguide adapters up to 67 GHz for OMT-switch connection. A 27 dBi gain conical horn is designed by using WIPL-D software and in-house manufactured. The 60 GHz probe system is being assembled and tested in planar near-field (PNF) setup at DTU. The results are validated by comparison with WIPL-D simulations...

Development of a virtual probe tip with an application to high aspect ratio microscale features

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauza, Marcin B.; Hocken, Robert J.; Smith, Stuart T.; Woody, Shane C.

2005-01-01

Nondestructive measurement of microscale features remains a challenging metrology problem. For example, to assess a high aspect ratio small hole it is currently common to cut a cross section and measure the features of interest using an atomic force microscope, scanning probe microscope, or scanning electron microscope. Typically, these metrology tools may be suitable for surface finish measurement but often lack the capability for dimensional metrology. The aim of this article is to discuss the development of a high aspect-ratio microscale probe for measurement of microscale features. A 700:1 high aspect ratio probe shank is fabricated with a 7 μm diameter, and attached at one end to an oscillator. The oscillator produces a standing wave in the oscillating probe shank as opposed to conventional probes that use a microscale sphere on the end of a comparatively rigid shank. As a result of the standing wave formed in steady state vibration, the free end of the shank generates an amplitude of oscillation greater than the probe shank diameter. Thus, the probe does not require a spherical ball to serve as the contact point and simply uses the contact diameter of the free end of the vibrating shank. This methodology is referred to as a virtual probe tip. The virtual probe tip in conjunction with a nanopositioning scanner is used to measure surface profile measurements over traverse lengths of 130 μm. In this article, results from profiles of a 500 nm step height and a ruby sphere of diameter 1 mm are presented. Experiments in this article indicate the ability to repeatedly resolve surface features of less than 5 nm while maintaining bandwidths greater than 1 kHz. Furthermore, adhesion problems often encountered with micrometer scaled probes were not observed during profile measurements with this virtual probe

Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification Technique for Copy Number Analysis on Small Amounts of DNA Material

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Karina; Andersen, Paal; Larsen, Lars

2008-01-01

The multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) technique is a sensitive technique for relative quantification of up to 50 different nucleic acid sequences in a single reaction, and the technique is routinely used for copy number analysis in various syndromes and diseases. The aim...... of the study was to exploit the potential of MLPA when the DNA material is limited. The DNA concentration required in standard MLPA analysis is not attainable from dried blood spot samples (DBSS) often used in neonatal screening programs. A novel design of MLPA probes has been developed to permit for MLPA...... analysis on small amounts of DNA. Six patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) were used in this study. DNA was extracted from both whole blood and DBSS and subjected to MLPA analysis using normal and modified probes. Results were analyzed using GeneMarker and manual Excel analysis. A total...

Minimum Q Electrically Small Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, O. S.

2012-01-01

Theoretically, the minimum radiation quality factor Q of an isolated resonance can be achieved in a spherical electrically small antenna by combining TM1m and TE1m spherical modes, provided that the stored energy in the antenna spherical volume is totally suppressed. Using closed-form expressions...... for a multiarm spherical helix antenna confirm the theoretical predictions. For example, a 4-arm spherical helix antenna with a magnetic-coated perfectly electrically conducting core (ka=0.254) exhibits the Q of 0.66 times the Chu lower bound, or 1.25 times the minimum Q....

Spherical model for superfluidity in a restricted geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fishman, S.; Ziman, T.A.L.

1982-01-01

The spherical model is solved on a hypercubic lattice in d dimensions, each bond of which is decorated with l spins. The thermodynamic functions and the helicity modulus, analogous to a superfluid density, are calculated. We find that at least two spherical fields are required for the model to exhibit low-temperature properties that can approximate reasonably those of O(n) models. The heuristic prediction that the critical temperature behaves as T/sub c/(l)approx.(l+1) -1 is checked for the model and found to hold quite accurately even for small l(> or approx. =2). The helicity modulus and magnetization of the two-constraint spherical model are found to scale approximately with the critical temperature, but the relation between them is more complex than in the undecorated model. This relation is used to check heuristic arguments concerning the helicity modulus at low temperatures. We comment on the relevance to physical systems, in particular, the problem of boson condensation in a restricted geometry

Modification Of The Electron Energy Distribution Function During Lithium Experiments On The National Spherical Torus Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaworski, M A; Gray, T K; Kaita, R; Kallman, J; Kugel, H; LeBlanc, B; McLean, A; Sabbagh, S A; Soukanovskii, V; Stotler, D P

2011-06-03

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has recently studied the use of a liquid lithium divertor (LLD). Divertor Langmuir probes have also been installed for making measurements of the local plasma conditions. A non-local probe interpretation method is used to supplement the classical probe interpretation and obtain measurements of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) which show the occurrence of a hot-electron component. Analysis is made of two discharges within a sequence that exhibited changes in plasma fueling efficiency. It is found that the local electron temperature increases and that this increase is most strongly correlated with the energy contained within the hot-electron population. Preliminary interpretative modeling indicates that kinetic effects are likely in the NSTX.

Spherical sampling

CERN Document Server

Freeden, Willi; Schreiner, Michael

2018-01-01

This book presents, in a consistent and unified overview, results and developments in the field of today´s spherical sampling, particularly arising in mathematical geosciences. Although the book often refers to original contributions, the authors made them accessible to (graduate) students and scientists not only from mathematics but also from geosciences and geoengineering. Building a library of topics in spherical sampling theory it shows how advances in this theory lead to new discoveries in mathematical, geodetic, geophysical as well as other scientific branches like neuro-medicine. A must-to-read for everybody working in the area of spherical sampling.

Non-spherical micelles in an oil-in-water cubic phase

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leaver, M.; Rajagopalan, V.; Ulf, O.

2000-01-01

phase, both with and without SDS, was established by NMR self-diffusion. In addition H-2 NMR relaxation experiments have demonstrated that the micelles in the cubic phase are non-spherical, having grown and changed shape upon formation of the cubic phase from the micellar solution. Small angle...... associated with the micellar cubic phase, Pm3n and Fd3m. The micellar volumes calculated for these space groups are similar and are consistent with a change in micellar geometry from spherical to prolate.......The cubic phase formed between the microemulsion and hexagonal phases of the ternary pentaethylene glycol dodecyl ether (C12E5)-decane-water system and that doped with small amounts of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) have been investigated. The presence of discrete oil-swollen micelles in the cubic...

Particle Entrainment in Spherical-Cap Wakes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warncke, Norbert G W; Delfos, Rene; Ooms, Gijs; Westerweel, Jerry, E-mail: n.g.w.warncke@tudelft.nl [Laboratory for Aero- and Hydrodynamics, Delft University of Technology (Netherlands)

2011-12-22

In this work we study the preferential concentration of small particles in the turbulent wake behind a spherical-cap object. We present a model predicting the mean particle concentration in the near-wake as a function of the characteristic Stokes number of the problem, the turbulence level and the Froude number. We compare the model with our experimental results on this flow, measured in a vertical water tunnel.

Tumour functional sphericity from PET images: prognostic value in NSCLC and impact of delineation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatt, Mathieu; Laurent, Baptiste; Fayad, Hadi; Jaouen, Vincent; Visvikis, Dimitris; Le Rest, Catherine Cheze

2018-04-01

Sphericity has been proposed as a parameter for characterizing PET tumour volumes, with complementary prognostic value with respect to SUV and volume in both head and neck cancer and lung cancer. The objective of the present study was to investigate its dependency on tumour delineation and the resulting impact on its prognostic value. Five segmentation methods were considered: two thresholds (40% and 50% of SUV max ), ant colony optimization, fuzzy locally adaptive Bayesian (FLAB), and gradient-aided region-based active contour. The accuracy of each method in extracting sphericity was evaluated using a dataset of 176 simulated, phantom and clinical PET images of tumours with associated ground truth. The prognostic value of sphericity and its complementary value with respect to volume for each segmentation method was evaluated in a cohort of 87 patients with stage II/III lung cancer. Volume and associated sphericity values were dependent on the segmentation method. The correlation between segmentation accuracy and sphericity error was moderate (|ρ| from 0.24 to 0.57). The accuracy in measuring sphericity was not dependent on volume (|ρ| value, although lower than that of volume, except for that derived using FLAB for which when combined with volume showed a small improvement over volume alone (hazard ratio 2.67, compared with 2.5). Substantial differences in patient prognosis stratification were observed depending on the segmentation method used. Tumour functional sphericity was found to be dependent on the segmentation method, although the accuracy in retrieving the true sphericity was not dependent on tumour volume. In addition, even accurate segmentation can lead to an inaccurate sphericity value, and vice versa. Sphericity had similar or lower prognostic value than volume alone in the patients with lung cancer, except when determined using the FLAB method for which there was a small improvement in stratification when the parameters were combined.

A Small Area In-Situ MEMS Test Structure to Accurately Measure Fracture Strength by Electrostatic Probing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bitsie, Fernando; Jensen, Brian D.; de Boer, Maarten

1999-07-15

We have designed, fabricated, tested and modeled a first generation small area test structure for MEMS fracture studies by electrostatic rather than mechanical probing. Because of its small area, this device has potential applications as a lot monitor of strength or fatigue of the MEMS structural material. By matching deflection versus applied voltage data to a 3-D model of the test structure, we develop high confidence that the local stresses achieved in the gage section are greater than 1 GPa. Brittle failure of the polycrystalline silicon was observed.

Full-Wave Analysis of Microstrip Antennas in Three-Layered Spherical Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Yu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A model of three-layered spherical microstrip antenna has been analyzed based on Rao-Wilton-Glisson (RWG triangular basis functions using mixed potential integral equation (MPIE. Firstly, the model of antenna and the dyadic Green’s function in spherical microstrip antennas are given at the beginning of this paper. Then, due to the infinite series convergence problem, asymptotic extraction approach is presented to accelerate the Green’s functions convergence speed when source and field points are located in the same layer and different layers. The convergence speed can be accelerated observably by using this method. Finally, in order to simplify impedance matrix elements calculation at the junction of the probe and patch, a novel division fashion of pair of triangles is adopted in this paper. The input impedance result obtained shows the validity and effectiveness of the analysis method comparing with published data.

Designing an array for performing Near-field Acoustic Holography with a small number of p-u probes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez Comesaña, Daniel; Wen, Junjie; Fernandez Grande, Efren

2016-01-01

, such approaches usually require that a large number of transducers is spatially distributed over the area of interest. This paper describes some practical considerations for the design and optimization of a compact sensor array for performing NAH with a small number of sound intensity p-u probes. Two sensor...

Tumour functional sphericity from PET images. Prognostic value in NSCLC and impact of delineation method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hatt, Mathieu; Laurent, Baptiste; Fayad, Hadi; Jaouen, Vincent; Visvikis, Dimitris [LaTIM, INSERM, UMR 1101, IBSAM, UBO, UBL, Brest (France); Cheze Le Rest, Catherine [LaTIM, INSERM, UMR 1101, IBSAM, UBO, UBL, Brest (France); CHU Miletrie, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Poitiers (France)

2018-04-15

Sphericity has been proposed as a parameter for characterizing PET tumour volumes, with complementary prognostic value with respect to SUV and volume in both head and neck cancer and lung cancer. The objective of the present study was to investigate its dependency on tumour delineation and the resulting impact on its prognostic value. Five segmentation methods were considered: two thresholds (40% and 50% of SUV{sub max}), ant colony optimization, fuzzy locally adaptive Bayesian (FLAB), and gradient-aided region-based active contour. The accuracy of each method in extracting sphericity was evaluated using a dataset of 176 simulated, phantom and clinical PET images of tumours with associated ground truth. The prognostic value of sphericity and its complementary value with respect to volume for each segmentation method was evaluated in a cohort of 87 patients with stage II/III lung cancer. Volume and associated sphericity values were dependent on the segmentation method. The correlation between segmentation accuracy and sphericity error was moderate (ρ from 0.24 to 0.57). The accuracy in measuring sphericity was not dependent on volume (ρ < 0.4). In the patients with lung cancer, sphericity had prognostic value, although lower than that of volume, except for that derived using FLAB for which when combined with volume showed a small improvement over volume alone (hazard ratio 2.67, compared with 2.5). Substantial differences in patient prognosis stratification were observed depending on the segmentation method used. Tumour functional sphericity was found to be dependent on the segmentation method, although the accuracy in retrieving the true sphericity was not dependent on tumour volume. In addition, even accurate segmentation can lead to an inaccurate sphericity value, and vice versa. Sphericity had similar or lower prognostic value than volume alone in the patients with lung cancer, except when determined using the FLAB method for which there was a small

WAVEMOTH-FAST SPHERICAL HARMONIC TRANSFORMS BY BUTTERFLY MATRIX COMPRESSION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seljebotn, D. S.

2012-01-01

We present Wavemoth, an experimental open source code for computing scalar spherical harmonic transforms (SHTs). Such transforms are ubiquitous in astronomical data analysis. Our code performs substantially better than existing publicly available codes owing to improvements on two fronts. First, the computational core is made more efficient by using small amounts of pre-computed data, as well as paying attention to CPU instruction pipelining and cache usage. Second, Wavemoth makes use of a fast and numerically stable algorithm based on compressing a set of linear operators in a pre-computation step. The resulting SHT scales as O(L 2 log 2 L) for the resolution range of practical interest, where L denotes the spherical harmonic truncation degree. For low- and medium-range resolutions, Wavemoth tends to be twice as fast as libpsht, which is the current state-of-the-art implementation for the HEALPix grid. At the resolution of the Planck experiment, L ∼ 4000, Wavemoth is between three and six times faster than libpsht, depending on the computer architecture and the required precision. Because of the experimental nature of the project, only spherical harmonic synthesis is currently supported, although adding support for spherical harmonic analysis should be trivial.

Conformal Ablative Thermal Protection System for Small and Large Scale Missions: Approaching TRL 6 for Planetary and Human Exploration Missions and TRL 9 for Small Probe Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, R. A. S.; Gasch, M. J.; Milos, F. S.; Stackpoole, M. M.; Smith, B. P.; Switzer, M. R.; Venkatapathy, E.; Wilder, M. C.; Boghhozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J. F.

2015-01-01

In 2011, NASAs Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) funded an effort to develop an ablative thermal protection system (TPS) material that would have improved properties when compared to Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and AVCOAT. Their goal was a conformal material, processed with a flexible reinforcement that would result in similar or better thermal characteristics and higher strain-to-failure characteristics that would allow for easier integration on flight aeroshells than then-current rigid ablative TPS materials. In 2012, NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) began funding the maturation of the best formulation of the game changing conformal ablator, C-PICA. Progress has been reported at IPPW over the past three years, describing C-PICA with a density and recession rates similar to PICA, but with a higher strain-to-failure which allows for direct bonding and no gap fillers, and even more important, with thermal characteristics resulting in half the temperature rise of PICA. Overall, C-PICA should be able to replace PICA with a thinner, lighter weight, less complicated design. These characteristics should be particularly attractive for use as backshell TPS on high energy planetary entry vehicles. At the end of this year, the material should be ready for missions to consider including in their design, in fact, NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is considering incentivizing the use of C-PICA in the next Discovery Proposal call. This year both scale up of the material to large (1-m) sized pieces and the design and build of small probe heatshields for flight tests will be completed. NASA, with an industry partner, will build a 1-m long manufacturing demonstration unit (MDU) with a shape based on a mid LD lifting body. In addition, in an effort to fly as you test and test as you fly, NASA, with a second industry partner, will build a small probe to test in the Interactive Heating Facility (IHF) arc jet and, using nearly the

Magnetic Probe to Study Plasma Jets for Magneto-Inertial Fusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martens, Daniel [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Hsu, Scott C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2012-08-16

A probe has been constructed to measure the magnetic field of a plasma jet generated by a pulsed plasma rail-gun. The probe consists of two sets of three orthogonally-oriented commercial chip inductors to measure the three-dimensional magnetic field vector at two separate positions in order to give information about the magnetic field evolution within the jet. The strength and evolution of the magnetic field is one of many factors important in evaluating the use of supersonic plasma jets for forming imploding spherical plasma liners as a standoff driver for magneto-inertial fusion.

Spherical Bessel transform via exponential sum approximation of spherical Bessel function

Science.gov (United States)

Ikeno, Hidekazu

2018-02-01

A new algorithm for numerical evaluation of spherical Bessel transform is proposed in this paper. In this method, the spherical Bessel function is approximately represented as an exponential sum with complex parameters. This is obtained by expressing an integral representation of spherical Bessel function in complex plane, and discretizing contour integrals along steepest descent paths and a contour path parallel to real axis using numerical quadrature rule with the double-exponential transformation. The number of terms in the expression is reduced using the modified balanced truncation method. The residual part of integrand is also expanded by exponential functions using Prony-like method. The spherical Bessel transform can be evaluated analytically on arbitrary points in half-open interval.

Compact fusion energy based on the spherical tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Sykes, A.; Costley, A. E.; Windsor, C. G.; Asunta, O.; Brittles, G.; Buxton, P.; Chuyanov, V.; Connor, J. W.; Gryaznevich, M. P.; Huang, B.; Hugill, J.; Kukushkin, A.; Kingham, D.; Langtry, A. V.; McNamara, S.; Morgan, J. G.; Noonan, P.; Ross, J. S. H.; Shevchenko, V.; Slade, R.; Smith, G.

2018-01-01

Tokamak Energy Ltd, UK, is developing spherical tokamaks using high temperature superconductor magnets as a possible route to fusion power using relatively small devices. We present an overview of the development programme including details of the enabling technologies, the key modelling methods and results, and the remaining challenges on the path to compact fusion.

Uniqueness of flat spherically symmetric spacelike hypersurfaces admitted by spherically symmetric static spacetimes

Science.gov (United States)

Beig, Robert; Siddiqui, Azad A.

2007-11-01

It is known that spherically symmetric static spacetimes admit a foliation by flat hypersurfaces. Such foliations have explicitly been constructed for some spacetimes, using different approaches, but none of them have proved or even discussed the uniqueness of these foliations. The issue of uniqueness becomes more important due to suitability of flat foliations for studying black hole physics. Here, flat spherically symmetric spacelike hypersurfaces are obtained by a direct method. It is found that spherically symmetric static spacetimes admit flat spherically symmetric hypersurfaces, and that these hypersurfaces are unique up to translation under the timelike Killing vector. This result guarantees the uniqueness of flat spherically symmetric foliations for such spacetimes.

Theory of axially symmetric probes in a collisionless magnetoplasma: Aligned spheroids, finite cylinders, and disks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubinstein, J.; Laframboise, J.G.

1983-01-01

A theory is presented for current collection by electrostatic probes in a collisionless, Maxwellian plasma containing a uniform magnetic field B, where the probes are spheroids or finite cylinders whose axis of symmetry is aligned with B, or disks perpendicular to B. The theory yields upper-bound and adiabatic-limit currents for the attracted particle species. For the repelled species, it yields upper and lower bounds. This work is an extension of existing theory for spherical probes by Rubinstein and Laframboise

First results of spherical GEMs

CERN Document Server

Pinto, Serge Duarte; Brock, Ian; Croci, Gabriele; David, Eric; de Oliveira, Rui; Ropelewski, Leszek; van Stenis, Miranda; Taureg, Hans; Villa, Marco

2010-01-01

We developed a method to make GEM foils with a spherical geometry. Tests of this procedure and with the resulting spherical GEMs are presented. Together with a spherical drift electrode, a spherical conversion gap can be formed. This eliminates the parallax error for detection of x-rays, neutrons or UV photons when a gaseous converter is used. This parallax error limits the spatial resolution at wide scattering angles. Besides spherical GEMs, we have developed curved spacers to maintain accurate spacing, and a conical field cage to prevent edge distortion of the radial drift field up to the limit of the angular acceptance of the detector. With these components first tests are done in a setup with a spherical entrance window but a planar readout structure; results will be presented and discussed. A flat readout structure poses difficulties, however. Therefore we will show advanced plans to make a prototype of an entirely spherical double-GEM detector, including a spherical 2D readout structure. This detector w...

Fabrication of Spherical AlSi10Mg Powders by Radio Frequency Plasma Spheroidization

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Linzhi; Liu, Ying; Chang, Sen

2016-05-01

Spherical AlSi10Mg powders were prepared by radio frequency plasma spheroidization from commercial AlSi10Mg powders. The fabrication process parameters and powder characteristics were investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, laser particle size analyzer, powder rheometer, and UV/visible/infrared spectrophotometer were used for analyses and measurements of micrographs, phases, granulometric parameters, flowability, and laser absorption properties of the powders, respectively. The results show that the obtained spherical powders exhibit good sphericity, smooth surfaces, favorable dispersity, and excellent fluidity under appropriate feeding rate and flow rate of carrier gas. Further, acicular microstructures of the spherical AlSi10Mg powders are composed of α-Al, Si, and a small amount of Mg2Si phase. In addition, laser absorption values of the spherical AlSi10Mg powders increase obviously compared with raw material, and different spectra have obvious absorption peaks at a wavelength of about 826 nm.

Evolution of the spherical clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surdin, V.G.

1978-01-01

The possible processes of the Galaxy spherical clusters formation and evolution are described on a popular level. The orbits of spherical cluster motion and their spatial velocities are determined. Given are the distrbutions of spherical cluster stars according to their velocities and the observed distribution of spherical clusters in the area of the Galaxy slow evolution. The dissipation and dynamic friction processes destructing clusters with the mass less than 10 4 of solar mass and bringing about the reduction of clusters in the Galaxy are considered. The paradox of forming mainly X-ray sources in spherical clusters is explained. The schematic image of possible ways of forming X-ray sources in spherical clusters is given

Control and Data Acquisition for the Spherical Tokamak MEDUSA-CR

Science.gov (United States)

Soto, Christian; Gonzalez, Jeferson; Carvajal, Johan; Ribeiro, Celso

2013-10-01

The former spherical tokamak (ST) MEDUSA (Madison EDUcation Small Aspect.ratio tokamak, R loan to our laboratory via NI-Costa Rica. The interface with the energy, gas fueling, and security systems are also presented. VIE-ITCR, IAEA-CRP contract 17592, National Instruments of Costa Rica.

Fundamentals of spherical array processing

CERN Document Server

Rafaely, Boaz

2015-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of spherical microphone arrays. It is written for graduate students, researchers and engineers who work with spherical microphone arrays in a wide range of applications.   The first two chapters provide the reader with the necessary mathematical and physical background, including an introduction to the spherical Fourier transform and the formulation of plane-wave sound fields in the spherical harmonic domain. The third chapter covers the theory of spatial sampling, employed when selecting the positions of microphones to sample sound pressure functions in space. Subsequent chapters present various spherical array configurations, including the popular rigid-sphere-based configuration. Beamforming (spatial filtering) in the spherical harmonics domain, including axis-symmetric beamforming, and the performance measures of directivity index and white noise gain are introduced, and a range of optimal beamformers for spherical arrays, includi...

Experimental and modeling studies of small molecule chemistry in expanding spherical flames

Science.gov (United States)

Santner, Jeffrey

Accurate models of flame chemistry are required in order to predict emissions and flame properties, such that clean, efficient engines can be designed more easily. There are three primary methods used to improve such combustion chemistry models - theoretical reaction rate calculations, elementary reaction rate experiments, and combustion system experiments. This work contributes to model improvement through the third method - measurements and analysis of the laminar burning velocity at constraining conditions. Modern combustion systems operate at high pressure with strong exhaust gas dilution in order to improve efficiency and reduce emissions. Additionally, flames under these conditions are sensitized to elementary reaction rates such that measurements constrain modeling efforts. Measurement conditions of the present work operate within this intersection between applications and fundamental science. Experiments utilize a new pressure-release, heated spherical combustion chamber with a variety of fuels (high hydrogen content fuels, formaldehyde (via 1,3,5-trioxane), and C2 fuels) at pressures from 0.5--25 atm, often with dilution by water vapor or carbon dioxide to flame temperatures below 2000 K. The constraining ability of these measurements depends on their uncertainty. Thus, the present work includes a novel analytical estimate of the effects of thermal radiative heat loss on burning velocity measurements in spherical flames. For 1,3,5-trioxane experiments, global measurements are sufficiently sensitive to elementary reaction rates that optimization techniques are employed to indirectly measure the reaction rates of HCO consumption. Besides the influence of flame chemistry on propagation, this work also explores the chemistry involved in production of nitric oxide, a harmful pollutant, within flames. We find significant differences among available chemistry models, both in mechanistic structure and quantitative reaction rates. There is a lack of well

Spherical CNNs

OpenAIRE

Cohen, Taco S.; Geiger, Mario; Koehler, Jonas; Welling, Max

2018-01-01

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have become the method of choice for learning problems involving 2D planar images. However, a number of problems of recent interest have created a demand for models that can analyze spherical images. Examples include omnidirectional vision for drones, robots, and autonomous cars, molecular regression problems, and global weather and climate modelling. A naive application of convolutional networks to a planar projection of the spherical signal is destined t...

Laser driven compression and neutron generation with spherical shell targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, P.M.; Hammerling, P.; Johnson, R.R.; Kubis, J.J.; Mayer, F.J.

1977-01-01

Laser-driven implosion experiments using DT-gas-filled spherical glass-shell targets are described. Neutron yields to 5 x 10 7 are produced from implosions of small ( -- 55 μm-diameter) targets spherically illuminated with an on-target laser power of 0.4 terawatt. Nuclear reaction product diagnostics, X-ray pinhole photographs, fast-ion spectra and X-ray measurements are used in conjunction with hydrodynamic computer code simulations to investigate the implosion phenomenology as well as the target corona evolution. Simulations using completely classical effects are not able to describe the full range of experimental data. Electron or radiation preheating may be required to explain some implosion measurements. (auth.)

High spatial resolution Kelvin probe force microscopy with coaxial probes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, Keith A; Westervelt, Robert M; Satzinger, Kevin J

2012-01-01

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) is a widely used technique to measure the local contact potential difference (CPD) between an AFM probe and the sample surface via the electrostatic force. The spatial resolution of KPFM is intrinsically limited by the long range of the electrostatic interaction, which includes contributions from the macroscopic cantilever and the conical tip. Here, we present coaxial AFM probes in which the cantilever and cone are shielded by a conducting shell, confining the tip–sample electrostatic interaction to a small region near the end of the tip. We have developed a technique to measure the true CPD despite the presence of the shell electrode. We find that the behavior of these probes agrees with an electrostatic model of the force, and we observe a factor of five improvement in spatial resolution relative to unshielded probes. Our discussion centers on KPFM, but the field confinement offered by these probes may improve any variant of electrostatic force microscopy. (paper)

Organic conjugated small molecule materials based optical probe for rapid, colorimetric and UV-vis spectral detection of phosphorylated protein in placental tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yanfang; Yang, Na; Liu, Yi

2018-04-05

A novel organic small molecule with D-Pi-A structure was prepared, which was found to be a promising colorimetric and ratiometric UV-vis spetral probe for detection of phosphorylated proteins with the help of tetravalent zirconium ion. Such optical probe based on chromophore WYF-1 shows a rapid response (within 10s) and high selectivity and sensitivity for phosphorylated proteins, giving distinct colorimetric and ratiometric UV-vis changes at 720 and 560nm. The detection limit for phosphorylated proteins was estimated to be 100nM. In addition, detection of phosphorylated proteins in placental tissue samples with this probe was successfully applied, which indicates that this probe holds great potential for phosphorylated proteins detection. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimization of magnetic field system for glass spherical tokamak GLAST-III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, Zahoor; Ahmad, S; Naveed, M A; Deeba, F; Javeed, M Aqib; Batool, S; Hussain, S; Vorobyov, G M

2017-01-01

GLAST-III (Glass Spherical Tokamak) is a spherical tokamak with aspect ratio A = 2. The mapping of its magnetic system is performed to optimize the GLAST-III tokamak for plasma initiation using a Hall probe. Magnetic field from toroidal coils shows 1/ R dependence which is typical with spherical tokamaks. Toroidal field (TF) coils can produce 875 Gauss field, an essential requirement for electron cyclotron resonance assisted discharge. The central solenoid (CS) of GLAST-III is an air core solenoid and requires compensation coils to reduce unnecessary magnetic flux inside the vessel region. The vertical component of magnetic field from the CS in the vacuum vessel region is reduced to 1.15 Gauss kA −1 with the help of a differential loop. The CS of GLAST can produce flux change up to 68 mVs. Theoretical and experimental results are compared for the current waveform of TF coils using a combination of fast and slow capacitor banks. Also the magnetic field produced by poloidal field (PF) coils is compared with theoretically predicted values. It is found that calculated results are in good agreement with experimental measurement. Consequently magnetic field measurements are validated. A tokamak discharge with 2 kA plasma current and pulse length 1 ms is successfully produced using different sets of coils. (paper)

Preparation and Optical Properties of Spherical Inverse Opals by Liquid Phase Deposition Using Spherical Colloidal Crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoi, Y; Tominaga, T

2013-01-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) inverse opals in spherical shape were prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD) using spherical colloidal crystals as templates. Spherical colloidal crystals were produced by ink-jet drying technique. Aqueous emulsion droplets that contain polystyrene latex particles were ejected into air and dried. Closely packed colloidal crystals with spherical shape were obtained. The obtained spherical colloidal crystals were used as templates for the LPD. The templates were dispersed in the deposition solution of the LPD, i.e. a mixed solution of ammonium hexafluorotitanate and boric acid and reacted for 4 h at 30 °C. After the LPD process, the interstitial spaces of the spherical colloidal crystals were completely filled with titanium oxide. Subsequent heat treatment resulted in removal of templates and spherical titanium dioxide inverse opals. The spherical shape of the template was retained. SEM observations indicated that the periodic ordered voids were surrounded by titanium dioxide. The optical reflectance spectra indicated that the optical properties of the spherical titanium dioxide inverse opals were due to Bragg diffractions from the ordered structure. Filling in the voids of the inverse opals with different solvents caused remarkable changes in the reflectance peak.

Eigenmodes of three-dimensional spherical spaces and their application to cosmology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehoucq, Roland; Weeks, Jeffrey; Uzan, Jean-Philippe; Gausmann, Evelise; Luminet, Jean-Pierre

2002-01-01

This paper investigates the computation of the eigenmodes of the Laplacian operator in multi-connected three-dimensional spherical spaces. General mathematical results and analytical solutions for lens and prism spaces are presented. Three complementary numerical methods are developed and compared with our analytic results and previous investigations. The cosmological applications of these results are discussed, focusing on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. In particular, whereas in the Euclidean case too-small universes are excluded by present CMB data, in the spherical case, candidate topologies will always exist even if the total energy density parameter of the universe is very close to unity

Eigenmodes of three-dimensional spherical spaces and their application to cosmology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehoucq, Roland [CE-Saclay, DSM/DAPNIA/Service d' Astrophysique, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Weeks, Jeffrey [15 Farmer St, Canton, NY 13617-1120 (United States); Uzan, Jean-Philippe [Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, GReCO, CNRS-FRE 2435, 98 bis, Bd Arago, 75014 Paris (France); Gausmann, Evelise [Instituto de Fisica Teorica, Rua Pamplona, 145 Bela Vista - Sao Paulo - SP, CEP 01405-900 (Brazil); Luminet, Jean-Pierre [Laboratoire Univers et Theories, CNRS-FRE 2462, Observatoire de Paris, F-92195 Meudon (France)

2002-09-21

This paper investigates the computation of the eigenmodes of the Laplacian operator in multi-connected three-dimensional spherical spaces. General mathematical results and analytical solutions for lens and prism spaces are presented. Three complementary numerical methods are developed and compared with our analytic results and previous investigations. The cosmological applications of these results are discussed, focusing on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. In particular, whereas in the Euclidean case too-small universes are excluded by present CMB data, in the spherical case, candidate topologies will always exist even if the total energy density parameter of the universe is very close to unity.

Planar ESPAR Array Design with Nonsymmetrical Pattern by Means of Finite-Element Method, Domain Decomposition, and Spherical Wave Expansion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesús García

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The application of a 3D domain decomposition finite-element and spherical mode expansion for the design of planar ESPAR (electronically steerable passive array radiator made with probe-fed circular microstrip patches is presented in this work. A global generalized scattering matrix (GSM in terms of spherical modes is obtained analytically from the GSM of the isolated patches by using rotation and translation properties of spherical waves. The whole behaviour of the array is characterized including all the mutual coupling effects between its elements. This procedure has been firstly validated by analyzing an array of monopoles on a ground plane, and then it has been applied to synthesize a prescribed radiation pattern optimizing the reactive loads connected to the feeding ports of the array of circular patches by means of a genetic algorithm.

Friction factor for water flow through packed beds of spherical and non-spherical particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaluđerović-Radoičić Tatjana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was the experimental evaluation of different friction factor correlations for water flow through packed beds of spherical and non-spherical particles at ambient temperature. The experiments were performed by measuring the pressure drop across the bed. Packed beds made of monosized glass spherical particles of seven different diameters were used, as well as beds made of 16 fractions of quartz filtration sand obtained by sieving (polydisperse non-spherical particles. The range of bed voidages was 0.359–0.486, while the range of bed particle Reynolds numbers was from 0.3 to 286 for spherical particles and from 0.1 to 50 for non-spherical particles. The obtained results were compared using a number of available literature correlations. In order to improve the correlation results for spherical particles, a new simple equation was proposed in the form of Ergun’s equation, with modified coefficients. The new correlation had a mean absolute deviation between experimental and calculated values of pressure drop of 9.04%. For non-spherical quartz filtration sand particles the best fit was obtained using Ergun’s equation, with a mean absolute deviation of 10.36%. Surface-volume diameter (dSV necessary for correlating the data for filtration sand particles was calculated based on correlations for dV = f(dm and Ψ = f(dm. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. ON172022

Spherical-shell boundaries for two-dimensional compressible convection in a star

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, J.; Baraffe, I.; Goffrey, T.; Geroux, C.; Viallet, M.; Folini, D.; Constantino, T.; Popov, M.; Walder, R.

2016-10-01

Context. Studies of stellar convection typically use a spherical-shell geometry. The radial extent of the shell and the boundary conditions applied are based on the model of the star investigated. We study the impact of different two-dimensional spherical shells on compressible convection. Realistic profiles for density and temperature from an established one-dimensional stellar evolution code are used to produce a model of a large stellar convection zone representative of a young low-mass star, like our sun at 106 years of age. Aims: We analyze how the radial extent of the spherical shell changes the convective dynamics that result in the deep interior of the young sun model, far from the surface. In the near-surface layers, simple small-scale convection develops from the profiles of temperature and density. A central radiative zone below the convection zone provides a lower boundary on the convection zone. The inclusion of either of these physically distinct layers in the spherical shell can potentially affect the characteristics of deep convection. Methods: We perform hydrodynamic implicit large eddy simulations of compressible convection using the MUltidimensional Stellar Implicit Code (MUSIC). Because MUSIC has been designed to use realistic stellar models produced from one-dimensional stellar evolution calculations, MUSIC simulations are capable of seamlessly modeling a whole star. Simulations in two-dimensional spherical shells that have different radial extents are performed over tens or even hundreds of convective turnover times, permitting the collection of well-converged statistics. Results: To measure the impact of the spherical-shell geometry and our treatment of boundaries, we evaluate basic statistics of the convective turnover time, the convective velocity, and the overshooting layer. These quantities are selected for their relevance to one-dimensional stellar evolution calculations, so that our results are focused toward studies exploiting the so

High-throughput platform assay technology for the discovery of pre-microrna-selective small molecule probes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenz, Daniel A; Song, James M; Garner, Amanda L

2015-01-21

MicroRNAs (miRNA) play critical roles in human development and disease. As such, the targeting of miRNAs is considered attractive as a novel therapeutic strategy. A major bottleneck toward this goal, however, has been the identification of small molecule probes that are specific for select RNAs and methods that will facilitate such discovery efforts. Using pre-microRNAs as proof-of-concept, herein we report a conceptually new and innovative approach for assaying RNA-small molecule interactions. Through this platform assay technology, which we term catalytic enzyme-linked click chemistry assay or cat-ELCCA, we have designed a method that can be implemented in high throughput, is virtually free of false readouts, and is general for all nucleic acids. Through cat-ELCCA, we envision the discovery of selective small molecule ligands for disease-relevant miRNAs to promote the field of RNA-targeted drug discovery and further our understanding of the role of miRNAs in cellular biology.

Progress in octahedral spherical hohlraum study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke Lan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we give a review of our theoretical and experimental progress in octahedral spherical hohlraum study. From our theoretical study, the octahedral spherical hohlraums with 6 Laser Entrance Holes (LEHs of octahedral symmetry have robust high symmetry during the capsule implosion at hohlraum-to-capsule radius ratio larger than 3.7. In addition, the octahedral spherical hohlraums also have potential superiority on low backscattering without supplementary technology. We studied the laser arrangement and constraints of the octahedral spherical hohlraums, and gave a design on the laser arrangement for ignition octahedral hohlraums. As a result, the injection angle of laser beams of 50°–60° was proposed as the optimum candidate range for the octahedral spherical hohlraums. We proposed a novel octahedral spherical hohlraum with cylindrical LEHs and LEH shields, in order to increase the laser coupling efficiency and improve the capsule symmetry and to mitigate the influence of the wall blowoff on laser transport. We studied on the sensitivity of the octahedral spherical hohlraums to random errors and compared the sensitivity among the octahedral spherical hohlraums, the rugby hohlraums and the cylindrical hohlraums, and the results show that the octahedral spherical hohlraums are robust to these random errors while the cylindrical hohlraums are the most sensitive. Up till to now, we have carried out three experiments on the spherical hohlraum with 2 LEHs on Shenguang(SG laser facilities, including demonstration of improving laser transport by using the cylindrical LEHs in the spherical hohlraums, spherical hohlraum energetics on the SGIII prototype laser facility, and comparisons of laser plasma instabilities between the spherical hohlraums and the cylindrical hohlraums on the SGIII laser facility.

Quality control of radiosurgery: dosimetry with micro camera in spherical mannequin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casado Villalon, F. J.; Navarro Guirado, F.; Garci Pareja, S.; Benitez Villegas, E. M.; Galan Montenegro, P.; Moreno Saiz, C.

2013-01-01

The dosimetry of small field is part of quality control in the treatment of cranial radiosurgery. In this work the results of absorbed dose in the isocenter, Planner, with those obtained from are compared experimentally with a micro-camera into an spherical mannequin. (Author)

Advanced spherical near-field antenna measurement techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jeppe Majlund; Pivnenko, Sergey; Breinbjerg, Olav

2011-01-01

The DTU-ESA facility has since the 1980es provided highly accurate antenna radiation pattern measurements and gain calibration by use of the probe corrected spherical nearfield technique, both for ESA (the European Space Agency) and other customers and continues to do so. Recent years activities...... and research carried out at the facility are presented in the article. Since 2004 several antenna test facility comparison campaigns were carried out between a number of European antenna measurement facilities. The first campaigns laid the foundation for the later comparisons in providing experience...... in the period 2005–2006 following a series of investigatory measurements and facility updates during 2003–2005. Antenna diagnostics by a SWE-to-PWE transformation presents a case where highly accurate antenna measurements and a plane wave back-projection enable antenna diagnostics by examination...

New results from Globus-M spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gusev, V.K.

2002-01-01

New results from Globus-M spherical tokamak (ST) are presented. Reported are the achievements of high plasma current of 0.36 MA and high toroidal magnetic field of 0.55 T. Plasma column stability in Globus-M is conserved at low edge safety factors and high plasma densities. Achieved lowest safety factor was q(cyl) 19 m -3 . New methods of density increase are discussed. Low-density boarder of operational space is investigated. Runaway electrons properties and conditions of their generation are investigated. Results look promising for STs. Plasma-wall interaction study was performed. Silicon probes were installed into vacuum vessel. They were exposed to boronization, first, and then deposited film interacted with plasma. Discussed are film properties. Briefly described are new diagnostic tools installed on tokamak. Status and preliminary results obtained with auxiliary heating systems are shown. (author)

Particle Trapping and Dropouts in Magnetic Turbulence in a Spherical Geometry

Science.gov (United States)

Tooprakai, P.; Ruffolo, D.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Chuychai, P.

2006-12-01

The observed dropouts of solar energetic particles from impulsive solar events (i.e., the inhomogeneity and sharp gradients in particle density) indicate the partial filamentation of magnetic connection from small regions of the corona to Earth orbit. This can be understood in terms of persistent trapping of field lines due to small- scale topological structures in the solar wind. We further explore how this turbulence structure should be manifest in particle observations, by evaluating particle trajectories obtained from the Newton-Lorentz equations. By adapting a two-component model of turbulence to spherical geometry, we include the adiabatic focusing of particles. The 2D magnetic field is generated by either 1) a 2D fast Fourier transform, a valid approximation over a small angular region, or 2) a spherical harmonic series with ℓ up to 2000. Dropout features at 1 AU are clearly indicated for low-energy particles, but these features are washed out for E >~ 100 MeV. Different time-intensity profiles are found at locations at 1 AU that are distinct with regard to the small-scale topology. Partially supported by the Thailand Research Fund, the Rachadapisek Sompoj Fund of Chulalongkorn University, and NASA Grant NNG05GG83G.

Single-axis four-mirror system: large spherical primary and small fields

Science.gov (United States)

Baranne, Andre

1998-08-01

A catoptric corrector of modest size can be used for large spherical primaries, easily integrated at the prime focus, this corrector gives back to the system, aspect and properties of 2-mirrors classical telescopes. In the last few years, progress in active and adaptative optics makes possible a lot of things, progress in measuring distances, new ideas on optical coatings, new materials and so on in a near future, all that makes the instrumentalist dreamy It is said that nobody knows today if the size of 3rd millennium telescopes will be limited or not by a theoretical, physical or technical phenomenon, thus let us imagine but with thoughtfulness because our projects will be surely restricted by financial considerations

Radiatively driven relativistic spherical winds under relativistic radiative transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Fukue, J.

2018-05-01

We numerically investigate radiatively driven relativistic spherical winds from the central luminous object with mass M and luminosity L* under Newtonian gravity, special relativity, and relativistic radiative transfer. We solve both the relativistic radiative transfer equation and the relativistic hydrodynamical equations for spherically symmetric flows under the double-iteration processes, to obtain the intensity and velocity fields simultaneously. We found that the momentum-driven winds with scattering are quickly accelerated near the central object to reach the terminal speed. The results of numerical solutions are roughly fitted by a relation of \\dot{m}=0.7(Γ _*-1)\\tau _* β _* β _out^{-2.6}, where \\dot{m} is the mass-loss rate normalized by the critical one, Γ* the central luminosity normalized by the critical one, τ* the typical optical depth, β* the initial flow speed at the central core of radius R*, and βout the terminal speed normalized by the speed of light. This relation is close to the non-relativistic analytical solution, \\dot{m} = 2(Γ _*-1)\\tau _* β _* β _out^{-2}, which can be re-expressed as β _out^2/2 = (Γ _*-1)GM/c^2 R_*. That is, the present solution with small optical depth is similar to that of the radiatively driven free outflow. Furthermore, we found that the normalized luminosity (Eddington parameter) must be larger than unity for the relativistic spherical wind to blow off with intermediate or small optical depth, i.e. Γ _* ≳ \\sqrt{(1+β _out)^3/(1-β _out)}. We briefly investigate and discuss an isothermal wind.

Intercomparison study and optical asphericity measurements of small ice particles in the CERN CLOUD experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Nichman, Leonid; Järvinen, Emma; Dorsey, James; Connolly, Paul; Duplissy, Jonathan; Fuchs, Claudia; Ignatius, Karoliina; Sengupta, Kamalika; Stratmann, Frank; Möhler, Ottmar; Schnaiter, Martin; Gallagher, Martin

2017-09-01

Optical probes are frequently used for the detection of microphysical cloud particle properties such as liquid and ice phase, size and morphology. These properties can eventually influence the angular light scattering properties of cirrus clouds as well as the growth and accretion mechanisms of single cloud particles. In this study we compare four commonly used optical probes to examine their response to small cloud particles of different phase and asphericity. Cloud simulation experiments were conducted at the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD) chamber at European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). The chamber was operated in a series of multi-step adiabatic expansions to produce growth and sublimation of ice particles at super- and subsaturated ice conditions and for initial temperatures of -30, -40 and -50 °C. The experiments were performed for ice cloud formation via homogeneous ice nucleation. We report the optical observations of small ice particles in deep convection and in situ cirrus simulations. Ice crystal asphericity deduced from measurements of spatially resolved single particle light scattering patterns by the Particle Phase Discriminator mark 2 (PPD-2K, Karlsruhe edition) were compared with Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer with Polarisation (CASPOL) measurements and image roundness captured by the 3View Cloud Particle Imager (3V-CPI). Averaged path light scattering properties of the simulated ice clouds were measured using the Scattering Intensity Measurements for the Optical detectioN of icE (SIMONE) and single particle scattering properties were measured by the CASPOL. We show the ambiguity of several optical measurements in ice fraction determination of homogeneously frozen ice in the case where sublimating quasi-spherical ice particles are present. Moreover, most of the instruments have difficulties of producing reliable ice fraction if small aspherical ice particles are present, and all of the instruments cannot separate perfectly

The Sheath-less Planar Langmuir Probe

Science.gov (United States)

Cooke, D. L.

2017-12-01

The Langmuir probe is one of the oldest plasma diagnostics, provided the plasma density and species temperature from analysis of a current-voltage curve as the voltage is swept over a practically chosen range. The analysis depends on a knowledge or theory of the many factors that influence the current-voltage curve including, probe shape, size, nearby perturbations, and the voltage reference. For applications in Low Earth Orbit, the Planar Langmuir Probe, PLP, is an attractive geometry because the ram ion current is very constant over many Volts of a sweep, allowing the ion density and electron temperature to be determined independently with the same instrument, at different points on the sweep. However, when the physical voltage reference is itself small and electrically floating as with a small spacecraft, the spacecraft and probe system become a double probe where the current collection theory depends on the interaction of the spacecraft with the plasma which is generally not as simple as the probe itself. The Sheath-less PLP, SPLP, interlaces on a single ram facing surface, two variably biased probe elements, broken into many small and intertwined segments on a scale smaller than the plasma Debye length. The SPLP is electrically isolated from the rest of the spacecraft. For relative bias potentials of a few volts, the ion current to all segments of each element will be constant, while the electron currents will vary as a function of the element potential and the electron temperature. Because the segments are small, intertwined, and floating, the assembly will always present the same floating potential to the plasma, with minimal growth as a function of voltage, thus sheath-less and still planar. This concept has been modelled with Nascap, and tested with a physical model inserted into a Low Earth Orbit-like chamber plasma. Results will be presented.

Asymmetry reversal of ion collection by mach probes in flowing unmagnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, E; Hershkowitz, N

2006-01-01

Measurements of ion current in flowing unmagnetized plasmas were performed with planar and spherical Mach probes in two different devices, one a dc multi-dipole plasma device for subsonic flow within a presheath region and the other a double plasma device for supersonic flow. Asymmetry reversal, which is higher ion current to the downstream side of the probe compared with the upstream side current, was observed for high probe bias compared with the electron temperature, relatively low ion drift velocity and Debye length comparable to probe radius. These data are in qualitative agreement with a recent numerical calculation by Hutchinson. As suggested by Hutchinson, it was found that the current ratio depended on the plasma parameters, especially for finite Debye length and high probe bias. Asymmetry reversal emphasizes the lack of validity of using the current ratio except for narrow parameter ranges. This study is the first experiment to demonstrate the non-intuitive phenomenon predicted by Hutchinson's numerical calculation

On the sensitivity of probe-corrected spherical near-field antenna measurements with high-order probes using double phi-step theta-scanning scheme against various measurement uncertainties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laitinen, Tommi; Pivnenko, Sergey; Nielsen, Jeppe Majlund

2011-01-01

In this paper, the relatively recently introduced double phi-step theta-scanning scheme and the probe correction technique associated with it is examined against the traditional phi-scanning scheme and the first-order probe correction. The important result of this paper is that the double phi......-step theta-scanning scheme is shown to be clearly less sensitive to the probe misalignment errors compared to the phi-scanning scheme. The two methods show similar sensitivity to noise and channel balance error....

Development and clinical applications of a small peptide as a radiolabeled in vivo diagnostic probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reubi, J.C.; Lamberts, S.W.; Krenning, E.

1995-01-01

Several dozens of small peptides, widely distributed in the human body, highly potent and important regulators of biological processes in numerous tissues, have been identified in the past several years. One of those, somatostatin, the first of such peptides used in the nuclear medicine field, has been developed as an in vivo labeled diagnostic probe for a variety of pathologies. Basic knowledge on somatostatin, somatostatin receptors and somatostatin target tissues as well as on the clinical implications of this diagnostic tool are briefly reviewed. (authors). 9 refs., 3 figs

Validity of spherical quantitative refractometry: application to laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benattar, R.; Popovics, C.

1983-01-01

We report an experimental laser technique of quantitative Schlieren imaging of spherical plasmas combined with streak camera recording. We show that quantitative refractometry applies for small values of refraction angles, i.e., when the law giving the refraction angle versus the impact parameter of rays passing through the plasma is a linearly decreasing function

Development of a contact probe incorporating a Bragg grating strain sensor for nano coordinate measuring machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, H; Hsu, H-Y; Kong, L X; Wedding, A B

2009-01-01

This paper presents a novel optical fibre based micro contact probe system with high sensitivity and repeatability. In this optical fibre probe with a fused spherical tip, a fibre Bragg grating has been utilized as a strain sensor in the probe stem. When the probe tip contacts the surface of the part, a strain will be induced along the probe stem and will produce a Bragg wavelength shift. The contact signal can be issued once the wavelength shift signal is produced and demodulated. With the fibre grating sensor element integrated into the probe directly, the probe system shows a high sensitivity. In this work, the strain distributions along the probe stem with the probe under axial and lateral load are analysed. A simulation of the strain distribution was performed using the finite element package ANSYS 11. Performance tests using a piezoelectric transducer stage with a displacement resolution of 1.5 nm yielded a measurement resolution of 60 nm under axial loading

Are Nanoparticles Spherical or Quasi-Spherical?

Science.gov (United States)

Sokolov, Stanislav V; Batchelor-McAuley, Christopher; Tschulik, Kristina; Fletcher, Stephen; Compton, Richard G

2015-07-20

The geometry of quasi-spherical nanoparticles is investigated. The combination of SEM imaging and electrochemical nano-impact experiments is demonstrated to allow sizing and characterization of the geometry of single silver nanoparticles. © 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A useful PET probe [11C]BU99008 with ultra-high specific radioactivity for small animal PET imaging of I2-imidazoline receptors in the hypothalamus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, Kazunori; Shimoda, Yoko; Yui, Joji; Zhang, Yiding; Yamasaki, Tomoteru; Wakizaka, Hidekatsu; Hatori, Akiko; Xie, Lin; Kumata, Katsushi; Fujinaga, Masayuki; Ogawa, Masanao; Kurihara, Yusuke; Nengaki, Nobuki; Zhang, Ming-Rong

2017-01-01

Introduction: A positron emission tomography (PET) probe with ultra-high specific radioactivity (SA) enables measuring high receptor specific binding in brain regions by avoiding mass effect of the PET probe itself. It has been reported that PET probe with ultra-high SA can detect small change caused by endogenous or exogenous ligand. Recently, Kealey et al. developed [ 11 C]BU99008, a more potent PET probe for I 2 -imidazoline receptors (I 2 Rs) imaging, with a conventional SA (mean 76 GBq/μmol) showed higher specific binding in the brain. Here, to detect small change of specific binding for I 2 Rs caused by endogenous or exogenous ligand in an extremely small region, such as hypothalamus in the brain, we synthesized and evaluated [ 11 C]BU99008 with ultra-high SA as a useful PET probe for small-animal PET imaging of I 2 Rs. Methods: [ 11 C]BU99008 was prepared by [ 11 C]methylation of N-desmethyl precursor with [ 11 C]methyl iodide. Biodistribution, metabolite analysis, and brain PET studies were conducted in rats. Results: [ 11 C]BU99008 with ultra-high SA in the range of 5400–16,600 GBq/μmol were successfully synthesized (n = 7), and had appropriate radioactivity for in vivo study. In the biodistribution study, the mean radioactivity levels in all investigated tissues except for the kidney did not show significant difference between [ 11 C]BU99008 with ultra-high SA and that with conventional SA. In the metabolite analysis, the percentage of unchanged [ 11 C]BU99008 at 30 min after the injection of probes with ultra-high and conventional SA was similar in rat brain and plasma. In the PET study of rats' brain, radioactivity level (AUC 30–60 min ) in the hypothalamus of rats injected with [ 11 C]BU99008 with ultra-high SA (64 [SUV ∙ min]) was significantly higher than that observed for that with conventional SA (50 [SUV ∙ min]). The specific binding of [ 11 C]BU99008 with ultra-high SA (86% of total binding) for I 2 R was higher than that of

Phase behavior of charged hydrophobic colloids on flat and spherical surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Kelleher, Colm P.

For a broad class of two-dimensional (2D) materials, the transition from isotropic fluid to crystalline solid is described by the theory of melting due to Kosterlitz, Thouless, Halperin, Nelson and Young (KTHNY). According to this theory, long-range order is achieved via elimination of the topological defects which proliferate in the fluid phase. However, many natural and man-made 2D systems posses spatial curvature and/or non-trivial topology, which require the presence of topological defects, even at T=0. In principle, the presence of these defects could profoundly affect the phase behavior of such a system. In this thesis, we develop and characterize an experimental system of charged colloidal particles that bind electrostatically to the interface between an oil and an aqueous phase. Depending on how we prepare the sample, this fluid interface may be flat, spherical, or have a more complicated geometry. Focusing on the cases where the interface is flat or spherical, we measure the interactions between the particles, and probe various aspects of their phase behavior. On flat interfaces, this phase behavior is well-described by KTHNY theory. In spherical geometries, however, we observe spatial structures and inhomogeneous dynamics that cannot be captured by the measures traditionally used to describe flat-space phase behavior. We show that, in the spherical system, ordering is achieved by a novel mechanism: sequestration of topological defects into freely-terminating grain boundaries ("scars"), and simultaneous spatial organization of the scars themselves on the vertices of an icosahedron. The emergence of icosahedral order coincides with the localization of mobility into isolated "lakes" of fluid or glassy particles, situated at the icosahedron vertices. These lakes are embedded in a rigid, connected "continent" of locally crystalline particles.

Local pH Monitoring of Small Cluster of Cells using a Fiber-Optic Dual-Core Micro-Probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sisi; Yang, Qingbo; Xiao, Hai; Shi, Honglan; Ma, Yinfa

2017-03-31

Biological studies of tissues and cells have enabled numerous discoveries, but these studies still bear potential risks of invalidation because of cell heterogeneity. Through high-accuracy techniques, recent studies have demonstrated that discrepancies do exist between the results from low-number-cell studies and cell-population-based results. Thus the urgent need to re-evaluate key principles on limited number of cells has been provoked. In this study, a novel designed dual-core fiber-optic pH micro-probe was fabricated and demonstrated for niche environment pH sensing with high spatial resolution. An organic-modified silicate (OrMoSils) sol-gel thin layer was functionalized by entrapping a pH indicator, 2', 7'-Bis (2-carbonylethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF), on a ~70 μm sized probe tip. Good linear correlation between fluorescence ratio of I 560 nm /I 640 nm and intercellular pH values was obtained within a biological-relevant pH range from 6.20 to 7.92 (R 2 = 0.9834), and with a pH resolution of 0.035 ± 0.005 pH units. The probe's horizontal spatial resolution was demonstrated to be less than 2mm. Moreover, the probe was evaluated by measuring the localized extracellular pH changes of cultured human lung cancer cells (A549) when exposed to titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs). Results showed that the probe has superior capability for fast, local, and continual monitoring of a small cluster of cells, which provides researchers a fast and accurate technique to conduct local pH measurements for cell heterogeneity-related studies.

On the impact of non-sphericity and small-scale surface roughness on the optical properties of hematite aerosols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahnert, Michael; Nousiainen, Timo; Mauno, Paeivi

2011-01-01

We perform a comparative modelling study to investigate how different morphological features influence the optical properties of hematite aerosols. We consider high-order Chebyshev particles as a proxy for aerosol with a small-scale surface roughness, and spheroids as a model for nonspherical aerosols with a smooth boundary surface. The modelling results are compared to those obtained for homogeneous spherical particles. It is found that for hematite particles with an absorption efficiency of order unity the difference in optical properties between spheres and spheroids disappears. For optically softer particles, such as ice particles at far-infrared wavelengths, this effect can be observed for absorption efficiencies lower than unity. The convergence of the optical properties of spheres and spheroids is caused by absorption and quenching of internal resonances inside the particles, which depend both on the imaginary part of the refractive index and on the size parameter, and to some extent on the real part of the refractive index. By contrast, small-scale surface roughness becomes the dominant morphological feature for large particles. This effect is likely to depend on the amplitude of the surface roughness, the relative significance of internal resonances, and possibly on the real part of the refractive index. The extinction cross section is rather insensitive to surface roughness, while the single-scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter, and the Mueller matrix are strongly influenced. Small-scale surface roughness reduces the backscattering cross section by up to a factor of 2-3 as compared to size-equivalent particles with a smooth boundary surface. This can have important implications for the interpretation of lidar backscattering observations.

Electromagnetic power flow between opposite sides of a lossy dielectric sphere using spherical vector wave expansion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nour, Baqer; Breinbjerg, Olav

2010-01-01

This article addresses the problem of communication in near field region. The proposed example is the communication between two small antennas, which are modelled as an electric dipole antenna (transmitter) and a small box (receiver), near a sphere that models a head. Spherical vector wave...

Spherical sila- and germa-homoaromaticity.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhongfang; Hirsch, Andreas; Nagase, Shigeru; Thiel, Walter; Schleyer, Paul von Ragué

2003-12-17

Guided by the 2(N + 1)2 electron-counting rule for spherical aromatic molecules, we have designed various spherical sila- and germa-homoaromatic systems rich in group 14 elements. Their aromaticity is revealed by density-functional computations of their structures and the nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS). Besides the formerly used endohedral inclusion strategy, spherical homoaromaticity is another way to stabilize silicon and germanium clusters.

Spherical grating spectrometers

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donoghue, Darragh; Clemens, J. Christopher

2014-07-01

We describe designs for spectrometers employing convex dispersers. The Offner spectrometer was the first such instrument; it has almost exclusively been employed on satellite platforms, and has had little impact on ground-based instruments. We have learned how to fabricate curved Volume Phase Holographic (VPH) gratings and, in contrast to the planar gratings of traditional spectrometers, describe how such devices can be used in optical/infrared spectrometers designed specifically for curved diffraction gratings. Volume Phase Holographic gratings are highly efficient compared to conventional surface relief gratings; they have become the disperser of choice in optical / NIR spectrometers. The advantage of spectrometers with curved VPH dispersers is the very small number of optical elements used (the simplest comprising a grating and a spherical mirror), as well as illumination of mirrors off axis, resulting in greater efficiency and reduction in size. We describe a "Half Offner" spectrometer, an even simpler version of the Offner spectrometer. We present an entirely novel design, the Spherical Transmission Grating Spectrometer (STGS), and discuss exemplary applications, including a design for a double-beam spectrometer without any requirement for a dichroic. This paradigm change in spectrometer design offers an alternative to all-refractive astronomical spectrometer designs, using expensive, fragile lens elements fabricated from CaF2 or even more exotic materials. The unobscured mirror layout avoids a major drawback of the previous generation of catadioptric spectrometer designs. We describe laboratory measurements of the efficiency and image quality of a curved VPH grating in a STGS design, demonstrating, simultaneously, efficiency comparable to planar VPH gratings along with good image quality. The stage is now set for construction of a prototype instrument with impressive performance.

Potential of an emissive cylindrical probe in plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Fruchtman, A; Zoler, D; Makrinich, G

2011-08-01

The floating potential of an emissive cylindrical probe in a plasma is calculated for an arbitrary ratio of Debye length to probe radius and for an arbitrary ion composition. In their motion to the probe the ions are assumed to be collisionless. For a small Debye length, a two-scale analysis for the quasineutral plasma and for the sheath provides analytical expressions for the emitted and collected currents and for the potential as functions of a generalized mass ratio. For a Debye length that is not small, it is demonstrated that, as the Debye length becomes larger, the probe potential approaches the plasma potential and that the ion density near the probe is not smaller but rather is larger than it is in the plasma bulk.

Characterization of near-field optical probes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vohnsen, Brian; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.

1999-01-01

Radiation and collection characteristics of four different near-field optical-fiber probes, namely, three uncoated probes and an aluminium-coated small-aperture probe, are investigated and compared. Their radiation properties are characterized by observation of light-induced topography changes...... in a photo-sensitive film illuminated with the probes, and it is confirmed that the radiated optical field is unambigiously confined only for the coated probe. Near-field optical imaging of a standing evanescent-wave pattern is used to compare the detection characteristics of the probes, and it is concluded...... that, for the imaging of optical-field intensity distributions containing predominantly evanescent-wave components, a sharp uncoated tip is the probe of choice. Complementary results obtained with optical phase-conjugation experiments with he uncoated probes are discussed in relation to the probe...

Probing the recreational home –The cultural probe as a communicative tool for researcher and user

OpenAIRE

Kristav, Per

2005-01-01

How can qualitative, ethnographic and emotional aspects from probe users be mapped at the same time as they get something meaningful in return? The emphasis is here on intellectual rewards during probe work rather than future good designs that in a long term perspective can be beneficial for the probe user. This case study has elaborated the traditional use of cultural probes [1] with a selection of ten families with small children in the Öresund region. The idea was to evoke thoughts abou...

Spherical aberration correction with threefold symmetric line currents.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoque, Shahedul; Ito, Hiroyuki; Nishi, Ryuji; Takaoka, Akio; Munro, Eric

2016-02-01

It has been shown that N-fold symmetric line current (henceforth denoted as N-SYLC) produces 2N-pole magnetic fields. In this paper, a threefold symmetric line current (N3-SYLC in short) is proposed for correcting 3rd order spherical aberration of round lenses. N3-SYLC can be realized without using magnetic materials, which makes it free of the problems of hysteresis, inhomogeneity and saturation. We investigate theoretically the basic properties of an N3-SYLC configuration which can in principle be realized by simple wires. By optimizing the parameters of a system with beam energy of 5.5keV, the required excitation current for correcting 3rd order spherical aberration coefficient of 400 mm is less than 1AT, and the residual higher order aberrations can be kept sufficiently small to obtain beam size of less than 1 nm for initial slopes up to 5 mrad. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Compact Magnetic Field-Based Obstacle Detection and Avoidance System for Miniature Spherical Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fang Wu

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Due to their efficient locomotion and natural tolerance to hazardous environments, spherical robots have wide applications in security surveillance, exploration of unknown territory and emergency response. Numerous studies have been conducted on the driving mechanism, motion planning and trajectory tracking methods of spherical robots, yet very limited studies have been conducted regarding the obstacle avoidance capability of spherical robots. Most of the existing spherical robots rely on the “hit and run” technique, which has been argued to be a reasonable strategy because spherical robots have an inherent ability to recover from collisions. Without protruding components, they will not become stuck and can simply roll back after running into bstacles. However, for small scale spherical robots that contain sensitive surveillance sensors and cannot afford to utilize heavy protective shells, the absence of obstacle avoidance solutions would leave the robot at the mercy of potentially dangerous obstacles. In this paper, a compact magnetic field-based obstacle detection and avoidance system has been developed for miniature spherical robots. It utilizes a passive magnetic field so that the system is both compact and power efficient. The proposed system can detect not only the presence, but also the approaching direction of a ferromagnetic obstacle, therefore, an intelligent avoidance behavior can be generated by adapting the trajectory tracking method with the detection information. Design optimization is conducted to enhance the obstacle detection performance and detailed avoidance strategies are devised. Experimental results are also presented for validation purposes.

Spherical tokamak development in Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ludwig, Gerson Otto; Bosco, Edson Del; Ferreira, Julio Guimaraes [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil). Lab. Associado de Plasma] (and others)

2003-07-01

The general characteristics of spherical tokamaks, or spherical tori, with a brief view of work in this area already performed or in progress at several institutions worldwide are described. The paper presents also the steps in the development of the ETE (Experiment Tokamak spheric) project, its research program, technical characteristics and operating conditions as of December, 2002 a the Associated Plasma Laboratory (LAP) of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) in Brazil. (author)

Spherical tokamak development in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ludwig, Gerson Otto; Bosco, Edson Del; Ferreira, Julio Guimaraes

2003-01-01

The general characteristics of spherical tokamaks, or spherical tori, with a brief view of work in this area already performed or in progress at several institutions worldwide are described. The paper presents also the steps in the development of the ETE (Experiment Tokamak spheric) project, its research program, technical characteristics and operating conditions as of December, 2002 a the Associated Plasma Laboratory (LAP) of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) in Brazil. (author)

Counting probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Haruya; Kaya, Nobuyuki; Yuasa, Kazuhiro; Hayashi, Tomoaki

1976-01-01

Electron counting method has been devised and experimented for the purpose of measuring electron temperature and density, the most fundamental quantities to represent plasma conditions. Electron counting is a method to count the electrons in plasma directly by equipping a probe with the secondary electron multiplier. It has three advantages of adjustable sensitivity, high sensitivity of the secondary electron multiplier, and directional property. Sensitivity adjustment is performed by changing the size of collecting hole (pin hole) on the incident front of the multiplier. The probe is usable as a direct reading thermometer of electron temperature because it requires to collect very small amount of electrons, thus it doesn't disturb the surrounding plasma, and the narrow sweep width of the probe voltage is enough. Therefore it can measure anisotropy more sensitively than a Langmuir probe, and it can be used for very low density plasma. Though many problems remain on anisotropy, computer simulation has been carried out. Also it is planned to provide a Helmholtz coil in the vacuum chamber to eliminate the effect of earth magnetic field. In practical experiments, the measurement with a Langmuir probe and an emission probe mounted to the movable structure, the comparison with the results obtained in reverse magnetic field by using a Helmholtz coil, and the measurement of ionic sound wave are scheduled. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

Coherent radiation by a spherical medium of resonant atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, Sudhakar; Glauber, Roy J.

2010-01-01

Radiation by the atoms of a resonant medium is a cooperative process in which the medium participates as a whole. In two previous papers we treated this problem for the case of a medium having slab geometry, which, under plane-wave excitation, supports coherent waves that propagate in one dimension. We extend the treatment here to the three-dimensional problem, focusing principally on the case of spherical geometry. By regarding the radiation field as a superposition of electric and magnetic multipole fields of different orders, we express it in terms of suitably defined scalar fields. The latter fields possess a sequence of exponentially decaying eigenmodes corresponding to each multipole order. We consider several examples of spherically symmetric initial excitations of a sphere. Small uniformly excited spheres, we find, tend to radiate superradiantly, while the radiation from a large sphere with an initially excited inner core exhibits temporal oscillations that result from the participation of a large number of coherently excited amplitudes in different modes. The frequency spectrum of the emitted radiation possesses a rich structure, including a frequency gap for large spheres and sharply defined and closely spaced peaks caused by the small frequency shifts and even smaller decay rates characteristic of the majority of eigenmodes.

Accuracy of Topcon CM-1000 videokeratoscope on spherical test surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Yern, E; Fimia-Gil, A; Mateos, F; Carretero, L

1997-01-01

Many videokeratoscopes use mathematical formulas to calculate corneal radii; calculations depend on slope, curvature, coordinate position, or focal properties of the surface. Accuracy of each type of videokeratoscope must be evaluated. A controversy exists about whether axial or tangential methods best provide a precise description of corneal shape; therefore results with the Topcon CM-1000 using both methods were evaluated. Measurements were done on black polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spherical calibrated surfaces. Lenses were first aligned and measured and then misaligned in different directions and measured. Results for each position were compared with the zero or alignment position. Accuracy of the CM-1000 was high even under extreme misalignment conditions. Tolerance to misalignment was high (about 300 mm). Misalignment-induced variations in the output results were small (usually less than 0.05 mm). However, important variations (more than 1.00 diopter [D]) were found for the lowest measured radius (6 mm). In some cases, small differences between axial and tangential radii for the same point could be found. With the exception of extremely low radii of curvature, the CM-1000 was accurate for measuring spherical surfaces. Further investigation remains to be done on aspheric surfaces and in clinical practice.

Imprints of spherical nontrivial topologies on the cosmic microwave background.

Science.gov (United States)

Niarchou, Anastasia; Jaffe, Andrew

2007-08-24

The apparent low power in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum derived from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe motivated us to consider the possibility of a nontrivial topology. We focus on simple spherical multiconnected manifolds and discuss their implications for the CMB in terms of the power spectrum, maps, and the correlation matrix. We perform a Bayesian model comparison against the fiducial best-fit cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant based both on the power spectrum and the correlation matrix to assess their statistical significance. We find that the first-year power spectrum shows a slight preference for the truncated cube space, but the three-year data show no evidence for any of these spaces.

Development of X-ray mini-probes for the Digiray RGX system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wojcik, R.; Kross, B.; Majewski, L.; Majewski, S.; Weisenberger, A.G.; Zorn, C.; Birt, E.A.; Parker, F.R.; Winfree, W.P.; Albert, R.D.; Albert, T.M.

1994-01-01

We have developed and tested a variety of X-ray mini-probes for the Reverse Geometry X-radiography trademark ,1 (RGX) system each having their own advantages and disadvantages. These mini-probes consist of small scintillators (as small as 2 mm in diameter and 5 mm long) attached to optical light guides (as long as 14 m) coupled to photomultipliers. Images produced with these probes show that even smaller probes and/or longer light guides may be fashioned. Such probes may be useful in both non-destructive evaluation and medical imaging. ((orig.))

Initial assessments of ignition spherical torus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Y.K.M.; Borowski, S.K.; Bussell, G.T.

1985-12-01

Initial assessments of ignition spherical tori suggest that they can be highly cost effective and exceptionally small in unit size. Assuming advanced methods of current drive to ramp up the plasma current (e.g., via lower hybrid wave at modest plasma densities and temperatures), the inductive solenoid can largely be eliminated. Given the uncertainties in plasma energy confinement times and the effects of strong paramagnetism on plasma pressure, and allowing for the possible use of high-strength copper alloys (e.g., C-17510, Cu-Ni-Be alloy), ignition spherical tori with a 50-s burn are estimated to have major radii ranging from 1.0 to 1.6 m, aspect ratios from 1.4 to 1.7, vacuum toroidal fields from 2 to 3 T, plasma currents from 10 to 19 MA, and fusion power from 50 to 300 MW. Because of its modest field strength and simple poloidal field coil configuration, only conventional engineering approaches are needed in the design. A free-standing toroidal field coil/vacuum vessel structure is assessed to be feasible and relatively independent of the shield structure and the poloidal field coils. This exceptionally simple configuration depends significantly, however, on practical fabrication approaches of the center conductor post, about which there is presently little experience. 19 refs

First results on a laser-heated emissive probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madani, R.; Klinger, T.; Ionita, C.; Schrittwieser, R.

2004-01-01

The floating potential V(fl,em) of a probe, emitting a sufficiently high electron current, yields a fairly accurate approximation of Φ(pl). This is an advantage in comparison to the conventional Langmuir probe where, after determination of the electron temperature T e , the plasma potential can only be derived indirectly from the formula Φ(pl) = V(fl) + α*T e , where α is a function of the ratio of the electron to the ion saturation currents (α is around 2.4 in a magnetized hydrogen plasma). In addition, an emissive probe also works if there are electron drifts or beams in the plasma. Emissive probes are usually realised by small directly heated loops of W-wire. Drawbacks of this design are the limited lifetime, the low electron emissivity of W and the voltage drop across the wire. We have developed a new type of emissive probe, which is heated by an infrared high-power diode laser with a maximum output power of 50 W. The probe consists of a small cylinder of LaB 6 . The probe was inserted into the edge region of the VINETA helicon discharge plasma. Basic features of emissive probes were checked. (authors)

Simulation and scaling analysis of a spherical particle-laden blast wave

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Y.; Balachandar, S.

2018-05-01

A spherical particle-laden blast wave, generated by a sudden release of a sphere of compressed gas-particle mixture, is investigated by numerical simulation. The present problem is a multiphase extension of the classic finite-source spherical blast-wave problem. The gas-particle flow can be fully determined by the initial radius of the spherical mixture and the properties of gas and particles. In many applications, the key dimensionless parameters, such as the initial pressure and density ratios between the compressed gas and the ambient air, can vary over a wide range. Parametric studies are thus performed to investigate the effects of these parameters on the characteristic time and spatial scales of the particle-laden blast wave, such as the maximum radius the contact discontinuity can reach and the time when the particle front crosses the contact discontinuity. A scaling analysis is conducted to establish a scaling relation between the characteristic scales and the controlling parameters. A length scale that incorporates the initial pressure ratio is proposed, which is able to approximately collapse the simulation results for the gas flow for a wide range of initial pressure ratios. This indicates that an approximate similarity solution for a spherical blast wave exists, which is independent of the initial pressure ratio. The approximate scaling is also valid for the particle front if the particles are small and closely follow the surrounding gas.

Simulation and scaling analysis of a spherical particle-laden blast wave

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Y.; Balachandar, S.

2018-02-01

A spherical particle-laden blast wave, generated by a sudden release of a sphere of compressed gas-particle mixture, is investigated by numerical simulation. The present problem is a multiphase extension of the classic finite-source spherical blast-wave problem. The gas-particle flow can be fully determined by the initial radius of the spherical mixture and the properties of gas and particles. In many applications, the key dimensionless parameters, such as the initial pressure and density ratios between the compressed gas and the ambient air, can vary over a wide range. Parametric studies are thus performed to investigate the effects of these parameters on the characteristic time and spatial scales of the particle-laden blast wave, such as the maximum radius the contact discontinuity can reach and the time when the particle front crosses the contact discontinuity. A scaling analysis is conducted to establish a scaling relation between the characteristic scales and the controlling parameters. A length scale that incorporates the initial pressure ratio is proposed, which is able to approximately collapse the simulation results for the gas flow for a wide range of initial pressure ratios. This indicates that an approximate similarity solution for a spherical blast wave exists, which is independent of the initial pressure ratio. The approximate scaling is also valid for the particle front if the particles are small and closely follow the surrounding gas.

The spherical harmonics method, II (application to problems with plane and spherical symmetry)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mark, C

1958-12-15

The application of the spherical harmonic method to problems with plane or spherical symmetry is discussed in detail. The numerical results of some applications already made are included to indicate the degree of convergence obtained. Formulae for dealing with distributions of isotropic sources are developed. Tables useful in applying the method are given in Section 11. (author)

Intercomparison study and optical asphericity measurements of small ice particles in the CERN CLOUD experiment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Nichman

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Optical probes are frequently used for the detection of microphysical cloud particle properties such as liquid and ice phase, size and morphology. These properties can eventually influence the angular light scattering properties of cirrus clouds as well as the growth and accretion mechanisms of single cloud particles. In this study we compare four commonly used optical probes to examine their response to small cloud particles of different phase and asphericity. Cloud simulation experiments were conducted at the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD chamber at European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN. The chamber was operated in a series of multi-step adiabatic expansions to produce growth and sublimation of ice particles at super- and subsaturated ice conditions and for initial temperatures of −30, −40 and −50 °C. The experiments were performed for ice cloud formation via homogeneous ice nucleation. We report the optical observations of small ice particles in deep convection and in situ cirrus simulations. Ice crystal asphericity deduced from measurements of spatially resolved single particle light scattering patterns by the Particle Phase Discriminator mark 2 (PPD-2K, Karlsruhe edition were compared with Cloud and Aerosol Spectrometer with Polarisation (CASPOL measurements and image roundness captured by the 3View Cloud Particle Imager (3V-CPI. Averaged path light scattering properties of the simulated ice clouds were measured using the Scattering Intensity Measurements for the Optical detectioN of icE (SIMONE and single particle scattering properties were measured by the CASPOL. We show the ambiguity of several optical measurements in ice fraction determination of homogeneously frozen ice in the case where sublimating quasi-spherical ice particles are present. Moreover, most of the instruments have difficulties of producing reliable ice fraction if small aspherical ice particles are present, and all of the instruments cannot

Preparation and quality test of superparamagnetic iron oxide labeled antisense oligodeoxynucleotide probe: a preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Ming; Li, Bibo; Ouyang, Yu; Luo, Yi; Li, Shaolin

2009-06-01

Molecular imaging of tumor antisense gene techniques have been applied to the study of magnetic resonance (MR) gene imaging associated with malignant tumors. In this study, we designed, synthesized, and tested a novel molecular probe, in which the antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ASODN) was labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO), and its efficiency was examined by in vitro MR imaging after SK-Br-3 mammary carcinoma cell lines (oncocytes) transfection. The SPIO-labeled ASODN probe was prepared through SPIO conjugated to ASODN using a chemical cross linking method. Its morphology and size were detected by atomic force microscope, size distribution were detected by laser granulometer, the conjugating rate and biological activity were determined by high performance liquid chromatography, and the stability was determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. After that, the probes were transfected into the SK-Br-3 oncocytes, cellular iron uptake was analyzed qualitatively at light and electron microscopy and was quantified at atomic absorption spectrometry, and the signal change of the transfected cells was observed and measured using MR imaging. The morphology of the SPIO-labeled ASODN probe was mostly spherical with well-distributed scattering, and the diameters were between 25 and 40 nm (95%) by atomic force microscope and laser granulometer, the conjugating rate of the probe was 99%. Moreover, this probe kept its activity under physiological conditions and could conjugate with antisense oligodeoxynucleotide. In addition, light microscopy revealed an intracellular uptake of iron oxides in the cytosol and electron microscopic studies revealed a lysosomal deposition of iron oxides in the transfected SK-Br-3 oncocytes by antisense probes, some of them gathered stacks, and the iron content of the group of transfected SK-Br-3 oncocytes by antisense probe is significantly higher (18.37 +/- 0.42 pg) than other contrast groups, the MR imaging showed that

Computation of higher spherical harmonics moments of the angular flux for neutron transport problems in spherical geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahni, D.C.; Sharma, A.

2000-01-01

The integral form of one-speed, spherically symmetric neutron transport equation with isotropic scattering is considered. Two standard problems are solved using normal mode expansion technique. The expansion coefficients are obtained by solving their singular integral equations. It is shown that these expansion coefficients provide a representation of all spherical harmonics moments of the angular flux as a superposition of Bessel functions. It is seen that large errors occur in the computation of higher moments unless we take certain precautions. The reasons for this phenomenon are explained. They throw some light on the failure of spherical harmonics method in treating spherical geometry problems as observed by Aronsson

Spherical Collapse in Chameleon Models

CERN Document Server

Brax, Ph; Steer, D A

2010-01-01

We study the gravitational collapse of an overdensity of nonrelativistic matter under the action of gravity and a chameleon scalar field. We show that the spherical collapse model is modified by the presence of a chameleon field. In particular, we find that even though the chameleon effects can be potentially large at small scales, for a large enough initial size of the inhomogeneity the collapsing region possesses a thin shell that shields the modification of gravity induced by the chameleon field, recovering the standard gravity results. We analyse the behaviour of a collapsing shell in a cosmological setting in the presence of a thin shell and find that, in contrast to the usual case, the critical density for collapse depends on the initial comoving size of the inhomogeneity.

Spherical collapse in chameleon models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brax, Ph. [Institut de Physique Théorique, CEA, IPhT, CNRS, URA 2306, F-91191Gif/Yvette Cedex (France); Rosenfeld, R. [Instituto de Física Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rua Dr. Bento T. Ferraz, 271, 01140-070, São Paulo (Brazil); Steer, D.A., E-mail: brax@spht.saclay.cea.fr, E-mail: rosenfel@ift.unesp.br, E-mail: daniele.steer@apc.univ-paris7.fr [APC, UMR 7164, CNRS, Université Paris 7, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris Cedex 13 (France)

2010-08-01

We study the gravitational collapse of an overdensity of nonrelativistic matter under the action of gravity and a chameleon scalar field. We show that the spherical collapse model is modified by the presence of a chameleon field. In particular, we find that even though the chameleon effects can be potentially large at small scales, for a large enough initial size of the inhomogeneity the collapsing region possesses a thin shell that shields the modification of gravity induced by the chameleon field, recovering the standard gravity results. We analyse the behaviour of a collapsing shell in a cosmological setting in the presence of a thin shell and find that, in contrast to the usual case, the critical density for collapse in principle depends on the initial comoving size of the inhomogeneity.

Spherical collapse in chameleon models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brax, Ph.; Rosenfeld, R.; Steer, D.A.

2010-01-01

We study the gravitational collapse of an overdensity of nonrelativistic matter under the action of gravity and a chameleon scalar field. We show that the spherical collapse model is modified by the presence of a chameleon field. In particular, we find that even though the chameleon effects can be potentially large at small scales, for a large enough initial size of the inhomogeneity the collapsing region possesses a thin shell that shields the modification of gravity induced by the chameleon field, recovering the standard gravity results. We analyse the behaviour of a collapsing shell in a cosmological setting in the presence of a thin shell and find that, in contrast to the usual case, the critical density for collapse in principle depends on the initial comoving size of the inhomogeneity

On- and off-eye spherical aberration of soft contact lenses and consequent changes of effective lens power.

Science.gov (United States)

Dietze, Holger H; Cox, Michael J

2003-02-01

Soft contact lenses produce a significant level of spherical aberration affecting their power on-eye. A simple model assuming that a thin soft contact lens aligns to the cornea predicts that these effects are similar on-eye and off-eye. The wavefront aberration for 17 eyes and 33 soft contact lenses on-eye was measured with a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. The Zernike coefficients describing the on-eye spherical aberration of the soft contact lens were compared with off-eye ray-tracing results. Paraxial and effective lens power changes were determined. The model predicts the on-eye spherical aberration of soft contact lenses closely. The resulting power change for a +/- 7.00 D spherical soft contact lens is +/- 0.5 D for a 6-mm pupil diameter and +/- 0.1 D for a 3-mm pupil diameter. Power change is negligible for soft contact lenses corrected for off-eye spherical aberration. For thin soft contact lenses, the level of spherical aberration and the consequent power change is similar on-eye and off-eye. Soft contact lenses corrected for spherical aberration in air will be expected to be aberration-free on-eye and produce only negligibly small power changes. For soft contact lenses without aberration correction, for higher levels of ametropia and large pupils, the soft contact lens power should be determined with trial lenses with their power and p value similar to the prescribed lens. The benefit of soft contact lenses corrected for spherical aberration depends on the level of ocular spherical aberration.

Gravitational wave as probe of superfluid dark matter

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Rong-Gen; Liu, Tong-Bo; Wang, Shao-Jiang

2018-02-01

In recent years, superfluid dark matter (SfDM) has become a competitive model of emergent modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) scenario: MOND phenomenons naturally emerge as a derived concept due to an extra force mediated between baryons by phonons as a result of axionlike particles condensed as superfluid at galactic scales; Beyond galactic scales, these axionlike particles behave as normal fluid without phonon-mediated MOND-like force between baryons, therefore SfDM also maintains the usual success of Λ CDM at cosmological scales. In this paper, we use gravitational waves (GWs) to probe the relevant parameter space of SfDM. GWs through Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) could propagate with a speed slightly deviation from the speed-of-light due to the change in the effective refractive index, which depends on the SfDM parameters and GW-source properties. We find that Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA) are the most promising means as GW probe of relevant parameter space of SfDM. Future space-based GW detectors are also capable of probing SfDM if a multimessenger approach is adopted.

Spherical Tensor Calculus for Local Adaptive Filtering

Science.gov (United States)

Reisert, Marco; Burkhardt, Hans

In 3D image processing tensors play an important role. While rank-1 and rank-2 tensors are well understood and commonly used, higher rank tensors are rare. This is probably due to their cumbersome rotation behavior which prevents a computationally efficient use. In this chapter we want to introduce the notion of a spherical tensor which is based on the irreducible representations of the 3D rotation group. In fact, any ordinary cartesian tensor can be decomposed into a sum of spherical tensors, while each spherical tensor has a quite simple rotation behavior. We introduce so called tensorial harmonics that provide an orthogonal basis for spherical tensor fields of any rank. It is just a generalization of the well known spherical harmonics. Additionally we propose a spherical derivative which connects spherical tensor fields of different degree by differentiation. Based on the proposed theory we present two applications. We propose an efficient algorithm for dense tensor voting in 3D, which makes use of tensorial harmonics decomposition of the tensor-valued voting field. In this way it is possible to perform tensor voting by linear-combinations of convolutions in an efficient way. Secondly, we propose an anisotropic smoothing filter that uses a local shape and orientation adaptive filter kernel which can be computed efficiently by the use spherical derivatives.

Visual Detection and Tracking System for a Spherical Amphibious Robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Shuxiang; Pan, Shaowu; Shi, Liwei; Guo, Ping; He, Yanlin; Tang, Kun

2017-04-15

With the goal of supporting close-range observation tasks of a spherical amphibious robot, such as ecological observations and intelligent surveillance, a moving target detection and tracking system was designed and implemented in this study. Given the restrictions presented by the amphibious environment and the small-sized spherical amphibious robot, an industrial camera and vision algorithms using adaptive appearance models were adopted to construct the proposed system. To handle the problem of light scattering and absorption in the underwater environment, the multi-scale retinex with color restoration algorithm was used for image enhancement. Given the environmental disturbances in practical amphibious scenarios, the Gaussian mixture model was used to detect moving targets entering the field of view of the robot. A fast compressive tracker with a Kalman prediction mechanism was used to track the specified target. Considering the limited load space and the unique mechanical structure of the robot, the proposed vision system was fabricated with a low power system-on-chip using an asymmetric and heterogeneous computing architecture. Experimental results confirmed the validity and high efficiency of the proposed system. The design presented in this paper is able to meet future demands of spherical amphibious robots in biological monitoring and multi-robot cooperation.

Visual Detection and Tracking System for a Spherical Amphibious Robot

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Shuxiang; Pan, Shaowu; Shi, Liwei; Guo, Ping; He, Yanlin; Tang, Kun

2017-01-01

With the goal of supporting close-range observation tasks of a spherical amphibious robot, such as ecological observations and intelligent surveillance, a moving target detection and tracking system was designed and implemented in this study. Given the restrictions presented by the amphibious environment and the small-sized spherical amphibious robot, an industrial camera and vision algorithms using adaptive appearance models were adopted to construct the proposed system. To handle the problem of light scattering and absorption in the underwater environment, the multi-scale retinex with color restoration algorithm was used for image enhancement. Given the environmental disturbances in practical amphibious scenarios, the Gaussian mixture model was used to detect moving targets entering the field of view of the robot. A fast compressive tracker with a Kalman prediction mechanism was used to track the specified target. Considering the limited load space and the unique mechanical structure of the robot, the proposed vision system was fabricated with a low power system-on-chip using an asymmetric and heterogeneous computing architecture. Experimental results confirmed the validity and high efficiency of the proposed system. The design presented in this paper is able to meet future demands of spherical amphibious robots in biological monitoring and multi-robot cooperation. PMID:28420134

Modeling mantle convection in the spherical annulus

Science.gov (United States)

Hernlund, John W.; Tackley, Paul J.

2008-12-01

Most methods for modeling mantle convection in a two-dimensional (2D) circular annular domain suffer from innate shortcomings in their ability to capture several characteristics of the spherical shell geometry of planetary mantles. While methods such as rescaling the inner and outer radius to reduce anomalous effects in a 2D polar cylindrical coordinate system have been introduced and widely implemented, such fixes may have other drawbacks that adversely affect the outcome of some kinds of mantle convection studies. Here we propose a new approach that we term the "spherical annulus," which is a 2D slice that bisects the spherical shell and is quantitatively formulated at the equator of a spherical polar coordinate system after neglecting terms in the governing equations related to variations in latitude. Spherical scaling is retained in this approximation since the Jacobian function remains proportional to the square of the radius. We present example calculations to show that the behavior of convection in the spherical annulus compares favorably against calculations performed in other 2D annular domains when measured relative to those in a fully three-dimensional (3D) spherical shell.

Gamma-ray imaging probes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wild, W.J.

1988-01-01

External nuclear medicine diagnostic imaging of early primary and metastatic lung cancer tumors is difficult due to the poor sensitivity and resolution of existing gamma cameras. Nonimaging counting detectors used for internal tumor detection give ambiguous results because distant background variations are difficult to discriminate from neighboring tumor sites. This suggests that an internal imaging nuclear medicine probe, particularly an esophageal probe, may be advantageously used to detect small tumors because of the ability to discriminate against background variations and the capability to get close to sites neighboring the esophagus. The design, theory of operation, preliminary bench tests, characterization of noise behavior and optimization of such an imaging probe is the central theme of this work

Studies of spherical tori, stellarators and anisotropic pressure with M3D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, L.E.; Park, W.; Hudson, S.; Tang, X.-Z.; Strauss, H.R.; Stutman, D.

2001-01-01

The M3D (Multi-level 3D) project simulates plasmas using multiple levels of physics, geometry, and grid models in one code package. The M3D code has been extended to fundamentally nonaxisymmetric and small aspect ratio, R/a>or∼1, configurations. Applications include the nonlinear stability of the NSTX spherical torus and the spherical pinch, and the relaxation of stellarator equilibria. The fluid-level physics model has been extended to evolve the anisotropic pressures p jparallel and p jperpendicular for the ion and electron species. Results show that when the density evolves, other terms in addition to the neoclassical collisional parallel viscous force, such as B· ∇p e in the Ohm's law, can be strongly destabilizing for nonlinear magnetic islands. (author)

Application of spherical diodes for megavoltage photon beams dosimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbés, Benigno; Azcona, Juan D; Burguete, Javier; Martí-Climent, Josep M

2014-01-01

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) usually uses heterogeneous dose distributions in a given volume. Designing detectors for quality control of these treatments is still a developing subject. The size of the detectors should be small to enhance spatial resolution and ensure low perturbation of the beam. A high uniformity in angular response is also a very important feature in a detector, because it has to measure radiation coming from all the directions of the space. It is also convenient that detectors are inexpensive and robust, especially to perform in vivo measurements. The purpose of this work is to introduce a new detector for measuring megavoltage photon beams and to assess its performance to measure relative dose in EBRT. The detector studied in this work was designed as a spherical photodiode (1.8 mm in diameter). The change in response of the spherical diodes is measured regarding the angle of incidence, cumulated irradiation, and instantaneous dose rate (or dose per pulse). Additionally, total scatter factors for large and small fields (between 1 × 1 cm(2) and 20 × 20 cm(2)) are evaluated and compared with the results obtained from some commercially available ionization chambers and planar diodes. Additionally, the over-response to low energy scattered photons in large fields is investigated using a shielding layer. The spherical diode studied in this work produces a high signal (150 nC/Gy for photons of nominal energy of 15 MV and 160 for 6 MV, after 12 kGy) and its angular dependence is lower than that of planar diodes: less than 5% between maximum and minimum in all directions, and 2% around one of the axis. It also has a moderated variation with accumulated dose (about 1.5%/kGy for 15 MV photons and 0.7%/kGy for 6 MV, after 12 kGy) and a low variation with dose per pulse (± 0.4%), and its behavior is similar to commercial diodes in total scatter factor measurements. The measurements of relative dose using the spherical diode described in this

Application of spherical diodes for megavoltage photon beams dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbés, Benigno; Azcona, Juan D.; Burguete, Javier; Martí-Climent, Josep M.

2014-01-01

Purpose: External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) usually uses heterogeneous dose distributions in a given volume. Designing detectors for quality control of these treatments is still a developing subject. The size of the detectors should be small to enhance spatial resolution and ensure low perturbation of the beam. A high uniformity in angular response is also a very important feature in a detector, because it has to measure radiation coming from all the directions of the space. It is also convenient that detectors are inexpensive and robust, especially to performin vivo measurements. The purpose of this work is to introduce a new detector for measuring megavoltage photon beams and to assess its performance to measure relative dose in EBRT. Methods: The detector studied in this work was designed as a spherical photodiode (1.8 mm in diameter). The change in response of the spherical diodes is measured regarding the angle of incidence, cumulated irradiation, and instantaneous dose rate (or dose per pulse). Additionally, total scatter factors for large and small fields (between 1 × 1 cm 2 and 20 × 20 cm 2 ) are evaluated and compared with the results obtained from some commercially available ionization chambers and planar diodes. Additionally, the over-response to low energy scattered photons in large fields is investigated using a shielding layer. Results: The spherical diode studied in this work produces a high signal (150 nC/Gy for photons of nominal energy of 15 MV and 160 for 6 MV, after 12 kGy) and its angular dependence is lower than that of planar diodes: less than 5% between maximum and minimum in all directions, and 2% around one of the axis. It also has a moderated variation with accumulated dose (about 1.5%/kGy for 15 MV photons and 0.7%/kGy for 6 MV, after 12 kGy) and a low variation with dose per pulse (±0.4%), and its behavior is similar to commercial diodes in total scatter factor measurements. Conclusions: The measurements of relative dose using

Anisotropic plasmon-coupling dimerization of a pair of spherical electron gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gumbs, Godfrey; Iurov, Andrii; Balassis, Antonios; Huang, Danhong

2014-01-01

We have discovered a novel feature in the plasmon excitations for a pair of Coulomb-coupled non-concentric spherical two-dimensional electron gases (S2DEGs). Our results show that the plasmon excitations for such pairs depend on the orientation with respect to the external electromagnetic probe field. The origin of this anisotropy of the inter-sphere Coulomb interaction is due to the directional asymmetry of the electrostatic coupling of electrons in excited states which depend on both the angular momentum quantum number L and its projection M on the axis of quantization taken as the probe E-field direction. We demonstrate the anisotropic inter-sphere Coulomb coupling in space and present semi-analytic results in the random-phase approximation both perpendicular and parallel to the axis of quantization. For the incidence of light with a finite orbital or spin angular momentum, the magnetic field generated from an induced oscillating electric dipole on one sphere can couple to an induced magnetic dipole on another sphere in a way that is dependent on whether the direction is parallel or perpendicular to the probe E field. Such an effect from the plasmon spatial correlation is expected to be experimentally observable by employing circularly polarized light or a helical light beam for incidence. The S2DEG serves as a simple model for fullerenes as well as metallic dimers, when the energy bands are far apart. (paper)

A nanobody targeting carcinoembryonic antigen as a promising molecular probe for non-small cell lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hao; Meng, Ai-Min; Li, Sheng-Hua; Zhou, Xiao-Liang

2017-07-01

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a biomarker and therapy target for non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most common type of lung cancer. Nanobodies with high target specificity are promising candidates to function as anti‑CEA probes. In the present study, the targeting effects of an anti‑CEA nanobody obtained from phage display were investigated using technetium‑99 m (99mTc) and fluorescence labeling. In vitro binding and immunofluorescent staining assays, as well as in vivo blood clearance and biodistribution assays were performed. High specificity and affinity of the nanobody for CEA‑positive H460 cells was observed in vitro. The pharmacokinetics assay of the 99mTc‑nanobody in Wistar rats demonstrated that the nanobody had appropriate T1/2α and T1/2β, which were 20.2 and 143.5 min, respectively. The biodistribution assay using H460 xenograft‑bearing nude mice demonstrated a high ratio of signal in tumor compared with background, which confirmed that the nanobody may be useful as a molecular probe for CEA‑positive cancer, particularly in NSCLC.

Spherical spacelike geometries in static spherically symmetric spacetimes: Generalized Painlevè–Gullstrand coordinates, foliation, and embedding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbar, M.M., E-mail: akbar@utdallas.edu

2017-06-10

It is well known that static spherically symmetric spacetimes can admit foliations by flat spacelike hypersurfaces, which are best described in terms of the Painlevè–Gullstrand coordinates. The uniqueness and existence of such foliations were addressed earlier. In this paper, we prove, purely geometrically, that any possible foliation of a static spherically symmetric spacetime by an arbitrary codimension-one spherical spacelike geometry, up to time translation and rotation, is unique, and we find the algebraic condition under which it exists. This leads us to what can be considered as the most natural generalization of the Painlevè–Gullstrand coordinate system for static spherically symmetric metrics, which, in turn, makes it easy to derive generic conclusions on foliation and to study specific cases as well as to easily reproduce previously obtained generalizations as special cases. In particular, we note that the existence of foliation by flat hypersurfaces guarantees the existence of foliation by hypersurfaces whose Ricci curvature tensor is everywhere non-positive (constant negative curvature is a special case). The study of uniqueness and the existence concurrently solves the question of embeddability of a spherical spacelike geometry in one-dimensional higher static spherically symmetric spacetimes, and this produces known and new results geometrically, without having to go through the momentum and Hamiltonian constraints.

A theoretical-electron-density databank using a model of real and virtual spherical atoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Nassour, Ayoub; Domagala, Slawomir; Guillot, Benoit; Leduc, Theo; Lecomte, Claude; Jelsch, Christian

2017-08-01

A database describing the electron density of common chemical groups using combinations of real and virtual spherical atoms is proposed, as an alternative to the multipolar atom modelling of the molecular charge density. Theoretical structure factors were computed from periodic density functional theory calculations on 38 crystal structures of small molecules and the charge density was subsequently refined using a density model based on real spherical atoms and additional dummy charges on the covalent bonds and on electron lone-pair sites. The electron-density parameters of real and dummy atoms present in a similar chemical environment were averaged on all the molecules studied to build a database of transferable spherical atoms. Compared with the now-popular databases of transferable multipolar parameters, the spherical charge modelling needs fewer parameters to describe the molecular electron density and can be more easily incorporated in molecular modelling software for the computation of electrostatic properties. The construction method of the database is described. In order to analyse to what extent this modelling method can be used to derive meaningful molecular properties, it has been applied to the urea molecule and to biotin/streptavidin, a protein/ligand complex.

Adiabatic Quasi-Spherical Compressions Driven by Magnetic Pressure for Inertial Confinement Fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nash, Thomas J.

2000-01-01

The magnetic implosion of a high-Z quasi-spherical shell filled with DT fuel by the 20-MA Z accelerator can heat the fuel to near-ignition temperature. The attainable implosion velocity on Z, 13-cm/micros, is fast enough that thermal losses from the fuel to the shell are small. The high-Z shell traps radiation losses from the fuel, and the fuel reaches a high enough density to reabsorb the trapped radiation. The implosion is then nearly adiabatic. In this case the temperature of the fuel increases as the square of the convergence. The initial temperature of the fuel is set by the heating of an ion acoustic wave to be about 200-eV after a convergence of 4. To reach the ignition temperature of 5-keV an additional convergence of 5 is required. The implosion dynamics of the quasi-spherical implosion is modeled with the 2-D radiation hydrodynamic code LASNEX. LASNEX shows an 8-mm diameter quasi-spherical tungsten shell on Z driving 6-atmospheres of DT fuel nearly to ignition at 3.5-keV with a convergence of 20. The convergence is limited by mass flow along the surface of the quasi-spherical shell. With a convergence of 20 the final spot size is 400-microm in diameter

Sustainment of spherical tokamak by means of repetitive injection of compact torus plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimamura, Shin; Matsura, Ken; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Nogi, Yasuyuki

2000-01-01

Sustainment of spherical tokamak (S.T.) has been studied. A compact torus (C.T.) plasma was injected into confinement region by magnetized coaxial gun. For start-up and sustainment of large main spherical tokamak, single pulsed injection of small C.T. is not sufficient in many cases. C.T.plasma injection of high repetition rate is required. For this purpose magnetized coaxial gun was driven with high repetition rate current. The first injected C.T. plasma could start-up S.T. without other help. The repetitive C.T. injection grew and sustained the S.T. plasma. A CCD camera with fast gated image intensifier took a cross sectional view of S.T. during the repetitive C.T. injection. (author)

Crack propagation on spherical pressure vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lebey, J.; Roche, R.

1975-01-01

The risk presented by a crack on a pressure vessel built with a ductile steel cannot be well evaluated by simple application of the rules of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics, which only apply to brittle materials. Tests were carried out on spherical vessels of three different scales built with the same steel. Cracks of different length were machined through the vessel wall. From the results obtained, crack initiation stress (beginning of stable propagation) and instable propagation stress may be plotted against the lengths of these cracks. For small and medium size, subject to ductile fracture, the resulting curves are identical, and may be used for ductile fracture prediction. Brittle rupture was observed on larger vessels and crack propagation occurred at lower stress level. Preceedings curves are not usable for fracture analysis. Ultimate pressure can be computed with a good accuracy by using equivalent energy toughness, Ksub(1cd), characteristic of the metal plates. Satisfactory measurements have been obtained on thin samples. The risks of brittle fracture may then judged by comparing Ksub(1cd) with the calculated K 1 value, in which corrections for vessel shape are taken into account. It is thus possible to establish the bursting pressure of cracked spherical vessels, with the help of two rules, one for brittle fracture, the other for ductile instability. A practical method is proposed on the basis of the work reported here

Non-conformal contact mechanical characteristic analysis on spherical components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhen-zhi, G.; Bin, H.; Zheng-ming, G.; Feng-mei, Y.; Jin, Q [The 2. Artillery Engineering Univ., Xi' an (China)

2017-03-15

Non-conformal spherical-contact mechanical problems is a three-dimensional coordination or similar to the coordination spherical contact. Due to the complexity of the problem of spherical-contact and difficulties of solving higher-order partial differential equations, problems of three-dimensional coordination or similar to the coordination spherical-contact is still no exact analytical method for solving. It is based on three-dimensional taper model is proposed a model based on the contour surface of the spherical contact and concluded of the formula of the contact pressure and constructed of finite element model by contact pressure distribution under the non-conformal spherical. The results shows spherical contact model can reflect non-conformal spherical-contacting mechanical problems more than taper-contacting model, and apply for the actual project.

Scaling of a fast spherical discharge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Antsiferov, P. S., E-mail: Ants@isan.troitsk.ru; Dorokhin, L. A. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Spectroscopy (Russian Federation)

2017-02-15

The influence of the discharge cavity dimensions on the properties of the spherical plasma formed in a fast discharge was studied experimentally. The passage of a current pulse with an amplitude of 30–40 kA and a rise rate of ~10{sup 12} A/s (a fast discharge) through a spherical ceramic (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) cavity with an inner diameter of 11 mm filled with argon at a pressure of 80 Pa results in the formation of a 1- to 2-mm-diameter spherical plasma with an electron temperature of several tens of electronvolts and a density of 10{sup 18}–10{sup 19} cm{sup –3}. It is shown that an increase in the inner diameter of the discharge cavity from 11 to 21 mm leads to the fourfold increase in the formation time of the spherical plasma and a decrease in the average ion charge. A decrease in the cavity diameter to 7 mm makes the spherical plasma unstable.

Spherical aberrations of human astigmatic corneas.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Huawei; Dai, Guang-Ming; Chen, Li; Weeber, Henk A; Piers, Patricia A

2011-11-01

To evaluate whether the average spherical aberration of human astigmatic corneas is statistically equivalent to human nonastigmatic corneas. Spherical aberrations of 445 astigmatic corneas prior to laser vision correction were retrospectively investigated to determine Zernike coefficients for central corneal areas 6 mm in diameter using CTView (Sarver and Associates). Data were divided into groups according to cylinder power (0.01 to 0.25 diopters [D], 0.26 to 0.75 D, 0.76 to 1.06 D, 1.07 to 1.53 D, 1.54 to 2.00 D, and >2.00 D) and according to age by decade. Spherical aberrations were correlated with age and astigmatic power among groups and the entire population. Statistical analyses were conducted, and P.05 for all tested groups). Mean spherical aberration of astigmatic corneas was not correlated significantly with cylinder power or age (P>.05). Spherical aberrations are similar to those of nonastigmatic corneas, permitting the use of these additional data in the design of aspheric toric intra-ocular lenses. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

Probing the emitter site of Renilla luciferase using small organic molecules; an attempt to understand the molecular architecture of the emitter site.

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi, Farajollah; Emamzadeh, Rahman; Nazari, Mahboobeh; Rasa, Seyed Mohammad Mahdi

2016-12-01

Renilla luciferase is a sensitive enzyme and has wide applications in biotechnology such as drug screening. Previous studies have tried to show the catalytic residues, nevertheless, the accurate architecture and molecular behavior of its emitter site remains uncharacterized. In this study, the activity of Renilla luciferase, in the presence of two small organic molecules including dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and isopropanol was considered and the structure was studied by circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopy. Moreover, the interaction of small organic molecules with the Renilla luciferase was studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Kinetics studies showed that at low concentration of DMSO (16.6-66mM) and isopropanol (19.3-76mM) the K m changed and a competitive inhibition pattern was observed. Moreover, spectroscopy studies reveled that the changes of activity of Renilla luciferase in the presence of low concentrations of small organic molecules was not associated with structural collapse or severe changes in the enzyme conformation. Molecular dynamics simulations indicated that DMSO and isopropanol, as probing molecules, were both able to bind to the emitter site and remained with the residues of the emitter site. Based on the probing data, the architecture of the emitter site in the "non-binding" model was proposed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electric double layer electrostatics of pH-responsive spherical polyelectrolyte brushes in the decoupled regime.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; Chen, Guang; Das, Siddhartha

2016-11-01

Understanding the behavior and properties of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPEBs), which are polyelectrolyte brushes grafted to a spherical core, is fundamental to many applications in biomedical, chemical and petroleum engineering as well as in pharmaceutics. In this paper, we study the pH-responsive electrostatics of such SPEBs in the decoupled regime. In the first part of the paper, we derive the scaling conditions in terms of the grafting density of the PEs on the spherical core that ensure that the analysis can be performed in the decoupled regime. In such a regime the elastic and the excluded volume effects of polyelectrolyte brushes (PEBs) can be decoupled from the electrostatic effects associated with the PE charge and the induced EDL. As a consequence the PE brush height, assumed to be dictated by the balance of the elastic and excluded volume effects, can be independent of the electrostatic effects. In the second part, we quantify the pH-responsive electrostatics of the SPEBs - we pinpoint that the radial monomer distribution for a given brush molecule exhibit a non-unique cubic distribution that decays away from the spherical core. Such a monomer distribution ensures that the hydrogen ion concentration is appropriately accounted for in the description of the SPEB thermodynamics. We anticipate that the present analysis, which provides possibly one of the first models for probing the electrostatics of pH-responsive SPEBs in a thermodynamically-consistent framework, will be vital for understanding the behavior of a large number of entities ranging from PE-coated NPs and stealth liposomes to biomolecules like bacteria and viruses. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel, spherically-convergent ion systems for neutron source and fusion energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, D.C.; Nebel, R.A.; Ribe, F.L.; Schauer, M.M.; Schranck, L.S.; Umstadter, K.R.

1999-01-01

Combining spherical convergence with electrostatic or electro-magnetostatic confinement of a nonneutral plasma offers the possibility of high fusion gain in a centimeter-sized system. The physics principles, scaling laws, and experimental embodiments of this approach are presented. Steps to development of this approach from its present proof-of-principle experiments to a useful fusion power reactor are outlined. This development path is much less expensive and simpler, compared to that for conventional magnetic confinement and leads to different and useful products at each stage. Reactor projections show both high mass power density and low to moderate wall loading. This approach is being tested experimentally in PFX-I (Penning Fusion eXperiment-Ions), which is based on the following recent advances: 1) Demonstration, in PFX (our former experiment), that it is possible to combine nonneutral electron plasma confinement with nonthermal, spherical focussing; 2) Theoretical development of the POPS (Periodically Oscillating Plasma Sphere) concept, which allows spherical compression of thermal-equilibrium ions; 3) The concept of a massively-modular approach to fusion power, and associated elimination of the critical problem of extremely high first wall loading. PFX-I is described. PFX-I is being designed as a small (<1.5 cm) spherical system into which moderate-energy electrons (up to 100 kV) are injected. These electrons are magnetically insulated from passing to the sphere and their space charge field is then used to spherically focus ions. Results of initial operation with electrons only are presented. Deuterium operation can produce significant neutron output with unprecedented efficiency (fusion gain Q). copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics

Note: Attenuation motion of acoustically levitated spherical rotor

Science.gov (United States)

Lü, P.; Hong, Z. Y.; Yin, J. F.; Yan, N.; Zhai, W.; Wang, H. P.

2016-11-01

Here we observe the attenuation motion of spherical rotors levitated by near-field acoustic radiation force and analyze the factors that affect the duration time of free rotation. It is found that the rotating speed of freely rotating rotor decreases exponentially with respect to time. The time constant of exponential attenuation motion depends mainly on the levitation height, the mass of rotor, and the depth of concave ultrasound emitter. Large levitation height, large mass of rotor, and small depth of concave emitter are beneficial to increase the time constant and hence extend the duration time of free rotation.

Theory of corticothalamic brain activity in a spherical geometry: Spectra, coherence, and correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Mukta, K. N.; MacLaurin, J. N.; Robinson, P. A.

2017-11-01

Corticothalamic neural field theory is applied to a spherical geometry to better model neural activity in the human brain and is also compared with planar approximations. The frequency power spectrum, correlation, and coherence functions are computed analytically and numerically. The effects of cortical boundary conditions and resulting modal aspects of spherical corticothalamic dynamics are explored, showing that the results of spherical and finite planar geometries converge to those for the infinite planar geometry in the limit of large brain size. Estimates are made of the point at which modal series can be truncated and it is found that for physiologically plausible parameters only the lowest few spatial eigenmodes are needed for an accurate representation of macroscopic brain activity. A difference between the geometries is that there is a low-frequency 1 /f spectrum in the infinite planar geometry, whereas in the spherical geometry it is 1 /f2 . Another difference is that the alpha peak in the spherical geometry is sharper and stronger than in the planar geometry. Cortical modal effects can lead to a double alpha peak structure in the power spectrum, although the main determinant of the alpha peak is corticothalamic feedback. In the spherical geometry, the cross spectrum between two points is found to only depend on their relative distance apart. At small spatial separations the low-frequency cross spectrum is stronger than for an infinite planar geometry and the alpha peak is sharper and stronger due to the partitioning of the energy into discrete modes. In the spherical geometry, the coherence function between points decays monotonically as their separation increases at a fixed frequency, but persists further at resonant frequencies. The correlation between two points is found to be positive, regardless of the time lag and spatial separation, but decays monotonically as the separation increases at fixed time lag. At fixed distance the correlation has peaks

Towards a Prototype of a Spherical Tippe Top

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. C. Ciocci

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Among spinning objects, the tippe top exhibits one of the most bizarre and counterintuitive behaviours. The commercially available tippe tops basically consist of a section of a sphere with a rod. After spinning on its rounded body, the top flips over and continues spinning on the stem. The commonly used simplified mathematical model for the tippe top is a sphere whose mass distribution is axially but not spherically symmetric, spinning on a flat surface subject to a small friction force that is due to sliding. Three main different dynamical behaviours are distinguished: tipping, nontipping, hanging, that is, the top rises but converges to an intermediate state instead of rising all the way to the vertical state. Subclasses according to the stability of relative equilibria can further be distinguished. Our concern is the degree of confidence in the mathematical model predictions, we applied 3D printing and rapid prototyping to manufacture a “3-in-1 toy” that could catch the three main characteristics defining the three main groups in the classification of spherical tippe tops as mentioned above. We propose three designs. This “toy” is suitable to validate the mathematical model qualitatively and quantitatively.

ELSA- The European Levitated Spherical Actruator

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, M.; Serin, J.; Telteu-Nedelcu, D.; De La Vallee Poussin, H.; Onillon, E.; Rossini, L.

2014-08-01

The reaction sphere is a magnetic bearing spherical actuator consisting of a permanent magnet spherical rotor that can be accelerated in any direction. It consists of an 8-pole permanent magnet spherical rotor that is magnetically levitated and can be accelerated about any axis by a 20-pole stator with electromagnets. The spherical actuator is proposed as a potential alternative to traditional momentum exchange devices such as reaction wheels (RWs) or control moment gyroscopes (CMGs). This new actuator provides several benefits such as reduced mass and power supply allocated to the attitude and navigation unit, performance gain, and improved reliability due to the absence of mechanical bearings. The paper presents the work done on the levitated spherical actuator and more precisely the electrical drive including its control unit and power parts. An elegant breadboard is currently being manufactured within the frame of an FP7 project. This project also comprises a feasibility study to show the feasibility of integrating such a system on a flight platform and to identify all the challenges to be solved in terms of technology or components to be developed.

Assessing subunit dependency of the Plasmodium proteasome using small molecule inhibitors and active site probes.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; van der Linden, Wouter A; Verdoes, Martijn; Florea, Bogdan I; McAllister, Fiona E; Govindaswamy, Kavitha; Elias, Joshua E; Bhanot, Purnima; Overkleeft, Herman S; Bogyo, Matthew

2014-08-15

The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is a potential pathway for therapeutic intervention for pathogens such as Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria. However, due to the essential nature of this proteolytic pathway, proteasome inhibitors must avoid inhibition of the host enzyme complex to prevent toxic side effects. The Plasmodium proteasome is poorly characterized, making rational design of inhibitors that induce selective parasite killing difficult. In this study, we developed a chemical probe that labels all catalytic sites of the Plasmodium proteasome. Using this probe, we identified several subunit selective small molecule inhibitors of the parasite enzyme complex. Treatment with an inhibitor that is specific for the β5 subunit during blood stage schizogony led to a dramatic decrease in parasite replication while short-term inhibition of the β2 subunit did not affect viability. Interestingly, coinhibition of both the β2 and β5 catalytic subunits resulted in enhanced parasite killing at all stages of the blood stage life cycle and reduced parasite levels in vivo to barely detectable levels. Parasite killing was achieved with overall low host toxicity, something that has not been possible with existing proteasome inhibitors. Our results highlight differences in the subunit dependency of the parasite and human proteasome, thus providing a strategy for development of potent antimalarial drugs with overall low host toxicity.

Cortical surface registration using spherical thin-plate spline with sulcal lines and mean curvature as features.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hyunjin; Park, Jun-Sung; Seong, Joon-Kyung; Na, Duk L; Lee, Jong-Min

2012-04-30

Analysis of cortical patterns requires accurate cortical surface registration. Many researchers map the cortical surface onto a unit sphere and perform registration of two images defined on the unit sphere. Here we have developed a novel registration framework for the cortical surface based on spherical thin-plate splines. Small-scale composition of spherical thin-plate splines was used as the geometric interpolant to avoid folding in the geometric transform. Using an automatic algorithm based on anisotropic skeletons, we extracted seven sulcal lines, which we then incorporated as landmark information. Mean curvature was chosen as an additional feature for matching between spherical maps. We employed a two-term cost function to encourage matching of both sulcal lines and the mean curvature between the spherical maps. Application of our registration framework to fifty pairwise registrations of T1-weighted MRI scans resulted in improved registration accuracy, which was computed from sulcal lines. Our registration approach was tested as an additional procedure to improve an existing surface registration algorithm. Our registration framework maintained an accurate registration over the sulcal lines while significantly increasing the cross-correlation of mean curvature between the spherical maps being registered. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spherical Torus Center Stack Design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

C. Neumeyer; P. Heitzenroeder; C. Kessel; M. Ono; M. Peng; J. Schmidt; R. Woolley; I. Zatz

2002-01-01

The low aspect ratio spherical torus (ST) configuration requires that the center stack design be optimized within a limited available space, using materials within their established allowables. This paper presents center stack design methods developed by the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) Project Team during the initial design of NSTX, and more recently for studies of a possible next-step ST (NSST) device

Structural analysis of protein complexes with sodium alkyl sulfates by small-angle scattering and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ospinal-Jiménez, Mónica; Pozzo, Danilo C

2011-02-01

Small-angle X-ray (SAXS) and neutron (SANS) scattering is used to probe the structure of protein-surfactant complexes in solution and to correlate this information with their performance in gel electrophoresis. Proteins with sizes between 6.5 to 116 kDa are denatured with sodium alkyl sulfates (SC(x)S) of variable tail lengths. Several combinations of proteins and surfactants are analyzed to measure micelle radii, the distance between micelles, the extension of the complex, the radius of gyration, and the electrophoretic mobility. The structural characterization shows that most protein-surfactant complexes can be accurately described as pearl-necklace structures with spherical micelles. However, protein complexes with short surfactants (SC(8)S) bind with micelles that deviate significantly from spherical shape. Sodium decyl (SC(10)S) and dodecyl (SC(12)S, more commonly abbreviated as SDS) sulfates result in the best protein separations in standard gel electrophoresis. Particularly, SC(10)S shows higher resolutions for complexes of low molecular weight. The systematic characterization of alkyl sulfate surfactants demonstrates that changes in the chain architecture can significantly affect electrophoretic migration so that protein-surfactant structures could be optimized for high resolution protein separations.

Temperature Condition and Spherical Shell Shape Variation of Space Gauge-Alignment Spacecraft

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. S. Zarubin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A high precision spherical shell is one of the geometrical shape embodiments of a gaugealignment spacecraft to determine and control a radar channel energy potential of the ground-based complex for the traffic control of space objects. Passive relays of signals and some types of smallsized instrumentation standard reflectors used for radar gauge and alignment have the same shape. Orbits of the considered spacecraft can be either circular with a height of about 1000 km, including those close to the polar, or elliptical with an apogee of up to 2200 km.In case there is no thermal control system in spacecrafts of these types the solar radiation is a major factor to define the thermal state of a spherical shell in the illuminated orbit area. With the shell in fixed position with respect to direction towards the Sun an arising uneven temperature distribution over its surface leads to variation of the spherically ideal shell shape, which may affect the functional characteristics of the spacecraft. The shell rotation about an axis perpendicular to the direction towards the Sun may reduce an unevenness degree of the temperature distribution.The uneven temperature distribution over the spherical shell surface in conditions of the lowEarth space and this unevenness impact on the shell shape variation against its spherical shape can be quantively estimated by the appropriate methods of mathematical modeling using modification of a previously developed mathematical model to describe steady temperature state of such shell on the low-Earth orbit. The paper considers the shell made from a polymeric composite material. Its original spherical shape is defined by rather low internal pressure. It is assumed that equipment in the shell, if any, is quite small-sized. This allows us to ignore its impact on the radiative transfer in the shell cavity. Along with defining the steady temperature distribution over the shell surface at its fixed orientation with respect to

Spherical Demons: Fast Surface Registration

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, B.T. Thomas; Sabuncu, Mert; Vercauteren, Tom; Ayache, Nicholas; Fischl, Bruce; Golland, Polina

2009-01-01

We present the fast Spherical Demons algorithm for registering two spherical images. By exploiting spherical vector spline interpolation theory, we show that a large class of regularizers for the modified demons objective function can be efficiently implemented on the sphere using convolution. Based on the one parameter subgroups of diffeomorphisms, the resulting registration is diffeomorphic and fast – registration of two cortical mesh models with more than 100k nodes takes less than 5 minutes, comparable to the fastest surface registration algorithms. Moreover, the accuracy of our method compares favorably to the popular FreeSurfer registration algorithm. We validate the technique in two different settings: (1) parcellation in a set of in-vivo cortical surfaces and (2) Brodmann area localization in ex-vivo cortical surfaces. PMID:18979813

Plasma density measurement with ring-type cutoff probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, D.W.; You, S.J.; Na, B.K.; Kim, J.H.; Shin, Y.H.; Chang, H.Y.; Oh, W.Y.

2013-01-01

We proposed a cutoff probe with a ring-type detection tip enclosing a bar-type radiation tip. A comparative study between a proposed ring-type cutoff (RTC) probe and a conventional bar-type cutoff (BTC) probe showed that the RTC probe solved the problem of the BTC probe, the large measurement uncertainty of the electron density in a capacitively coupled plasma source. This improved characteristics of the RTC probe might have originated from the geometrical structure of the RTC probe concerning the monopole antennae radiation. This proposed cutoff probe can be expected to expand the applicable diagnostic range and to enhance the sensitivity of the cutoff probe. - Highlights: ► A cutoff probe with a ring type detection tip is proposed. ► Comparative experiment and simulation were conducted. ► The proposed probe showed a small uncertainty of measured plasma density. ► Improved characteristics might be originated from the geometrical structure

Measurements probing small-x physics using the ATLAS detector.

CERN Document Server

Myagkov, A; The ATLAS collaboration

2014-01-01

The high-energy pp collisions at the LHC provide unique opportunity to study particle flow and event shapes of the hadronic final state particles. Evolution of the event shape variables, such as the transverse thrust, thrust minor and transverse sphericity have been studied for minimum bias events. Particle distributions sensitive to the underlying event have been measured using calorimeter jet events. Separate inclusive jet and exclusive dijet event selections are included in this study for various observables. The production of jets in association with a vector boson is an important process to study the contribution of multi-particle interactions and for understanding the effect of QCD radiation on forward and central jet activity. ATLAS results on events with vector boson plus jets are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo simulations.

Probing deformed orbitals with vector A( vector e, e' N)B reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrido, E.; Caballero, J.A.; Moya de Guerra, E.; Sarriguren, P.; Udias, J.M.

1995-01-01

We present results for response functions and asymmetries in the nuclear reactions 37 vector Ar( vector e, e' n) 36 Ar and 37 vector K( vector e,e' p) 36 Ar at quasifree kinematics. We compare PWIA results obtained using deformed HF wave functions with PWIA and DWIA results obtained assuming a spherical mean field. We show that the complex structure of the deformed orbitals can be probed by coincidence measurements with polarized beam and targets. ((orig.))

Space Propulsion via Spherical Torus Fusion Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, Craig H.; Juhasz, Albert J.; Borowski, Stanley K.; Dudzinski, Leonard A.

2003-01-01

A conceptual vehicle design enabling fast outer solar system travel was produced predicated on a small aspect ratio spherical torus nuclear fusion reactor. Analysis revealed that the vehicle could deliver a 108 mt crew habitat payload to Saturn rendezvous in 204 days, with an initial mass in low Earth orbit of 1630 mt. Engineering conceptual design, analysis, and assessment were performed on all major systems including nuclear fusion reactor, magnetic nozzle, power conversion, fast wave plasma heating, fuel pellet injector, startup/re-start fission reactor and battery, and other systems. Detailed fusion reactor design included analysis of plasma characteristics, power balance and utilization, first wall, toroidal field coils, heat transfer, and neutron/X-ray radiation

Parameter-free Locality Sensitive Hashing for Spherical Range Reporting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahle, Thomas Dybdahl; Pagh, Rasmus; Aumüller, Martin

2017-01-01

We present a data structure for *spherical range reporting* on a point set S, i.e., reporting all points in S that lie within radius r of a given query point q. Our solution builds upon the Locality-Sensitive Hashing (LSH) framework of Indyk and Motwani, which represents the asymptotically best...... solutions to near neighbor problems in high dimensions. While traditional LSH data structures have several parameters whose optimal values depend on the distance distribution from q to the points of S, our data structure is parameter-free, except for the space usage, which is configurable by the user...... query time bounded by O(t(n/t)ρ), where t is the number of points to report and ρ∈(0,1) depends on the data distribution and the strength of the LSH family used. We further present a parameter-free way of using multi-probing, for LSH families that support it, and show that for many such families...

with Spherical Scanning Using the Minimum Number of Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco D'Agostino

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Two efficient probe-compensated near-field-far-field transformations with spherical scanning for antennas having two dimensions very different from the third one are here developed. They rely on the nonredundant sampling representations of the electromagnetic fields and on the optimal sampling interpolation expansions, and use effective antenna modellings. In particular, an antenna with a predominant dimension is no longer considered as enclosed in a sphere but in a cylinder ended in two half spheres, whereas a surface formed by two circular “bowls” with the same aperture diameter but different lateral bends is adopted to shape an antenna with two predominant dimensions. These modellings are able to fit very well a lot of antennas by properly setting their geometric parameters. It is so possible to remarkably lower the number of data to be acquired, thus significantly reducing the measurement time. Numerical tests assessing the accuracy and the robustness of the techniques are reported.

The prediction of spherical aberration with schematic eyes.

Science.gov (United States)

Liou, H L; Brennan, N A

1996-07-01

Many model eyes have been proposed; they differ in optical characteristics and therefore have different aberrations and image quality. In predicting the visual performance of the eye, we are most concerned with the central foveal vision. Spherical aberration is the only on-axis monochromatic aberration and can be used as a criterion to assess the degree of resemblance of eye models to the human eye. We reviewed and compiled experimental values of the spherical aberration of the eye, calculated the spherical aberration of several different categories of model eyes and compared the calculated results to the experimental data. Results show an over-estimation of spherical aberration by all models, the finite schematic eyes predicting values of spherical aberration closest to the experimental data. Current model eyes do not predict the average experimental values of the spherical aberration of the eye. A new model eye satisfying this assessment criterion is required for investigations of the visual performance of the eye.

Measurement of Turbulence Modulation by Non-Spherical Particles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mandø, Matthias; Rosendahl, Lasse

2010-01-01

The change in the turbulence intensity of an air jet resulting from the addition of particles to the flow is measured using Laser Doppler Anemometry. Three distinct shapes are considered: the prolate spheroid, the disk and the sphere. Measurements of the carrier phase and particle phase velocities...... at the centerline of the jet are carried out for mass loadings of 0.5, 1, 1.6 and particle sizes 880μm, 1350μm, 1820μm for spherical particles. For each non-spherical shape only a single size and loading are considered. The turbulence modulation of the carrier phase is found to highly dependent on the turbulence......, the particle mass flow and the integral length scale of the flow. The expression developed on basis of spherical particles only is applied on the data for the non-spherical particles. The results suggest that non-spherical particles attenuate the carrier phase turbulence significantly more than spherical...

Energy, Vacuum, Gas Fueling, and Security Systems for the Spherical Tokamak MEDUSA-CR

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Jeferson; Soto, Christian; Carvajal, Johan; Ribeiro, Celso

2013-10-01

The former spherical tokamak (ST) MEDUSA (Madison EDUcation Small Aspect.ratio tokamak, R security systems for MEDUSA-CR device. The interface with the control and data acquisition systems based on National Instruments (NI) software (LabView) and hardware (on loan to our laboratory via NI-Costa Rica) are also presented. VIE-ITCR, IAEA-CRP contract 17592, National Instruments of Costa Rica.

The ETE spherical Tokamak project. IAEA report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ludwig, Gerson Otto; Del Bosco, E.; Berni, L.A.; Ferreira, J.G.; Oliveira, R.M.; Andrade, M.C.R.; Shibata, C.S.; Barroso, J.J.; Castro, P.J.; Patire Junior, H. [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil). Lab. Associado de Plasma]. E-mail: ludwig@plasma.inpe.br

2002-07-01

This paper describes the general characteristics of spherical tokamaks, or spherical tori, with a brief overview of work in this area already performed or in progress at several institutions worldwide. The paper presents also the historical development of the ETE (Spherical Tokamak Experiment) project, its research program, technical characteristics and operating conditions as of October, 2002 at the Associated Plasma Laboratory (LAP) of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) in Brazil. (author)

Spherical solitons in Earth’S mesosphere plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Annou, K.; Annou, R.

2016-01-01

Soliton formation in Earth’s mesosphere plasma is described. Nonlinear acoustic waves in plasmas with two-temperature ions and a variable dust charge where transverse perturbation is dealt with are studied in bounded spherical geometry. Using the perturbation method, a spherical Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation that describes dust acoustic waves is derived. It is found that the parameters taken into account have significant effects on the properties of nonlinear waves in spherical geometry

Translational and rotational diffusion of flexible PEG and rigid dendrimer probes in sodium caseinate dispersions and acid gels.

Science.gov (United States)

Salami, Souad; Rondeau-Mouro, Corinne; Barhoum, Myriam; van Duynhoven, John; Mariette, François

2014-09-01

The dynamics of rigid dendrimer and flexible PEG probes in sodium caseinate dispersions and acid gels, including both translational diffusion and rotational diffusion, were studied by NMR. Above the onset of the close-packing limit (C ∼ 10 g/100 g H2 O), translational diffusion of the probe depended on its flexibility and on the fluctuations of the matrix chains. The PEG probe diffused more rapidly than the spherical dendrimer probe of corresponding hydrodynamic radius. The greater conformational flexibility of PEG facilitated its motion through the crowded casein matrix. Rotational diffusion was, however, substantially less hindered than the translational diffusion and depended on the local protein-probe friction which became high when the casein concentration increased. The coagulation of the matrix led to the formation of large voids, which resulted in an increase in the translational diffusion of the probes, whereas the rotational diffusion of the probes was retarded in the gel, which could be attributed to the immobilized environment surrounding the probe. Quantitative information from PFG-NMR and SEM micrographs have been combined for characterizing microstructural details in SC acid gels. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Field emission sensing for non-contact probe recording

NARCIS (Netherlands)

le Fèbre, A.J.

2008-01-01

In probe recording an array of thousands of nanometer-sharp probes is used to write and read on a storage medium. By using micro-electromechanical system technology (MEMS) for fabrication, small form factor memories with high data density and low power consumption can be obtained. Such a system is

Primitive chain network simulations of probe rheology.

Science.gov (United States)

Masubuchi, Yuichi; Amamoto, Yoshifumi; Pandey, Ankita; Liu, Cheng-Yang

2017-09-27

Probe rheology experiments, in which the dynamics of a small amount of probe chains dissolved in immobile matrix chains is discussed, have been performed for the development of molecular theories for entangled polymer dynamics. Although probe chain dynamics in probe rheology is considered hypothetically as single chain dynamics in fixed tube-shaped confinement, it has not been fully elucidated. For instance, the end-to-end relaxation of probe chains is slower than that for monodisperse melts, unlike the conventional molecular theories. In this study, the viscoelastic and dielectric relaxations of probe chains were calculated by primitive chain network simulations. The simulations semi-quantitatively reproduced the dielectric relaxation, which reflects the effect of constraint release on the end-to-end relaxation. Fair agreement was also obtained for the viscoelastic relaxation time. However, the viscoelastic relaxation intensity was underestimated, possibly due to some flaws in the model for the inter-chain cross-correlations between probe and matrix chains.

Laplacian eigenmodes for spherical spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lachieze-Rey, M; Caillerie, S

2005-01-01

The possibility that our space is multi-rather than singly-connected has gained renewed interest after the discovery of the low power for the first multipoles of the CMB by WMAP. To test the possibility that our space is a multi-connected spherical space, it is necessary to know the eigenmodes of such spaces. Except for lens and prism space, and to some extent for dodecahedral space, this remains an open problem. Here we derive the eigenmodes of all spherical spaces. For dodecahedral space, the demonstration is much shorter, and the calculation method much simpler than before. We also apply our method to tetrahedric, octahedric and icosahedric spaces. This completes the knowledge of eigenmodes for spherical spaces, and opens the door to new observational tests of the cosmic topology. The vector space V k of the eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on the 3-sphere S 3 , corresponding to the same eigenvalue λ k = -k(k + 2), has dimension (k + 1) 2 . We show that the Wigner functions provide a basis for such a space. Using the properties of the latter, we express the behaviour of a general function of V k under an arbitrary rotation G of SO(4). This offers the possibility of selecting those functions of V k which remain invariant under G. Specifying G to be a generator of the holonomy group of a spherical space X, we give the expression of the vector space V x k of the eigenfunctions of X. We provide a method to calculate the eigenmodes up to an arbitrary order. As an illustration, we give the first modes for the spherical spaces mentioned

FY 2006 Miniature Spherical Retroreflectors Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anheier, Norman C.; Bernacki, Bruce E.; Krishnaswami, Kannan

2006-12-28

Research done by the Infrared Photonics team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is focused on developing miniature spherical retroreflectors using the unique optical and material properties of chalcogenide glass to reduce both performance limiting spherical aberrations. The optimized optical performance will provide efficient signal retroreflection that enables a broad range of remote detection scenarios for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) sensing applications. Miniature spherical retroreflectors can be developed to aid in the detection of signatures of nuclear proliferation or other chemical vapor or radiation signatures. Miniature spherical retroreflectors are not only well suited to traditional LIDAR methods for chemical plume detection and identification, but could enable remote detection of difficult semi-volatile chemical materials or low level radiation sources.

A spherical Taylor-Couette dynamo

Science.gov (United States)

Marcotte, Florence; Gissinger, Christophe

2016-04-01

We present a new scenario for magnetic field amplification in the planetary interiors where an electrically conducting fluid is confined in a differentially rotating, spherical shell (spherical Couette flow) with thin aspect-ratio. When the angular momentum sufficiently decreases outwards, a primary hydrodynamic instability is widely known to develop in the equatorial region, characterized by pairs of counter-rotating, axisymmetric toroidal vortices (Taylor vortices) similar to those observed in cylindrical Couette flow. We characterize the subcritical dynamo bifurcation due to this spherical Taylor-Couette flow and study its evolution as the flow successively breaks into wavy and turbulent Taylor vortices for increasing Reynolds number. We show that the critical magnetic Reynolds number seems to reach a constant value as the Reynolds number is gradually increased. The role of global rotation on the dynamo threshold and the implications for planetary interiors are finally discussed.

Spherical tokamak development in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ludwig, G.O.; Del Bosco, E.; Ferreira, J.G.; Berni, L.A.; Oliveira, R.M.; Andrade, M.C.R.; Shibata, C.S.; Ueda, M.; Barroso, J.J.; Castro, P.J.; Barbosa, L.F.W.; Patire Junior, H.; The high-power microwave sources group

2003-01-01

This paper describes the general characteristics of spherical tokamaks, or spherical tori, with a brief overview of work in this area already performed or in progress at several institutions worldwide. The paper presents also the steps in the development of the ETE (Experimento Tokamak Esferico) project, its research program, technical characteristics and operating conditions as of December, 2002 at the Associated Plasma Laboratory (LAP) of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) in Brazil. (author)

Miniaturization of Spherical Magnetodielectric Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Troels Vejle

; Arbitrary order of the spherical wave, arbitrary radius of the spherical antenna, as well as arbitrarily large core permeability and/or permittivity, given an inversely proportional frequency variation of the imaginary part(s) and an arbitrary dispersion of the real part(s) - thus describing both lossless...... with a magnetic loss tangent of 1 and relative permeability of 300 yield Q/e equal 65% of the Chu lower bound, with a simultaneous e of 71%....

Spherical tokamak development in Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ludwig, G.O.; Del Bosco, E.; Ferreira, J.G.; Berni, L.A.; Oliveira, R.M.; Andrade, M.C.R.; Shibata, C.S.; Ueda, M.; Barroso, J.J.; Castro, P.J. [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil). Lab. Associado de Plasma; Barbosa, L.F.W. [Universidade do Vale do Paraiba (UNIVAP), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil). Faculdade de Engenharia, Arquitetura e Urbanismo; Patire Junior, H. [Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Sao Jose dos Campos, SP (Brazil). Div. de Mecanica Espacial e Controle; The high-power microwave sources group

2003-12-01

This paper describes the general characteristics of spherical tokamaks, or spherical tori, with a brief overview of work in this area already performed or in progress at several institutions worldwide. The paper presents also the steps in the development of the ETE (Experimento Tokamak Esferico) project, its research program, technical characteristics and operating conditions as of December, 2002 at the Associated Plasma Laboratory (LAP) of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) in Brazil. (author)

Heat transfer enhancement in energy storage in spherical capsules filled with paraffin wax and metal beads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ettouney, Hisham; Alatiqi, Imad; Al-Sahali, Mohammad; Al-Hajirie, Khalida

2006-01-01

Energy storage is an attractive option to conserve limited energy resources, where more than 50% of the generated industrial energy is discarded in cooling water and stack gases. This study focuses on the evaluation of heat transfer enhancement in phase change energy storage units. The experiments are performed using spherical capsules filled with paraffin wax and metal beads. The experiments are conducted by inserting a single spherical capsule filled with wax and metal beads in a stream of hot/cold air. Experimental measurements include the temperature field within the spherical capsule and in the air stream. To determine the enhancement effects of the metal beads, the measured data is correlated against those for a spherical capsule filled with pure wax. Data analysis shows a reduction of 15% in the melting and solidification times upon increasing the number and diameter of the metal beads. This reduction is caused by a similar decrease in the thermal load of the sphere due to replacement of the wax by metal beads. The small size of the spherical capsule limits the enhancement effects; this is evident upon comparison of the heat transfer in a larger size, double pipe energy storage unit, where 2% of the wax volume is replaced with metal inserts, result in a three fold reduction in the melting/solidification time and a similar enhancement in the heat transfer rate

Nonlinear spherical perturbations in quintessence models of dark energy

Science.gov (United States)

Pratap Rajvanshi, Manvendra; Bagla, J. S.

2018-06-01

Observations have confirmed the accelerated expansion of the universe. The accelerated expansion can be modelled by invoking a cosmological constant or a dynamical model of dark energy. A key difference between these models is that the equation of state parameter w for dark energy differs from ‑1 in dynamical dark energy (DDE) models. Further, the equation of state parameter is not constant for a general DDE model. Such differences can be probed using the variation of scale factor with time by measuring distances. Another significant difference between the cosmological constant and DDE models is that the latter must cluster. Linear perturbation analysis indicates that perturbations in quintessence models of dark energy do not grow to have a significant amplitude at small length scales. In this paper we study the response of quintessence dark energy to non-linear perturbations in dark matter. We use a fully relativistic model for spherically symmetric perturbations. In this study we focus on thawing models. We find that in response to non-linear perturbations in dark matter, dark energy perturbations grow at a faster rate than expected in linear perturbation theory. We find that dark energy perturbation remains localised and does not diffuse out to larger scales. The dominant drivers of the evolution of dark energy perturbations are the local Hubble flow and a supression of gradients of the scalar field. We also find that the equation of state parameter w changes in response to perturbations in dark matter such that it also becomes a function of position. The variation of w in space is correlated with density contrast for matter. Variation of w and perturbations in dark energy are more pronounced in response to large scale perturbations in matter while the dependence on the amplitude of matter perturbations is much weaker.

Results of performance testing the Russian RPV temperature measurement probe used for annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakos, J.T.; Selsky, S.

1998-03-01

This paper provides information on three (3) topics related to temperature measurements in an annealing procedure: (1) results of a series of experiments performed by CNIITMASH of the Russian consortium MOHT on their reactor pressure vessel (RPV) temperature measurement probe, (2) a discussion regarding uncertainties and errors in RPV temperature measurements, and (3) predictions from a thermal model of a spherical RPV temperature measurement probe. MOHT teamed with MPR Associates and was to perform the Annealing Demonstration Project (ADP) on behalf of the US Department of Energy, ESEERCo, EPRI, CRIEPI, Framatome, and Consumers Power Co. at the Midland plant. Experimental results show that the CNIITMASH probe errors are a maximum of about 27 C (49 F) during a 15 C/hr (27 F/hr) heat-up but only about 3 C (5.4 F) (0.6%) during the hold portion at 470 C (878 F). These errors are much smaller than those obtained from a similar series of experiments performed by Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia). The discussion about uncertainties and errors shows that results presented as a temperature difference provides a measure of the probe error. Qualitative agreement is shown between the model predictions, the experimental results of the CNIITMASH probe and the experimental results of a series of similar experiments performed by Sandia

Hierarchical structures of ZnO spherical particles synthesized solvothermally

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Noriko; Haneda, Hajime

2011-12-01

We review the solvothermal synthesis, using a mixture of ethylene glycol (EG) and water as the solvent, of zinc oxide (ZnO) particles having spherical and flower-like shapes and hierarchical nanostructures. The preparation conditions of the ZnO particles and the microscopic characterization of the morphology are summarized. We found the following three effects of the ratio of EG to water on the formation of hierarchical structures: (i) EG restricts the growth of ZnO microcrystals, (ii) EG promotes the self-assembly of small crystallites into spheroidal particles and (iii) the high water content of EG results in hollow spheres.

Design and construction of small magnetic probes for a toroidal plasma machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLeod, R.

1975-01-01

A number of probes were built with consideration given to the problems of heating, caused by bombardment by the hot plasma, interaction of the probe on the plasma, stray pick up by inaccurate alignment and accidental damage to the delicate coils. These problems were resolved by the following design criteria: 1. Heat resistant materials and thermocouple attached. 2. Dimensions kept to a minimum size. 3. Double layer coils wound back on themselfes and lead tightly twisted together. 4. Coils accurately aligned. 5. Protective covering over coils. (author)

Turbulence Modulation by Non-Spherical Particles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mandø, Matthias

This study deals with the interaction between turbulence and non-spherical particles and represents an extension of the modeling framework for particleladen flows. The effect of turbulence on particles is commonly referred to as turbulent dispersion while the effect of particles on the carrier....... This study encompass an outlook on existing work, an experimental study, development of a numerical model and a case study advancing the modeling techniques for pulverized coal combustion to deal with larger non-spherical biomass particles. Firstly, existing knowledge concerning the motion of non......-spherical particles and turbulence modulation are outlined. A complete description of the motion of non-spherical particles is still lacking. However, evidence suggests that the equation of motion for a sphere only represent an asymptotical value for a more general, but yet unformulated, description of the motion...

Transformation of Real Spherical Harmonics under Rotations

Science.gov (United States)

Romanowski, Z.; Krukowski, St.; Jalbout, A. F.

2008-08-01

The algorithm rotating the real spherical harmonics is presented. The convenient and ready to use formulae for l = 0, 1, 2, 3 are listed. The rotation in R3 space is determined by the rotation axis and the rotation angle; the Euler angles are not used. The proposed algorithm consists of three steps. (i) Express the real spherical harmonics as the linear combination of canonical polynomials. (ii) Rotate the canonical polynomials. (iii) Express the rotated canonical polynomials as the linear combination of real spherical harmonics. Since the three step procedure can be treated as a superposition of rotations, the searched rotation matrix for real spherical harmonics is a product of three matrices. The explicit formulae of matrix elements are given for l = 0, 1, 2, 3, what corresponds to s, p, d, f atomic orbitals.

Spherical particle Brownian motion in viscous medium as non-Markovian random process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morozov, Andrey N.; Skripkin, Alexey V.

2011-01-01

The Brownian motion of a spherical particle in an infinite medium is described by the conventional methods and integral transforms considering the entrainment of surrounding particles of the medium by the Brownian particle. It is demonstrated that fluctuations of the Brownian particle velocity represent a non-Markovian random process. The features of Brownian motion in short time intervals and in small displacements are considered. -- Highlights: → Description of Brownian motion considering the entrainment of medium is developed. → We find the equations for statistical characteristics of impulse fluctuations. → Brownian motion at small time intervals is considered. → Theoretical results and experimental data are compared.

Microbial properties of soil aggregates created by earthworms and other factors: spherical and prismatic soil aggregates from unreclaimed post-mining sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frouz, J.; Kristufek, V.; Liveckova, M.; van Loo, D.; Jacobs, P.; Van Hoorebeke, L. [Charles University of Prague, Prague (Czech Republic). Inst. of Environmental Studies

2011-01-15

Soil aggregates between 2 and 5 mm from 35- and 45-year-old unreclaimed post-mining sites near Sokolov (Czech Republic) were divided into two groups: spherical and prismatic. X-ray tomography indicated that prismatic aggregates consisted of fragments of claystone bonded together by amorphous clay and roots while spherical aggregates consisted of a clay matrix and organic fragments of various sizes. Prismatic aggregates were presumed to be formed by plant roots and physical processes during weathering of Tertiary mudstone, while earthworms were presumed to contribute to the formation of spherical aggregates. The effects of drying and rewetting and glucose addition on microbial respiration, microbial biomass, and counts of bacteria in these aggregates were determined. Spherical aggregates contained a greater percentage of C and N and a higher C-to-N ratio than prismatic ones. The C content of the particulate organic matter was also higher in the spherical than in the prismatic aggregates. Although spherical aggregates had a higher microbial respiration and biomass, the growth of microbial biomass in spherical aggregates was negatively correlated with initial microbial biomass, indicating competition between bacteria. Specific respiration was negatively correlated with microbial biomass. Direct counts of bacteria were higher in spherical than in prismatic aggregates. Bacterial numbers were more stable in the center than in the surface layers of the aggregates. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that bacteria often occurred as individual cells in prismatic aggregates but as small clusters of cells in spherical aggregates. Ratios of colony forming units (cultivatable bacteria) to direct counts were higher in spherical than in prismatic aggregates. Spherical aggregates also contained faster growing bacteria.

Relevance of capsid structure in the buckling and maturation of spherical viruses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aznar, María; Luque, Antoni; Reguera, David

2012-01-01

The shape and mechanical properties of viral capsids play an important role in several biological processes during the virus life cycle. In particular, to become infective, many viruses require a maturation stage where the capsid undergoes a buckling transition, from an initial spherical procapsid into a final icosahedral faceted shell. Here we study, using a minimal physical model, how the capsid shape and the buckling transition depend on the triangulation number T and the icosahedral class P of the virus structure. We find that, for small shells, capsids with P = 1 are most likely to produce polyhedral shapes that minimize their energy and accumulated stress, whereas viruses with P = 3 prefer to remain spherical. For big capsids, all shells are more stable adopting an icosahedral shape, in agreement with continuum elastic theory. Moreover, spherical viruses show a buckling transition to polyhedral shells under expansion, in consonance with virus maturation. The resulting icosahedral shell is mechanically stiffer, tolerates larger expansions and withstands higher internal pressures before failing, which could explain why some dsDNA viruses, which rely on the pressurization of their genetic material to facilitate the infection, undergo a buckling transition. We emphasize that the results are general and could also be applied to non-biological systems. (paper)

Spinor Casimir densities for a spherical shell in the global monopole spacetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saharian, A A; Mello, E R Bezerra de

2004-01-01

We investigate the vacuum expectation values of the energy-momentum tensor and the fermionic condensate associated with a massive spinor field obeying the MIT bag boundary condition on a spherical shell in the global monopole spacetime. In order to do that, we use the generalized Abel-Plana summation formula. As we shall see, this procedure allows us to extract from the vacuum expectation values the contribution coming from the unbounded spacetime and to explicitly present the boundary induced parts. As regards the boundary induced contribution, two distinct situations are examined: the vacuum average effects inside and outside the spherical shell. The asymptotic behaviour of the vacuum densities is investigated near the sphere centre and near the surface, and at large distances from the sphere. In the limit of strong gravitational field corresponding to small values of the parameter describing the solid angle deficit in the global monopole geometry, the sphere induced expectation values are exponentially suppressed. We discuss, as a special case, the fermionic vacuum densities for the spherical shell on the background of the Minkowski spacetime. Previous approaches to this problem within the framework of the QCD bag models have been global and our calculation is a local extension of these contributions

Robotic arm design for a remotely-deployed, in situ waste characterization probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, R.L.; Jansen, J.F.; Haas, J.W.

1991-01-01

This paper describes some design considerations for a system which will combine robotics and laser spectroscopy to produce an in situ monitoring system for heterogeneous waste materials. The new system will provide faster, cheaper, safer, and more complete characterization of mixed solids and liquids stored in tanks and drums or buried in pits. A small, fiberoptic multiprobe that performs Raman and fluorescence measurements of wastes composed of a variety of organic and inorganic compounds will be described. Design considerations for a novel sensor platform that positions and stabilizes the multiprobe relative to the sampling point in order to make accurate spectroscopic measurements and deploys the sensor in hazardous environments with minimal risk to workers will be presented. The core of the platform will be a 3-Degrees-Of-Freedom (3-DOF), spherical coordinate end effector equipped with a proximity sensor that compensates for errors introduced by the flexible nature of the support arm. The platform can be adapted to operate the most robotic deployment systems used in hazardous environments. The multisensor probe will be coupled to remote, portable laser spectrometer systems by a fiber-optic bundle. 5 refs

Robotic arm design for a remotely-deployed, in situ waste characterization probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kress, Reid; Haas, John; Jansen, John

1992-01-01

This paper describes some design considerations for a system which will combine robotics and laser spectroscopy to produce an in situ monitoring system for heterogeneous waste materials. The new system will provide faster, cheaper) safer, and more complete characterization of mixed solids and liquids stored in tanks and drums or buried in pits. A small, fiberoptic multiprobe that performs Raman and fluorescence measurements of wastes composed of a variety of organic and inorganic compounds will be described. Design considerations for a novel sensor platform that positions and stabilizes the multiprobe relative to the sampling point in order to male accurate spectroscopic measurements and deploys the sensor in hazardous environments with minimal risk to workers will be presented. The core of (he platform will be a 3-Degrees-Of-Freedom (3-DOF), spherical coordinate end effector equipped with a proximity sensor that compensates for errors introduced by the flexible nature of the support arm. The platform can be adapted to operate with most robotic deployment systems used in hazardous environments. The multisensor probe will be coupled to remote, portable laser spectrometer systems by a fiber-optic bundle. (author)

Dynamics of a spherical minority game

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galla, T; Coolen, A C C; Sherrington, D

2003-01-01

We present an exact dynamical solution of a spherical version of the batch minority game (MG) with random external information. The control parameters in this model are the ratio of the number of possible values for the public information over the number of agents, and the radius of the spherical constraint on the microscopic degrees of freedom. We find a phase diagram with three phases: two without anomalous response (an oscillating versus a frozen state) and a further frozen phase with divergent integrated response. In contrast to standard MG versions, we can also calculate the volatility exactly. Our study reveals similarities between the spherical and the conventional MG, but also intriguing differences. Numerical simulations confirm our analytical results

Donated chemical probes for open science.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Susanne; Ackloo, Suzanne; Arrowsmith, Cheryl H; Bauser, Marcus; Baryza, Jeremy L; Blagg, Julian; Böttcher, Jark; Bountra, Chas; Brown, Peter J; Bunnage, Mark E; Carter, Adrian J; Damerell, David; Dötsch, Volker; Drewry, David H; Edwards, Aled M; Edwards, James; Elkins, Jon M; Fischer, Christian; Frye, Stephen V; Gollner, Andreas; Grimshaw, Charles E; IJzerman, Adriaan; Hanke, Thomas; Hartung, Ingo V; Hitchcock, Steve; Howe, Trevor; Hughes, Terry V; Laufer, Stefan; Li, Volkhart Mj; Liras, Spiros; Marsden, Brian D; Matsui, Hisanori; Mathias, John; O'Hagan, Ronan C; Owen, Dafydd R; Pande, Vineet; Rauh, Daniel; Rosenberg, Saul H; Roth, Bryan L; Schneider, Natalie S; Scholten, Cora; Singh Saikatendu, Kumar; Simeonov, Anton; Takizawa, Masayuki; Tse, Chris; Thompson, Paul R; Treiber, Daniel K; Viana, Amélia Yi; Wells, Carrow I; Willson, Timothy M; Zuercher, William J; Knapp, Stefan; Mueller-Fahrnow, Anke

2018-04-20

Potent, selective and broadly characterized small molecule modulators of protein function (chemical probes) are powerful research reagents. The pharmaceutical industry has generated many high-quality chemical probes and several of these have been made available to academia. However, probe-associated data and control compounds, such as inactive structurally related molecules and their associated data, are generally not accessible. The lack of data and guidance makes it difficult for researchers to decide which chemical tools to choose. Several pharmaceutical companies (AbbVie, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, and Takeda) have therefore entered into a pre-competitive collaboration to make available a large number of innovative high-quality probes, including all probe-associated data, control compounds and recommendations on use (https://openscienceprobes.sgc-frankfurt.de">https://openscienceprobes.sgc-frankfurt.dehttps://openscienceprobes.sgc-frankfurt.de/">/). Here we describe the chemical tools and target-related knowledge that have been made available, and encourage others to join the project. © 2018, Müller et al.

Investigation of spherical and concentric mechanism of compound droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meifang Liu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Polymer shells with high sphericity and uniform wall thickness are always needed in the inertial confined fusion (ICF experiments. Driven by the need to control the shape of water-in-oil (W1/O compound droplets, the effects of the density matching level, the interfacial tension and the rotation speed of the continuing fluid field on the sphericity and wall thickness uniformity of the resulting polymer shells were investigated and the spherical and concentric mechanisms were also discussed. The centering of W1/O compound droplets, the location and movement of W1/O compound droplets in the external phase (W2 were significantly affected by the density matching level of the key stage and the rotation speed of the continuing fluid field. Therefore, by optimizing the density matching level and rotation speed, the batch yield of polystyrene (PS shells with high sphericity and uniform wall thickness increased. Moreover, the sphericity also increased by raising the oil/water (O/W2 interfacial tension, which drove a droplet to be spherical. The experimental results show that the spherical driving force is from the interfacial tension affected by the two relative phases, while the concentric driving force, as a resultant force, is not only affected by the three phases, but also by the continuing fluid field. The understanding of spherical and concentric mechanism can provide some guidance for preparing polymer shells with high sphericity and uniform wall thickness.

Development of voltage sensitivity preamplifier to application in radioguided surgical probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, Fabio Eduardo da; Rela, Paulo Roberto; Hamada, Margarida Mizue

2005-01-01

The methods of nuclear medicine are increasing used to complement standard diagnostic examinations. Some of these are radioguided detection of the sentinel lymph node (SN) and the radioguided localization of occult lesions. The SN technique is used in a small-size breast carcinoma and involves the identification, removal and immediate histological examination. Specifically, particles of colloidal human serum albumin are labelled with low activities of 99m Tc and are inoculated into the breast lesion or close in the case of SN biopsy. Subsequently, a hand-held gamma-ray detecting probe with reduced dimensions is used to locate the lesion or the SN as a hot spot and guide its surgical removal. Many techniques can be used for gamma-ray probes development. Gamma photons can be either directly detected via high atomic numbers semiconductors detectors or indirect detection, as scintillator crystal converts gamma photons into light photons. In all of them, the preamplifier is used as close as possible to the detector for obtaining a good energy resolution and due to the necessary small probe dimension, the preamplifier must have reduced size. The commercial preamplifiers are not small enough to be assembled inside the probe. It was developed a not usually preamplifier configuration for high-resolution spectroscopy energy, adequate in size to be set up in gamma-ray probes. This tension preamplifier can be split between the gamma-ray probe and the read out unit. Due to this configuration the effective size required inside the probe was reduced. The results and the probe assembling are showed in this work. (author)

How Spherical Is a Cube (Gravitationally)?

Science.gov (United States)

Sanny, Jeff; Smith, David

2015-01-01

An important concept that is presented in the discussion of Newton's law of universal gravitation is that the gravitational effect external to a spherically symmetric mass distribution is the same as if all of the mass of the distribution were concentrated at the center. By integrating over ring elements of a spherical shell, we show that the…

Interpretation of plasma impurity deposition probes. Analytic approximation

Science.gov (United States)

Stangeby, P. C.

1987-10-01

Insertion of a probe into the plasma induces a high speed flow of the hydrogenic plasma to the probe which, by friction, accelerates the impurity ions to velocities approaching the hydrogenic ion acoustic speed, i.e., higher than the impurity ion thermal speed. A simple analytic theory based on this effect provides a relation between impurity fluxes to the probe Γimp and the undisturbed impurity ion density nimp, with the hydrogenic temperature and density as input parameters. Probe size also influences the collection process and large probes are found to attract a higher flux density than small probes in the same plasma. The quantity actually measured, cimp, the impurity atom surface density (m-2) net-deposited on the probe, is related to Γimp and thus to nimp by taking into account the partial removal of deposited material caused by sputtering and the redeposition process.

Spherical cows in dark matter indirect detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernal, Nicolás [Centro de Investigaciones, Universidad Antonio Nariño, Cra 3 Este # 47A-15, Bogotá (Colombia); Necib, Lina; Slatyer, Tracy R., E-mail: nicolas.bernal@uan.edu.co, E-mail: lnecib@mit.edu, E-mail: tslatyer@mit.edu [Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2016-12-01

Dark matter (DM) halos have long been known to be triaxial, but in studies of possible annihilation and decay signals they are often treated as approximately spherical. In this work, we examine the asymmetry of potential indirect detection signals of DM annihilation and decay, exploiting the large statistics of the hydrodynamic simulation Illustris. We carefully investigate the effects of the baryons on the sphericity of annihilation and decay signals for both the case where the observer is at 8.5 kpc from the center of the halo (exemplified in the case of Milky Way-like halos), and for an observer situated well outside the halo. In the case of Galactic signals, we find that both annihilation and decay signals are expected to be quite symmetric, with axis ratios very different from 1 occurring rarely. In the case of extragalactic signals, while decay signals are still preferentially spherical, the axis ratio for annihilation signals has a much flatter distribution, with elongated profiles appearing frequently. Many of these elongated profiles are due to large subhalos and/or recent mergers. Comparing to gamma-ray emission from the Milky Way and X-ray maps of clusters, we find that the gamma-ray background appears less spherical/more elongated than the expected DM signal from the large majority of halos, and the Galactic gamma ray excess appears very spherical, while the X-ray data would be difficult to distinguish from a DM signal by elongation/sphericity measurements alone.

Minimum Q Electrically Small Spherical Magnetic Dipole Antenna - Practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Oleksiy S.; Breinbjerg, Olav

2009-01-01

Practical aspects of applying a magnetic core to approach the Chu lower bound for the radiation Q factor of an electrically small magnetic dipole antenna are considered. It is shown that although a magnetic core does reduce the Q factor, its effect is not as strong as predicted by Wheeler...

Electrostatic probe and calorimetric measurements in a DC cathodic arc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lepone, Alejandro; Marquez, Adriana; Kelly, Hector; Grondona, Diana

2001-01-01

Several results obtained from measurements with spherical Langmuir probes and a calorimetric technique in a dc cathodic arc are presented. The arc is operated at a current level of 100 A, with a Copper cathode, and with Oxygen gas at a pressure in the range 0.005 divide 0.2 mbar. The measurements were performed at different axial positions in the discharge chamber. It is found that the electron temperature decreases for larger axial positions or higher pressures, but the derivation of reliable values for the ion density and kinetic energy require the consideration of atomic processes between the plasma and gas particles

Coronal in vivo forward-imaging of rat brain morphology with an ultra-small optical coherence tomography fiber probe

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yijing; Bonin, Tim; Löffler, Susanne; Hüttmann, Gereon; Tronnier, Volker; Hofmann, Ulrich G.

2013-02-01

A well-established navigation method is one of the key conditions for successful brain surgery: it should be accurate, safe and online operable. Recent research shows that optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a potential solution for this application by providing a high resolution and small probe dimension. In this study a fiber-based spectral-domain OCT system utilizing a super-luminescent-diode with the center wavelength of 840 nm providing 14.5 μm axial resolution was used. A composite 125 μm diameter detecting probe with a gradient index (GRIN) fiber fused to a single mode fiber was employed. Signals were reconstructed into grayscale images by horizontally aligning A-scans from the same trajectory with different depths. The reconstructed images can display brain morphology along the entire trajectory. For scans of typical white matter, the signals showed a higher reflection of light intensity with lower penetration depth as well as a steeper attenuation rate compared to the scans typical for gray matter. Micro-structures such as axon bundles (70 μm) in the caudate nucleus are visible in the reconstructed images. This study explores the potential of OCT to be a navigation modality in brain surgery.

Theory and applications of spherical microphone array processing

CERN Document Server

Jarrett, Daniel P; Naylor, Patrick A

2017-01-01

This book presents the signal processing algorithms that have been developed to process the signals acquired by a spherical microphone array. Spherical microphone arrays can be used to capture the sound field in three dimensions and have received significant interest from researchers and audio engineers. Algorithms for spherical array processing are different to corresponding algorithms already known in the literature of linear and planar arrays because the spherical geometry can be exploited to great beneficial effect. The authors aim to advance the field of spherical array processing by helping those new to the field to study it efficiently and from a single source, as well as by offering a way for more experienced researchers and engineers to consolidate their understanding, adding either or both of breadth and depth. The level of the presentation corresponds to graduate studies at MSc and PhD level. This book begins with a presentation of some of the essential mathematical and physical theory relevant to ...

Non-Spherical Gravitational Collapse of Strange Quark Matter

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zade S S; Patil K D; Mulkalwar P N

2008-01-01

We study the non-spherical gravitational collapse of the strange quark null fluid.The interesting feature which emerges is that the non-spherical collapse of charged strange quark matter leads to a naked singularity whereas the gravitational collapse of neutral quark matter proceeds to form a black hole.We extend the earlier work of Harko and Cheng[Phys.Lett.A 266 (2000) 249]to the non-spherical case.

On the phase diagram of non-spherical nanoparticles

CERN Document Server

Wautelet, M; Hecq, M

2003-01-01

The phase diagram of nanoparticles is known to be a function of their size. In the literature, this is generally demonstrated for cases where their shape is spherical. Here, it is shown theoretically that the phase diagram of non-spherical particles may be calculated from the spherical case, at the same surface area/volume ratio, both with and without surface segregation, provided the surface tension is considered to be isotropic.

Spherical proton emitters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, S.; Semmes, P.B.; Nazarewicz, W.

1997-01-01

Various theoretical approaches to proton emission from spherical nuclei are investigated, and it is found that all the methods employed give very similar results. The calculated decay widths are found to be qualitatively insensitive to the parameters of the proton-nucleus potential, i.e., changing the potential parameters over a fairly large range typically changes the decay width by no more than a factor of ∼3. Proton half-lives of observed heavy proton emitters are, in general, well reproduced by spherical calculations with the spectroscopic factors calculated in the independent quasiparticle approximation. The quantitative agreement with experimental data obtained in our study requires that the parameters of the proton-nucleus potential be chosen carefully. It also suggests that deformed proton emitters will provide invaluable spectroscopic information on the angular momentum decomposition of single-proton orbitals in deformed nuclei. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Comparison of density functional and modified Poisson-Boltzmann structural properties for a spherical double layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.B.Bhuiyan

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The density functional and modified Poisson-Boltzmann descriptions of a spherical (electric double layer are compared and contrasted vis-a-vis existing Monte Carlo simulation data (for small ion diameter 4.25·10-10 m from the literature for a range of physical parameters such as macroion surface charge, macroion radius, valencies of the small ions, and electrolyte concentration. Overall, the theoretical predictions are seen to be remarkably consistent between themselves, being also in very good agreement with the simulations. Some modified Poisson-Boltzmann results for the zeta potential at small ion diameters of 3 and 2·10-10 m are also reported.

Three-dimensional analysis of micro- and nanostructure of biomaterials and cells by method of scanning probe nanotomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. E. Efimov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim: to perform a three-dimensional analysis of micro- and nanosctucture and quantitative morphological parameters of alginate spherical microcarriers and porous regenerated silk macrocarriers modifi ed by microparticles of decellularized rat liver matrix and human hepatoma HepG2 cells adhered to micro- and macro carriers. Materials and methods. Three-dimensional porous matrices made from regenerated silk by salt leaching technique and alginate spherical microcarriers fabricated by encapsulation were vitalized by human hepatome HepG2 cells. Study of three-dimensional structure of cells and micro- and macro carriers was carried out at –120 °С by scanning probe cryonanotomography technique with use of experimental setup combining cryoultramicrotome and scanning probe microscope.Results. Three-dimensional nanotomographical reconstructions of HepG2 cells adhered to macropore wall of regenerated silk macrocarrier and to spherical alginate microcarrier are obtained. Morphological parameters (mean roughness, effective surface area and autocorrelation length are determined for surfaces of macro and microcarriers and adhered cells. The determined mean roughness of alginate microcarrier surface is 76.4 ± 7.5 nm, while that of surface of macropore wall of regenerated silk macrocarrier is 133.8 ± 16.2 nm. At the same time mean roughness of cells adhered to micro- and macrocarriers are 118.5 ± 9.0 и 158.8 ± 21.6 nm correspondingly. Three-dimensional reconstructions of intracellular compartments with dimensions from 140 to 500 nm are also obtained.Conclusion. Obtained as a result of study quantitative morphology characteristics of surfaces of cell carriers and adhered cells show signifi cant degree of correlation of morphological parameters of cells and their carriers. Use of scanning probe cryonanotomography technique for three-dimensional analysis of structure and characteristics of biomaterials, cells and bio-artifi cial cellular systems

Recent Progress on Spherical Torus Research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ono, Masayuki [PPPL; Kaita, Robert [PPPL

2014-01-01

The spherical torus or spherical tokamak (ST) is a member of the tokamak family with its aspect ratio (A = R0/a) reduced to A ~ 1.5, well below the normal tokamak operating range of A ≥ 2.5. As the aspect ratio is reduced, the ideal tokamak beta β (radio of plasma to magnetic pressure) stability limit increases rapidly, approximately as β ~ 1/A. The plasma current it can sustain for a given edge safety factor q-95 also increases rapidly. Because of the above, as well as the natural elongation κ, which makes its plasma shape appear spherical, the ST configuration can yield exceptionally high tokamak performance in a compact geometry. Due to its compactness and high performance, the ST configuration has various near term applications, including a compact fusion neutron source with low tritium consumption, in addition to its longer term goal of attractive fusion energy power source. Since the start of the two megaampere class ST facilities in 2000, National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) in the US and Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) in UK, active ST research has been conducted worldwide. More than sixteen ST research facilities operating during this period have achieved remarkable advances in all of fusion science areas, involving fundamental fusion energy science as well as innovation. These results suggest exciting future prospects for ST research both near term and longer term. The present paper reviews the scientific progress made by the worldwide ST research community during this new mega-ampere-ST era.

Elastic interaction between surface and spherical pore

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganeev, G.Z.; Kadyrzhanov, K.K.; Kislitsyn, S.B.; Turkebaev, T.Eh.

2000-01-01

The energy of elastic interaction of a gas-filled spherical cavity with a boundary of an elastic isotropic half-space is determined. The elastic field of a system of a spherical cavity - boundary is represented as an expansion in series of potential functions. The factors of expansions are determined by boundary conditions on a free surface of an elastic half-space and on a spherical surface of a cavity with pressure of gas P. Function of a Tresca-Miesesa on a surface of elastic surface is defined additionally with purpose creep condition determination caused by gas pressure in the cavity. (author)

Electron density profile measurements from hydrogen line intensity ratio method in Versatile Experimental Spherical Torus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, YooSung; Shi, Yue-Jiang, E-mail: yjshi@snu.ac.kr; Yang, Jeong-hun; Kim, SeongCheol; Kim, Young-Gi; Dang, Jeong-Jeung; Yang, Seongmoo; Jo, Jungmin; Chung, Kyoung-Jae [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Soo-Ghee [Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 442-749 (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Y. S. [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Center for Advanced Research in Fusion Reactor Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-15

Electron density profiles of versatile experiment spherical torus plasmas are measured by using a hydrogen line intensity ratio method. A fast-frame visible camera with appropriate bandpass filters is used to detect images of Balmer line intensities. The unique optical system makes it possible to take images of H{sub α} and H{sub β} radiation simultaneously, with only one camera. The frame rate is 1000 fps and the spatial resolution of the system is about 0.5 cm. One-dimensional local emissivity profiles have been obtained from the toroidal line of sight with viewing dumps. An initial result for the electron density profile is presented and is in reasonable agreement with values measured by a triple Langmuir probe.

Studies of spherical inertial-electrostatic confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miley, G.H.

1992-01-01

Theoretical and experimental results from studies of Spherical Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement (SIEC) are presented. This principle of IEC involves the confinement by multiple potential wells created by ion injection into a spherical device containing biased grids. A semitransparent cathode accelerates ions, generating a spherical ion-beam flow which converges at the center of the spherical volume, creating a space charge (potential well) region. An electron flow is created by the core (virtual anode) region, forming in turn a virtual cathode. Ions trapped inside this well oscillate back and forth until they fuse or degrade in energy. Such multiple wells with virtual anodes and cathodes, have been called ''Poissors'' following the original work by Farnsworth and by Hirsch. Fusion within the core occurs by reactions between non-Maxwellian beam-beam type ions. This has the potential for achieving a high power density and also for burning both D-T and advanced fuels. If successful, such a device would be attractive for a variety of high power density applications, e.g., space power or as a neutron source based on D-D or D-T operation. Simulations of recent SIEC experiments have been carried out using the XL-code, to solve Poisson's equation, self-consistently with the collisionless Vlasov equation in spherical geometry for several current species and grid parameters. The potential profile predictions are reasonably consistent with experimental results. Potential well measurements used a collimated proton detector. Results indicate that an ∼ 15-kV virtual anode, at least one centimeter in radius, was formed in a spherical device with a cathode potential of 30 kV using an ion current of ∼ 30 mA. Analysis indicates D + densities on the order of 10 9 cm -3 , and D 2 + densities on the order of 10 10 cm -3 . Steady-state D-D neutron emission of about 10 6 n/sec is observed

Pump-probe study of atoms and small molecules with laser driven high order harmonics

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Wei

A commercially available modern laser can emit over 1015 photons within a time window of a few tens of femtoseconds (10-15second), which can be focused into a spot size of about 10 mum, resulting in a peak intensity above 1014W/cm2. This paves the way for table-top strong field physics studies such as above threshold ionization (ATI), non-sequential double ionization (NSDI), high order harmonic generation (HHG), etc.. Among these strong laser-matter interactions, high order harmonic generation, which combines many photons of the fundamental laser field into a single photon, offers a unique way to generate light sources in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region. High order harmonic photons are emitted within a short time window from a few tens of femtoseconds down to a few hundreds of attoseconds (10 -18second). This highly coherent nature of HHG allows it to be synchronized with an infrared (IR) laser pulse, and the pump-probe technique can be adopted to study ultrafast dynamic processes in a quantum system. The major work of this thesis is to develop a table-top VUV(EUV) light source based on HHG, and use it to study dynamic processes in atoms and small molecules with the VUV(EUV)-pump IR-probe method. A Cold Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy (COLTRIMS) apparatus is used for momentum imaging of the interaction products. Two types of high harmonic pump pulses are generated and applied for pump-probe studies. The first one consists of several harmonics forming a short attosecond pulse train (APT) in the EUV regime (around 40 eV). We demonstrate that, (1) the auto-ionization process triggered by the EUV in cation carbon-monoxide and oxygen molecules can be modified by scanning the EUV-IR delay, (2) the phase information of quantum trajectories in bifurcated high harmonics can be extracted by performing an EUV-IR cross-correlation experiment, thus disclosing the macroscopic quantum control in HHG. The second type of high harmonic source

Numerical evaluation of integrals containing a spherical Bessel function by product integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehman, D.R.; Parke, W.C.; Maximon, L.C.

1981-01-01

A method is developed for numerical evaluation of integrals with k-integration range from 0 to infinity that contain a spherical Bessel function j/sub l/(kr) explicitly. The required quadrature weights are easily calculated and the rate of convergence is rapid: only a relatively small number of quadrature points is needed: for an accurate evaluation even when r is large. The quadrature rule is obtained by the method of product integration. With the abscissas chosen to be those of Clenshaw--Curtis and the Chebyshev polynomials as the interpolating polynomials, quadrature weights are obtained that depend on the spherical Bessel function. An inhomogenous recurrence relation is derived from which the weights can be calculated without accumulation of roundoff error. The procedure is summarized as an easily implementable algorithm. Questions of convergence are discussed and the rate of convergence demonstrated for several test integrals. Alternative procedures are given for generating the integration weights and an error analysis of the method is presented

Systematic Calibration for a Backpacked Spherical Photogrammetry Imaging System

Science.gov (United States)

Rau, J. Y.; Su, B. W.; Hsiao, K. W.; Jhan, J. P.

2016-06-01

A spherical camera can observe the environment for almost 720 degrees' field of view in one shoot, which is useful for augmented reality, environment documentation, or mobile mapping applications. This paper aims to develop a spherical photogrammetry imaging system for the purpose of 3D measurement through a backpacked mobile mapping system (MMS). The used equipment contains a Ladybug-5 spherical camera, a tactical grade positioning and orientation system (POS), i.e. SPAN-CPT, and an odometer, etc. This research aims to directly apply photogrammetric space intersection technique for 3D mapping from a spherical image stereo-pair. For this purpose, several systematic calibration procedures are required, including lens distortion calibration, relative orientation calibration, boresight calibration for direct georeferencing, and spherical image calibration. The lens distortion is serious on the ladybug-5 camera's original 6 images. Meanwhile, for spherical image mosaicking from these original 6 images, we propose the use of their relative orientation and correct their lens distortion at the same time. However, the constructed spherical image still contains systematic error, which will reduce the 3D measurement accuracy. Later for direct georeferencing purpose, we need to establish a ground control field for boresight/lever-arm calibration. Then, we can apply the calibrated parameters to obtain the exterior orientation parameters (EOPs) of all spherical images. In the end, the 3D positioning accuracy after space intersection will be evaluated, including EOPs obtained by structure from motion method.

A new approach to spherically symmetric junction surfaces and the matching of FLRW regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, U

2004-01-01

We investigate timelike junctions (with surface layer) between spherically symmetric solutions of the Einstein-field equation. In contrast to previous investigations, this is done in a coordinate system in which the junction surface motion is absorbed in the metric, while all coordinates are continuous at the junction surface. The evolution equations for all relevant quantities are derived. We discuss the no-surface layer case (boundary surface) and study the behaviour for small surface energies. It is shown that one should expect cases in which the speed of light is reached within a finite proper time. We carefully discuss necessary and sufficient conditions for a possible matching of spherically symmetric sections. For timelike junctions between spherically symmetric spacetime sections we show explicitly that the time component of the Lanczos equation always reduces to an identity (independent of the surface equation of state). The results are applied to the matching of Friedmann-LemaItre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) models. We discuss 'vacuum bubbles' and closed-open junctions in detail. As illustrations several numerical integration results are presented, some of them indicate that (observers comoving with) the junction surface can reach the speed of light within a finite time

Transient Transport Experiments in the CDX-U Spherical Torus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

T. Munsat; P.C. Efthimion; B. Jones; R. Kaita; R. Majeski; D. Stutman; G. Taylor

2001-01-01

Electron transport has been measured in the Current Drive Experiment-Upgrade (CDX-U) using two separate perturbative techniques. Gas modulation at the plasma edge was used to introduce cold-pulses which propagate towards the plasma center, providing time-of-flight information leading to a determination of chi(subscript e) as a function of radius. Sawteeth at the q=1 radius (r/a ∼ 0.15) induced heat-pulses which propagated outward towards the plasma edge, providing a complementary time-of-flight based chi(subscript e) profile measurement. This work represents the first localized measurement of chi(subscript e) in a spherical torus. It is found that chi(subscript e) = 1-2 meters squared per second in the plasma core (r/a < 1/3), increasing by an order of magnitude or more outside of this region. Furthermore, the chi(subscript e) profile exhibits a sharp transition near r/a = 1/3. Spectral and profile analyses of the soft X-rays, scanning interferometer, and edge probe data show no evidence of a significant magnetic island causing the high chi(subscript e) region

Recrystallized graphite utilization as the first wall material in Globus-M spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gusev, V.; Novokhatsky, A.N.; Petrov, Y.V.; Sakharov, N.V.; Terukov, E.I.; Trapeznikova, I.N.; Denisov, E.A.; Kurdumov, A.A.; Kompaniec, T.N.; Lebedev, V.M.; Litunovstkii, N.V.; Mazul, I.

2007-01-01

Full text of publication follows: Globus-M spherical tokamak, built at A.F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in 1999 is the first Russian spherical tokamak and has the broad area of research in controlled fusion [1]. Besides small aspect ratio (A=1.5) the distinguishing feature of the tokamak is the powerful energy supply system and auxiliary heating, which give opportunity to reach high specific power deposition up to few W/cm 3 . The utmost plasma current density and B/R ratio among spherical tokamaks allow operation in the range of high plasma densities ∼ 10 20 m -3 . This feature results in big power density loads to the first wall due to small plasma-wall spacing. The area of the first wall amour was gradually increased during few years since 2003, and nowadays reaches almost 90% of the inner vessel surface faced to plasma. Plasma facing protecting tiles are manufactured from recrystallized graphite doped by different elements (Ti, Si, B). Additionally the plasma facing surface was protected by films deposited during boronization. The tendency of short time and long time scale plasma parameters variation are discussed including the plasma performance improvement with increase of protected area. Technology of tiles preparation before installation into the tokamak vessel is briefly described, as well as technology of plasma facing armor preparation before the plasma experiments. Few protecting tiles doped by different elements which were exposed to plasma fluxes of dissimilar power densities for a long time were extracted from the vacuum vessel. The analysis of tiles material (RGT-91) to hold (accumulate) deuterium was made. The distribution of absorbed deuterium concentration along poloidal coordinate was measured. The elementary composition of the films deposited on the tiles was studied by Rutherford back scattering technique and by nuclear resonance reaction method. Other modern methods of surface and structural analysis of material exposed to prolonged

Recrystallized graphite utilization as the first wall material in Globus-M spherical tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gusev, V.; Novokhatsky, A.N.; Petrov, Y.V.; Sakharov, N.V.; Terukov, E.I.; Trapeznikova, I.N. [A.F. IOFFE Physico-technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg (Russian Federation); Denisov, E.A.; Kurdumov, A.A.; Kompaniec, T.N. [St. Petersburg State Univ., Research Institute of Physics (Russian Federation); Lebedev, V.M. [B.P. Konstantinov Nuclear Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Gatchina (Russian Federation); Litunovstkii, N.V. [D.V. Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus, St.Petersburg (Russian Federation); Mazul, I. [Development of Plasma Facing Materials and Components Laboratory, EFREMOV INSTITUTE, St Petersbourg (Russian Federation)

2007-07-01

Full text of publication follows: Globus-M spherical tokamak, built at A.F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in 1999 is the first Russian spherical tokamak and has the broad area of research in controlled fusion [1]. Besides small aspect ratio (A=1.5) the distinguishing feature of the tokamak is the powerful energy supply system and auxiliary heating, which give opportunity to reach high specific power deposition up to few W/cm{sup 3}. The utmost plasma current density and B/R ratio among spherical tokamaks allow operation in the range of high plasma densities {approx} 10{sup 20} m{sup -3}. This feature results in big power density loads to the first wall due to small plasma-wall spacing. The area of the first wall amour was gradually increased during few years since 2003, and nowadays reaches almost 90% of the inner vessel surface faced to plasma. Plasma facing protecting tiles are manufactured from recrystallized graphite doped by different elements (Ti, Si, B). Additionally the plasma facing surface was protected by films deposited during boronization. The tendency of short time and long time scale plasma parameters variation are discussed including the plasma performance improvement with increase of protected area. Technology of tiles preparation before installation into the tokamak vessel is briefly described, as well as technology of plasma facing armor preparation before the plasma experiments. Few protecting tiles doped by different elements which were exposed to plasma fluxes of dissimilar power densities for a long time were extracted from the vacuum vessel. The analysis of tiles material (RGT-91) to hold (accumulate) deuterium was made. The distribution of absorbed deuterium concentration along poloidal coordinate was measured. The elementary composition of the films deposited on the tiles was studied by Rutherford back scattering technique and by nuclear resonance reaction method. Other modern methods of surface and structural analysis of material

DESIGN OF THE CONTACT POTENTIALS DIFFERENCE PROBES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. U. Pantsialeyeu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The contact potential difference probes distinguished by great variety and produced mostly in the laboratory for specific experimental applications. As a rule, they consist of commercially available instrumentation, and have a number of disadvantages: large dimensions, complexity and high cost, small sensitivity, operating speed, noiseproof, etc. The purpose of this paper is to describe the basic approaches to design of the small dimension, complete contact potential difference probes, providing high sensitivity, operating speed, and noise immunity. In this paper the contact potential difference probe, which is a electrometer with dynamic capacitor plate at about 0.1–5 mm2 . These probes are could be used in scanning systems, such as a Scanning Kelvin Probe, as well as for controlling system of manufacturing processes, e.g. under friction. The design of such contact potential difference probes conducted using modern electronic components, unique circuitry and design solutions described in detail at paper. The electromechanical modulator applied for mechanical vibrations of the reference sample. To provide a high amplitude and phase stability the upgraded generator with Wien bridge was used instead traditional oscillation sensor. The preamplifier made on the base of modern operational amplifiers with femtoampere current input. The power of the preamplifier designed with «floating ground». It allows keeping the relation constant potential to the probe components when changing over a wide range the compensation voltage. The phase detector-integrator based on the electronic antiphase switches with the modulation frequency of the contact potential difference and the integrator. Fullwave phase detection would greatly increase the sensitivity of the probe. In addition, the application of the phase detection allows suppressing noise and crosstalk at frequencies different from the modulation frequency. The preamplifier and the reference sample

Spherical Dunkl-monogenics and a factorization of the Dunkl-Laplacian

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fei Minggang; Cerejeiras, Paula; Kaehler, Uwe

2010-01-01

In this paper, we consider and study a factorization of the Dunkl-Laplacian in terms of spherical coordinates. This allows for the construction of a direct sum decomposition of spherical Dunkl-harmonics. By explicit representation in spherical coordinates of Dunkl-harmonics, one obtains explicit projection operators from Dunkl-harmonics to inner (resp. outer) Dunkl-monogenics. Concrete examples of spherical Dunkl-monogenics will be given at the end.

Preparation of spherical particles by vibrating orifice technique

Science.gov (United States)

Shibata, Shuichi; Tomizawa, Atsushi; Yoshikawa, Hidemi; Yano, Tetsuji; Yamane, Masayuki

2000-05-01

Preparation of micrometer-sized spherical particles containing Rhodamine 6G (R6G) has been investigated for the spherical cavity micro-laser. Using phenyl triethoxy silane (PTES) as a starting material, R6G-doped monodisperse spherical particles were prepared by the vibrating orifice technique. Processing consists of two major processes: (1) Hydrolysis and polymerization of PTES and (2) Droplet formation from PTES oligomers by vibrating orifice technique. A cylindrical liquid jet passing through the orifice of 10 and 20 micrometers in diameter breaks up into equal- sized droplets by mechanical vibration. Alcohol solvent of these droplets was evaporated during flying with carrier gas and subsequently solidified in ammonium water trap. For making smooth surface and god shaped particles, control of molecular weight of PTES oligomer was essential. R6G-doped hybrid spherical particles of 4 to 10 micrometers size of cavity structure were successfully obtained. The spherical particles were pumped by a second harmonic pulse of Q- switched Nd:YAG laser and laser emission peaks were observed at wavelengths which correspond to the resonance modes.

Spherical rhenium metal powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonhardt, T.; Moore, N.; Hamister, M.

2001-01-01

The development of a high-density, spherical rhenium powder (SReP) possessing excellent flow characteristics has enabled the use of advanced processing techniques for the manufacture of rhenium components. The techniques that were investigated were vacuum plasma spraying (VPS), direct-hot isostatic pressing (D-HIP), and various other traditional powder metallurgy processing methods of forming rhenium powder into near-net shaped components. The principal disadvantages of standard rhenium metal powder (RMP) for advanced consolidation applications include: poor flow characteristics; high oxygen content; and low and varying packing densities. SReP will lower costs, reduce processing times, and improve yields when manufacturing powder metallurgy rhenium components. The results of the powder characterization of spherical rhenium powder and the consolidation of the SReP are further discussed. (author)

Controlled drug release on amine functionalized spherical MCM-41

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szegedi, Agnes; Popova, Margarita; Goshev, Ivan; Klébert, Szilvia; Mihály, Judit

2012-01-01

MCM-41 silica with spherical morphology and small particle sizes (100 nm) was synthesized and modified by post-synthesis method with different amounts of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). A comparative study of the adsorption and release of a model drug, ibuprofen, was carried out. The modified and drug loaded mesoporous materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, N 2 physisorption, elemental analysis, thermal analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. A new method was developed for the quantitative determination of amino groups in surface modified mesoporous materials by the ninhydrin reaction. Good correlation was found between the amino content of the MCM-41 materials determined by the ninhydrin method and their ibuprofen adsorption capacity. Amino modification resulted in high degree of ibuprofen loading and slow release rate in comparison to the parent non-modified MCM-41. - Graphical abstract: Determination of surface amino groups by ninhidrin method. Highlights: ► Spherical MCM-41 modified by different amounts of APTES was studied. ► Ibuprofen (IBU) adsorption and release characteristics was tested. ► The ninhydrin reaction was used for the quantitative determination of amino groups. ► Stoichiometric amount of APTES is enough for totally covering the surface with amino groups. ► Good correlation was found between the amino content and IBU adsorption capacity.

Distinction between magnesium diboride and tetraboride by kelvin probe force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Du-Na; Caron, Arnaud; Park, Hai Woong

2016-01-01

We analyze mixtures of magnesium diboride and tetraboride synthesized with magnesium powders of different shapes. To distinguish between magnesium diboride and tetraboride we use the contrast of kelvin probe force microscopy. The microstructural morphology strongly depends on the shape of the magnesium powders used in the reaction between magnesium and magnesium tetraboride to form magnesium diboride. With spherical magnesium powder an equiaxed microstructure of magnesium diboride is formed with residual magnesium tetraboride at the grain boundaries. With plate-like magnesium powders elongated magnesium diboride grains are formed. In this case, residual magnesium tetraboride is found to agglomerate.

Analysis of Kelvin Probe operational models with application to SR-POEM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popescu, Eugeniu M

2011-01-01

We present a study of several models on which Kelvin Probe (KP) instruments with flat and spherical tips rely for operation and for the determination of the contact potential difference (CPD). The study is part of the development of a high-performance KP instrument that will be used in investigations of the patch effect for the sounding rocket principle of equivalence measurement experiment. Using covariance analysis for each model we investigate its performance as imposed by the Cramer-Rao bounds and the biases introduced in the estimation of the CPD, as well as its applicability to instrument control. (papers)

Effects of x-ray and neutron irradiation on spherical colonies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aramaki, Ryoji

1980-01-01

Responses of in vitro cultured mammalian cells in spherical colonies to 200 kVp x-rays and D-T neutrons were studied using reproductive capacity as a criterion for survival. Cell lines used were FM3A, L5 and Chinese hamster V79. The spherical colonies exposed to x-rays exhibited two-component survival curves. All cells used were more radio-resistant in spherical colonies than in single cell suspensions. It was suggested that this difference in response was attributable to the presence of hypoxic cells in spherical colonies. Dose-modifying Factor (DMF), the ratios of D 0 of the second slopes of the curves for spherical colonies to those for single cells, were 1.6 for FM3A, 1.8 for L5, and 1.7 for Chinese hamster V79. The hypoxic cell fractions in spherical colonies for FM3A, L5, and Chinese hamster V79, were 0.1, 0.6 and 0.4, respectively, resulting in variations in cell survival in spherical colonies following x-radiation. No significant difference was observed between responses of spherical colonies and single cell suspensions to D-T neutrons. FM3A and Chinese hamster V79 showed two-component survival curves when irradiated with neutrons at 37 0 C, but not at 25 0 C. The repair of potentially lethal and sub-lethal damage was also investigated using FM3A in spherical colonies. No detectable repair of potentially lethal damage was observed for x-rays and D-T neutrons. The effect of neutron fractionation was considerably smaller for spherical colonies as compared to single cells. (author)

Spherical convolutions and their application in molecular modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boomsma, Wouter; Frellsen, Jes

2017-01-01

Convolutional neural networks are increasingly used outside the domain of image analysis, in particular in various areas of the natural sciences concerned with spatial data. Such networks often work out-of-the box, and in some cases entire model architectures from image analysis can be carried over...... to other problem domains almost unaltered. Unfortunately, this convenience does not trivially extend to data in non-euclidean spaces, such as spherical data. In this paper, we introduce two strategies for conducting convolutions on the sphere, using either a spherical-polar grid or a grid based...... of spherical convolutions in the context of molecular modelling, by considering structural environments within proteins. We show that the models are capable of learning non-trivial functions in these molecular environments, and that our spherical convolutions generally outperform standard 3D convolutions...

Watermarking on 3D mesh based on spherical wavelet transform.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Jian-Qiu; Dai, Min-Ya; Bao, Hu-Jun; Peng, Qun-Sheng

2004-03-01

In this paper we propose a robust watermarking algorithm for 3D mesh. The algorithm is based on spherical wavelet transform. Our basic idea is to decompose the original mesh into a series of details at different scales by using spherical wavelet transform; the watermark is then embedded into the different levels of details. The embedding process includes: global sphere parameterization, spherical uniform sampling, spherical wavelet forward transform, embedding watermark, spherical wavelet inverse transform, and at last resampling the mesh watermarked to recover the topological connectivity of the original model. Experiments showed that our algorithm can improve the capacity of the watermark and the robustness of watermarking against attacks.

Resonance probe; La sonde a resonance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepechinsky, D; Messiaen, A; Rolland, P [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1966-07-01

After a brief review of papers recently published on the resonance probe as a tool for plasma diagnostics, the main features of the theory proposed by one of us are recalled. In this theory the geometry of the resonator formed by the probe, the ion sheath and the plasma is explicitly taken into account with the quasi-static and cold plasma approximations. Some new results emerging from this theory are indicated and a comparison with experimental data obtained with a spherical probe placed in a quiescent mercury-vapour plasma is made. A good quantitative agreement has been observed, indicating that the theory is satisfactory and justifying the assumptions involved. Nevertheless it appears that in some cases experimental results can only be interpreted when non collisional damping phenomena are taken into consideration. (author) [French] Apres un apercu des etudes recemment publiees sur la sonde a resonance pour le diagnostic des plasmas, on rappelle l'essentiel de la theorie proposee par l'un de nous ou il est tenu compte explicitement de la geometrie du resonateur forme par le systeme sonde-gaine ionique-plasma dans l'approximation quasi-statique et du plasma froid. On indique quelques resultats nouveaux pouvant etre tires de cette theorie et on la confronte avec les donnees experimentales obtenues pour une sonde spherique placee dans un plasma de mercure en equilibre. Un tres bon accord quantitatif a ete constate, indiquant que la theorie est satisfaisante et justifiant les approximations faites dans celle-ci. Il apparait toutefois que certains resultats experimentaux ne peuvent etre interpretes qu'en tenant compte des phenomenes d'amortissement non collisionnels. (auteur)

Radioactive probes as diagnostic tools for rice tungro viruses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azzam, O.; Arboleda, M.; Reyes. J. de los

1996-01-01

Rice tungro bacilliform (RTBV) and rice tungro spherical viruses (RTSV) are the two viral components responsible for rice tungro disease which has seriously affected the irrigated rice ecosystem in Southeast Asia for the last 30 years. RTBV has an 8 Kb double-stranded DNA circular genome, and it is primarily responsible for induction of symptoms in infected plants. RTSV has a 12 kb single-stranded RNA genome. It does not induce any apparent symptoms in the infected plant, and it is transmitted by greenleafhopper. RTBV depends upon RTSV for its own transmission. The two viruses are limited to the vascular tissue of the rice plant and are present at a low titer. Most of the detection methods used for the identification of these viruses have relied on the virus protein properties and therefore, early detection of the virus activity was not possible. We were interested in evaluating tissue printing, dot blot, and southern techniques for early detection of virus nucleic acids in rice plant using radioactive and non radioactive probes. 32 P-labeled T7 or SP6 RNA polymerase transcripts complementary to the RTBV genome and RTSV coat protein genes were used as probes of the positive stand of both viruses. For nonradioactive probes, RTBV DNA genome was labeled using the ECL detection kit (Amersham). Preliminary results show that viral nucleic acids of RTBV and RTSV could be detected using both labelling systems. Non radioactive probes were comparable in their sensitivity to the radioactive probes. Less than 100 pg of viral DNA was detected in the dot-blot assays. More data will be presented to compare the efficiency and reliability of these two techniques in detecting early virus activity in the rice plant. (author)

Microstructural characterization of irradiated PWR steels using the atom probe field-ion microscope

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, M.K.; Burke, M.G.

1987-08-01

Atom probe field-ion microscopy has been used to characterize the microstructure of a neutron-irradiated A533B pressure vessel steel weld. The atomic spatial resolution of this technique permits a complete structural and chemical description of the ultra-fine features that control the mechanical properties to be made. A variety of fine scale features including roughly spherical copper precipitates and clusters, spherical and rod-shaped molybdenum carbide and disc-shaped molybdenum nitride precipitates were observed to be inhomogeneously distributed in the ferrite. The copper content of the ferrite was substantially reduced from the nominal level. A thin film of molybdenum carbides and nitrides was observed on grain boundaries in addition to a coarse copper-manganese precipitate. Substantial enrichment of manganese and nickel were detected at the copper-manganese precipitate-ferrite interface and this enrichment extended into the ferrite. Enrichment of nickel, manganese and phosphorus were also measured at grain boundaries

A small molecular pH-dependent fluorescent probe for cancer cell imaging in living cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Junbao; Li, Wenqi; Li, Juanjuan; Shi, Rongguang; Yin, Gui; Wang, Ruiyong

2018-05-15

A novel pH-dependent two-photon fluorescent molecular probe ABMP has been prepared based on the fluorophore of 2, 4, 6-trisubstituted pyridine. The probe has an absorption wavelength at 354 nm and corresponding emission wavelength at 475 nm with the working pH range from 2.20 to 7.00, especially owning a good liner response from pH = 2.40 to pH = 4.00. ABMP also has excellent reversibility, photostability and selectivity which promotes its ability in analytical application. The probe can be excited with a two-photon fluorescence microscopy and the fluorescence cell imaging indicated that the probe can distinguish Hela cancer cells out of normal cells with a two-photon fluorescence microscopy which suggested its potential application in tumor cell detection. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Profile measurements in the plasma edge of mega amp spherical tokamak using a ball pen probe

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Walkden, N.R.; Adámek, Jiří; Allan, S.; Dudson, B.D.; Elmore, S.; Fishpool, G.; Harrison, J.; Kirk, A.; Komm, Michael

2015-01-01

Roč. 86, č. 2 (2015), č. článku 023510. ISSN 0034-6748 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP205/12/2327; GA MŠk(CZ) LM2011021 Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : plasma * tokamak * ball pen probe Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics OBOR OECD: 2.11 Other engineering and technologies Impact factor: 1.336, year: 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4908572

Electromagnetic cloaking in higher order spherical cloaks

Science.gov (United States)

Sidhwa, H. H.; Aiyar, R. P. R. C.; Kulkarni, S. V.

2017-06-01

The inception of transformation optics has led to the realisation of the invisibility devices for various applications, one of which is spherical cloaking. In this paper, a formulation for a higher-order spherical cloak has been proposed to reduce its physical thickness significantly by introducing a nonlinear relation between the original and transformed coordinate systems and it has been verified using the ray tracing approach. Analysis has been carried out to observe the anomalies in the variation of refractive index for higher order cloaks indicating the presence of poles in the relevant equations. Furthermore, a higher-order spherical cloak with predefined values of the material characteristics on its inner and outer surfaces has been designed for practical application.

Depth Probing Soft X-ray Microprobe (DPSXRM) for High Resolution Probing of Earth's Microstructural Samples

Science.gov (United States)

Dikedi, P. N.

2015-12-01

The Cambrian explosion; occurrence of landslides in very dry weather conditions; rockslides; dead, shriveled-up and crumbled leaves possessing fossil records with the semblance of well preserved, flat leaves; abundance of trilobite tracks in lower and higher rock layers; and sailing stones are enigmas demanding demystifications. These enigmas could be elucidated when data on soil structure, texture and strength are provided by some device with submicrometre accuracy; for these and other reasons, the design of a Depth Probing Soft X-ray Microprobe (DPSXRM), is being proposed; it is expected to deliver soft X-rays, at spatial resolution, ϛ≥600nm and to probe at the depth of 0.5m in 17s. The microprobe is portable compared to a synchrotron radiation facility (Diamond Light Source has land size of 43,300m2); spatial resolution,ϛ , of the DPSXRM surpasses those of the X-ray Fluorescence microanalysis (10µm), electron microprobe (1-3µm) and ion microprobe (5->30µm); the DPSXRM has allowance for multiple targets. Vanadium and Manganese membranes are proposed owing to respective 4.952KeV VKα1 and 5.899KeV MnKα1 X-rays emitted, which best suits micro-probing of Earth's microstructural samples. Compound systems like the Kirk-Patrick and Baez and Wolter optics, aspheric mirrors like elliptical and parabolic optics, small apertures and Abbe sine condition are employed to reduce or remove astigmatism, obliquity, comatic and spherical aberrations—leading to good image quality. Results show that 5.899KeV MnKα1 and 4.952KeV VKα1 soft X-rays will travel a distance of 2.75mm to form circular patches of radii 2.2mm and 2.95mm respectively. Zone plate with nth zone radius of 1.5mm must be positioned 1.5mm and 2mm from the electron gun if circular patches must be formed from 4.952KeV VKα1 and 5.899KeV MnKα1 soft X-rays respectively. The focal lengths of 0.25μm≤ƒ≤1.50μm and 0.04μm≤ƒ≤0.2μm covered by 4.952KeV VKα1 and 5.899KeV Mn Kα1 soft X-Rays, will

Spherical Nb single crystals containerlessly grown by electrostatic levitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sung, Y.S.; Takeya, H.; Hirata, K.; Togano, K.

2003-01-01

Spherical Nb (T m =2750 K) single crystals were grown via containerless electrostatic levitation (ESL). Samples became spherical at melting in levitation and undercooled typically 300-450 K prior to nucleation. As-processed samples were still spherical without any macroscopic shape change by solidification showing a uniform dendritic surface morphology. Crystallographic {111} planes exposed in equilateral triangular shapes on the surface by preferential macroetching and spotty back-reflection Laue patterns confirm the single crystal nature of the ESL-processed Nb samples. No hysteresis in magnetization between zero field and field cooling also implies a clean defect-free condition of the spherical Nb single crystals

Effect of spherical aberration on scintillations of Gaussian beams in atmospheric turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Xiaoling; Deng, Jinping

2014-01-01

The effect of spherical aberration on scintillations of Gaussian beams in weak, moderate and strong turbulence is studied using numerical simulation method. It is found that the effect of the negative spherical aberration on the on-axis scintillation index is quite different from that of the positive spherical aberration. In weak turbulence, the positive spherical aberration results in a decrease of the on-axis scintillation index on propagation, but the negative spherical aberration results in an increase of the on-axis scintillation index when the propagation distance is not large. In particular, in weak turbulence the negative spherical aberration may cause peaks of the on-axis scintillation index, and the peaks disappear in moderate and strong turbulence, which is explained in physics. The strong turbulence leads to less discrepancy among scintillations of Gaussian beams with and without spherical aberration. - Highlights: • In weak turbulence scintillations can be suppressed using positive spherical aberration. • In weak turbulence scintillations may be very large due to negative spherical aberration. • The effect of spherical aberration on scintillations is less with increasing of turbulence

Effect of spherical aberration on scintillations of Gaussian beams in atmospheric turbulence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji, Xiaoling, E-mail: jiXL100@163.com; Deng, Jinping

2014-07-18

The effect of spherical aberration on scintillations of Gaussian beams in weak, moderate and strong turbulence is studied using numerical simulation method. It is found that the effect of the negative spherical aberration on the on-axis scintillation index is quite different from that of the positive spherical aberration. In weak turbulence, the positive spherical aberration results in a decrease of the on-axis scintillation index on propagation, but the negative spherical aberration results in an increase of the on-axis scintillation index when the propagation distance is not large. In particular, in weak turbulence the negative spherical aberration may cause peaks of the on-axis scintillation index, and the peaks disappear in moderate and strong turbulence, which is explained in physics. The strong turbulence leads to less discrepancy among scintillations of Gaussian beams with and without spherical aberration. - Highlights: • In weak turbulence scintillations can be suppressed using positive spherical aberration. • In weak turbulence scintillations may be very large due to negative spherical aberration. • The effect of spherical aberration on scintillations is less with increasing of turbulence.

Cauchy-perturbative matching reexamined: Tests in spherical symmetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zink, Burkhard; Pazos, Enrique; Diener, Peter; Tiglio, Manuel

2006-01-01

During the last few years progress has been made on several fronts making it possible to revisit Cauchy-perturbative matching (CPM) in numerical relativity in a more robust and accurate way. This paper is the first in a series where we plan to analyze CPM in the light of these new results. One of the new developments is an understanding of how to impose constraint-preserving boundary conditions (CPBC); though most of the related research has been driven by outer boundaries, one can use them for matching interface boundaries as well. Another front is related to numerically stable evolutions using multiple patches, which in the context of CPM allows the matching to be performed on a spherical surface, thus avoiding interpolations between Cartesian and spherical grids. One way of achieving stability for such schemes of arbitrary high order is through the use of penalty techniques and discrete derivatives satisfying summation by parts (SBP). Recently, new, very efficient and high-order accurate derivatives satisfying SBP and associated dissipation operators have been constructed. Here we start by testing all these techniques applied to CPM in a setting that is simple enough to study all the ingredients in great detail: Einstein's equations in spherical symmetry, describing a black hole coupled to a massless scalar field. We show that with the techniques described above, the errors introduced by Cauchy-perturbative matching are very small, and that very long-term and accurate CPM evolutions can be achieved. Our tests include the accretion and ring-down phase of a Schwarzschild black hole with CPM, where we find that the discrete evolution introduces, with a low spatial resolution of Δr=M/10, an error of 0.3% after an evolution time of 1,000,000M. For a black hole of solar mass, this corresponds to approximately 5s, and is therefore at the lower end of timescales discussed e.g. in the collapsar model of gamma-ray burst engines

Spherical subsystem of galactic radiosources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorshkov, A G; Popov, M V [Moskovskij Gosudarstvennyj Univ. (USSR). Gosudarstvennyj Astronomicheskij Inst. ' ' GAISh' '

1975-05-01

The concentration of statistically complete sampling radiosources of the Ohiof scanning with plane spectra towards the Galaxy centre has been discovered. Quantitative calculations have showed that the sources form a spheric subsystem, which is close in parameters to such old formations in the Galaxy as globular clusters and the RRLsub(YR) type stars. The luminosity of the galaxy spheric subsystem object equals 10/sup 33/ erg/sec, the total number of objects being 7000. The existence of such a subsystem explains s the anomalously by low incline of statistics lgN-lgS in HF scanning PKS (..gamma..-2700Mgz) and the Michigan University scanning (..gamma..=8000Mgz) because the sources of galaxy spheric subsystem make up a considerable share in the total number of sources, especially at high frequencies (50% of sources with a flux greater than a unit of flux per 8000Mgz). It is very probable that the given subsystem consists of the representatives of one of the following class of objects: a) heat sources - the H2H regions with T=10/sup 40/K, Nsub(e)=10/sup 3/, l=1 ps b) supermass black holes with mass M/Mo approximately 10/sup 5/.

Reverse depletion effects and the determination of ligand density on some spherical bioparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Chunxiang [Heilongjiang Bayi Agricultural University (China); Liu, Yanhui, E-mail: ionazati@itp.ac.cn; Fan, Yangtao; Liu, Yijun; Li, Qiancheng; Xu, Houqiang, E-mail: houqiangxu@yahoo.com [Guizhou University (China)

2016-06-15

In cell environments crowded with macromolecules, the depletion effects act and assist in the assembly of a wide range of cellular structures, from the cytoskeleton to the chromatin loop, which are well accepted. But a recent quantum dot experiment indicated that the dimensions of the receptor–ligand complex have strong effects on the size-dependent exclusion of proteins in cell environments. In this article, a continuum elastic model is constructed to resolve the competition between the dimension of the receptor–ligand complex and depletion effects in the endocytosis of a spherical virus-like bioparticle. Our results show that the depletion effects do not always assist endocytosis of a spherical virus-like bioparticle; while the dimension of the ligand–receptor complex is larger than the size of a small bioparticle in cell environments, the depletion effects do not work and reverse effects appear. The ligand density covered on the virus can be identified quantitatively.

Continuous-flow liquid microjunction surface sampling probe connected on-line with high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry for spatially resolved analysis of small molecules and proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Berkel, Gary J; Kertesz, Vilmos

2013-06-30

A continuous-flow liquid microjunction surface sampling probe extracts soluble material from surfaces for direct ionization and detection by mass spectrometry. Demonstrated here is the on-line coupling of such a probe with high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS) enabling extraction, separation and detection of small molecules and proteins from surfaces in a spatially resolved (~0.5 mm diameter spots) manner. A continuous-flow liquid microjunction surface sampling probe was connected to a six-port, two-position valve for extract collection and injection to an HPLC column. A QTRAP® 5500 hybrid triple quadrupole linear ion trap equipped with a Turbo V™ ion source operated in positive electrospray ionization (ESI) mode was used for all experiments. The system operation was tested with the extraction, separation and detection of propranolol and associated metabolites from drug dosed tissues, caffeine from a coffee bean, cocaine from paper currency, and proteins from dried sheep blood spots on paper. Confirmed in the tissue were the parent drug and two different hydroxypropranolol glucuronides. The mass spectrometric response for these compounds from different locations in the liver showed an increase with increasing extraction time (5, 20 and 40 s). For on-line separation and detection/identification of extracted proteins from dried sheep blood spots, two major protein peaks dominated the chromatogram and could be correlated with the expected masses for the hemoglobin α and β chains. Spatially resolved sampling, separation, and detection of small molecules and proteins from surfaces can be accomplished using a continuous-flow liquid microjunction surface sampling probe coupled on-line with HPLC/MS detection. Published in 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

One-dimensional MHD simulations of MTF systems with compact toroid targets and spherical liners

Science.gov (United States)

Khalzov, Ivan; Zindler, Ryan; Barsky, Sandra; Delage, Michael; Laberge, Michel

2017-10-01

One-dimensional (1D) MHD code is developed in General Fusion (GF) for coupled plasma-liner simulations in magnetized target fusion (MTF) systems. The main goal of these simulations is to search for optimal parameters of MTF reactor, in which spherical liquid metal liner compresses compact toroid plasma. The code uses Lagrangian description for both liner and plasma. The liner is represented as a set of spherical shells with fixed masses while plasma is discretized as a set of nested tori with circular cross sections and fixed number of particles between them. All physical fields are 1D functions of either spherical (liner) or small toroidal (plasma) radius. Motion of liner and plasma shells is calculated self-consistently based on applied forces and equations of state. Magnetic field is determined by 1D profiles of poloidal and toroidal fluxes - they are advected with shells and diffuse according to local resistivity, this also accounts for flux leakage into the liner. Different plasma transport models are implemented, this allows for comparison with ongoing GF experiments. Fusion power calculation is included into the code. We performed a series of parameter scans in order to establish the underlying dependencies of the MTF system and find the optimal reactor design point.

Equilibrium spherically curved two-dimensional Lennard-Jones systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voogd, J.M.; Sloot, P.M.A.; van Dantzig, R.

2005-01-01

To learn about basic aspects of nano-scale spherical molecular shells during their formation, spherically curved two-dimensional N-particle Lennard-Jones systems are simulated, studying curvature evolution paths at zero-temperature. For many N-values (N < 800) equilibrium configu- rations are traced

Elastic properties of spherically anisotropic piezoelectric composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

En-Bo, Wei; Guo-Qing, Gu; Ying-Ming, Poon

2010-01-01

Effective elastic properties of spherically anisotropic piezoelectric composites, whose spherically anisotropic piezoelectric inclusions are embedded in an infinite non-piezoelectric matrix, are theoretically investigated. Analytical solutions for the elastic displacements and the electric potentials under a uniform external strain are derived exactly. Taking into account of the coupling effects of elasticity, permittivity and piezoelectricity, the formula is derived for estimating the effective elastic properties based on the average field theory in the dilute limit. An elastic response mechanism is revealed, in which the effective elastic properties increase as inclusion piezoelectric properties increase and inclusion dielectric properties decrease. Moreover, a piezoelectric response mechanism, of which the effective piezoelectric response vanishes due to the symmetry of spherically anisotropic composite, is also disclosed. (condensed matter: structure, thermal and mechanical properties)

Contamination effects on fixed-bias Langmuir probes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steigies, C. T. [Institut fuer Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universitaet zu Kiel, 24098 Kiel (Germany); Barjatya, A. [Department of Physical Sciences, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida 32114 (United States)

2012-11-15

Langmuir probes are standard instruments for plasma density measurements on many sounding rockets. These probes can be operated in swept-bias as well as in fixed-bias modes. In swept-bias Langmuir probes, contamination effects are frequently visible as a hysteresis between consecutive up and down voltage ramps. This hysteresis, if not corrected, leads to poorly determined plasma densities and temperatures. With a properly chosen sweep function, the contamination parameters can be determined from the measurements and correct plasma parameters can then be determined. In this paper, we study the contamination effects on fixed-bias Langmuir probes, where no hysteresis type effect is seen in the data. Even though the contamination is not evident from the measurements, it does affect the plasma density fluctuation spectrum as measured by the fixed-bias Langmuir probe. We model the contamination as a simple resistor-capacitor circuit between the probe surface and the plasma. We find that measurements of small scale plasma fluctuations (meter to sub-meter scale) along a rocket trajectory are not affected, but the measured amplitude of large scale plasma density variation (tens of meters or larger) is attenuated. From the model calculations, we determine amplitude and cross-over frequency of the contamination effect on fixed-bias probes for different contamination parameters. The model results also show that a fixed bias probe operating in the ion-saturation region is affected less by contamination as compared to a fixed bias probe operating in the electron saturation region.

Flow and scour around spherical bodies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Truelsen, Christoffer

2003-01-01

Spherical bodies placed in the marine environment may bury themselves due to the action of the waves and the current on the sediment in their immediate neighborhood. The present study addresses this topic by a numerical and an experimental investigation of the flow and scour around a spherical body...... results except in the critical flow regime. For flow around a near-wall sphere, a weak horseshoe vortex emerges as the gap ratio becomes less than or equal to 0.3. In Chapter 3, a RANS flow solver has been used to compute the bed shear stress for a near-wall sphere. The model results compare well...... 4, an experimental study on the scour around spherical bodies and self-burial in sand for steady current and waves has been carried out. The effect of the contraction of streamlines is found to be the key element in the scour process both for steady current and waves. Furthermore, it is demonstrated...

Spherical tokamak power plant design issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hender, T.C.; Bond, A.; Edwards, J.; Karditsas, P.J.; McClements, K.G.; Mustoe, J.; Sherwood, D.V.; Voss, G.M.; Wilson, H.R.

2000-01-01

The very high β potential of the spherical tokamak has been demonstrated in the START experiment. Systems code studies show the cost of electricity from spherical tokamak power plants, operating at high β in second ballooning mode stable regime, is comparable with fossil fuels and fission. Outline engineering designs are presented based on two concepts for the central rod of the toroidal field (TF) circuit - a room temperature water cooled copper rod or a helium cooled cryogenic aluminium rod. For the copper rod case the TF return limbs are supported by the vacuum vessel, while for the aluminium rod the TF coils form an independent structure. In both cases thermohydraulic and stress calculations indicate the viability of the design. Two-dimensional neutronics calculations show the feasibility of tritium self-sufficiency without an inboard blanket. The spherical tokamak has unique maintenance possibilities based on lowering major component structures into a hot cell beneath the device and these are discussed

Integrals of products of spherical functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veverka, O.

1975-01-01

Various branches of mathematical physics use integral formulas of the products of spherical functions. In quantum mechanics and in transport theory the integrals ∫sub((4π))dΩ vectorYsub(s)sup(t)(Ω vector)Ysub(l)sup(k)(Ω vector)Ysub(n)sup(m)(Ω vector), ∫sub(-1)sup(1)dμPsub(s)sup(t)(μ)Psub(l)sup(k)(μ)Psub(n)sup(m)(μ), ∫sub(-1)sup(1)dμPsub(s)(μ)Psub(l)(μ)Psub(n)(μ) are generally applied, where Ysub(α)sup(β)(Ω vector) are spherical harmonics, Psub(α)sup(β)(μ) are associated Legendre functions, and Psub(α)(μ) are Legendre polynomials. In the paper, the general procedure of calculating the integrals of the products of any combination of spherical functions is given. The procedure is referred to in a report on the boundary conditions for the cylindrical geometry in neutron transport theory for both the outer and inner cylindrical boundaries. (author)

Synthesis and characterization of spherical 2-diazo-4,6-dinitrophenol (DDNP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Zongwei; Liu Yucun; Liu Dengcheng; Yan Liwei; Chen Ji

2010-01-01

Spherical 2-diazo-4,6-dinitrophenol (DDNP) with good flowability and controlled bulk density (0.65-0.95 g/cm 3 ) has been prepared at factory scale by the modified method using 4-methylphenol as crystal control ingredient. Results showed that the yield of product was increased by 5-10%, and the waste water was significantly decreased due to circulation use of waste water compared with traditional method. Synthesized spherical DDNP was characterized by IR, laser granularity measurement, SEM, HPLC and XRD. IR spectrum confirmed the structural features of spherical DDNP. The particle analysis revealed that the modified method could offer spherical DDNP with average particle size of 350 μm and high purity (>98.52%). The XRD peaks of spherical DDNP have similar diffraction angles as those of traditional DDNP. The DSC profile of spherical DDNP showed the exothermic decomposition in the temperature range of 161.2-188.5 deg. C. The product can be pressed at over 40 MPa without dead pressed phenomenon, and the minimum detonating charge of spherical DDNP was measured to be about 0.15 g. Furthermore, impact sensitivity test suggested that spherical DDNP is less sensitive than traditional DDNP.

Periphony-Lattice Mixed-Order Ambisonic Scheme for Spherical Microphone Arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chang, Jiho; Marschall, Marton

2018-01-01

to performance that is independent of the incident direction of the sound waves. On the other hand, mixed-order ambisonic (MOA) schemes that select an appropriate subset of spherical harmonics can improve the performance for horizontal directions at the expense of other directions. This paper proposes an MOA......Most methods for sound field reconstruction and spherical beamforming with spherical microphone arrays are mathematically based on the spherical harmonics expansion. In many cases, this expansion is truncated at a certain order as in higher order ambisonics (HOA). This truncation leads...

Capillary condensation hysteresis in overlapping spherical pores: a Monte Carlo simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gor, Gennady Yu; Rasmussen, Christopher J; Neimark, Alexander V

2012-08-21

The mechanisms of hysteretic phase transformations in fluids confined to porous bodies depend on the size and shape of pores, as well as their connectivity. We present a Monte Carlo simulation study of capillary condensation and evaporation cycles in the course of Lennard-Jones fluid adsorption in the system of overlapping spherical pores. This model system mimics pore shape and connectivity in some mesoporous materials obtained by templating cubic surfactant mesophases or colloidal crystals. We show different mechanisms of capillary hysteresis depending on the size of the window between the pores. For the system with a small window, the hysteresis cycle is similar to that in a single spherical pore: capillary condensation takes place upon achieving the limit of stability of adsorption film and evaporation is triggered by cavitation. When the window is large enough, the capillary condensation shifts to a pressure higher than that of the isolated pore, and the possibility for the equilibrium mechanism of desorption is revealed. These finding may have important implications for practical problems of assessment of the pore size distributions in mesoporous materials with cagelike pore networks.

The confinement effect in spherical inhomogeneous quantum dots and stability of excitons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Benhaddou

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We investigate in this work the quantum confinement effect of exciton in spherical inhomogeneous quantum dots IQDs. The spherical core is enveloped by two shells. The inner shell is a semiconductor characterized by a small band-gap. The core and the outer shell are the same semiconductor characterized by a large band-gap. So there is a significant gap-offset creating a deep potential well where the excitons are localized and strongly confined. We have adopted the Ritz variational method to calculate numerically the excitonic ground state energy and its binding energy in the strong, moderate and low confinement regimes. The results show that the Ritz variational method is in good agreement with the perturbation method in strong confinement. There is a double confinement effect and dual control. The calculation checks the effective Rydberg R* at the asymptotic limit of bulk semiconductor when the thickness takes very large values. The excitonic binding energy increases, Thus giving the excitons a high stability even at ambient temperature. These nanosystems are promising in several applications: lighting, detection, biological labeling and quantum computing.

The spherical limit of the n-vector model and correlation inequaljties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angelescu, N.; Bundaru, M.; Costache, G.

1978-08-01

The asymptotics of the state of the n-vector model with a finite number of spins in the spherical limit is studied. Besides rederiving the limit free energy, corresponding to a generalized spherical model (with ''spherical constraint'' at every site), we obtain also the limit of the correlation functions, which allow a precise definition of the state of the latter model. Correlation inequalities are proved for ferromagnetic interactions in the asymptotic regime. In particular, it is shown that the generalized spherical model fulfills the expected Griffiths' type inequalities, differing in this respect from the spherical model with overall constraint. (author)

A modular spherical harmonics approach to the neutron transport equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inanc, F.; Rohach, A.F.

1989-01-01

A modular nodal method was developed for solving the neutron transport equation in 2-D xy coordinates. The spherical harmonic expansion was used for approximating the second-order even-parity form of the neutron transport equation. The boundary conditions of the spherical harmonics approximation were derived in a form to have forms analogous to the partial currents in the neutron diffusion equation. Relations were developed for generating both the second-order spherical harmonic equations and the boundary conditions in an automated computational algorithm. Nodes using different orders of the spherical harmonics approximation to the transport equation were interfaced through mixed-type boundary conditions. The determination of spherical harmonic orders implemented in the nodes were determined by the scheme in an automated manner. Results of the method compared favorably to benchmark problems. (author)

Intraoperative tumor detection: Relative performance of single-element, dual-element, and imaging probes with various collimators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartsough, N.E.; Barrett, H.H.; Barber, H.B.; Woolfenden, J.M.

1995-01-01

Accurate tumor staging depends on finding all tumor sites, and curative surgery requires the removal of all cancerous tissue from those sites. One technique for locating tumors is to inject patients before surgery with a radiotracer that is preferentially taken up by cancerous tissue. Then, an intraoperative gamma-sensitive probe is used to locate the tumors. Small (< 1-cm diameter) tumors, often undetectable by external imaging and by the standard surgical inspection with sight and touch, can be found with probes. Simple calculations and measurements with radioactive tumor models show that small tumors should be detected by single-element probes, but often such probes fail to detect these small tumors in practice. This discrepancy is often caused by the use of a uniform background to predict probe performance. Real backgrounds are nonuniform and can decrease probe performance dramatically. Dual-element, coincidence, or imaging probes may solve the background problem. The authors devised a method to predict probe performance in a realistic background which includes variations in normal organ uptakes. They predict the relative performance of both existing probes and those in the design stage so that optimal detector and collimator configurations can be determined. The procedure includes a Monte-Carlo-calculated point-response function, a numerical torso phantom, and measured biodistribution of a monoclonal antibody. The Hotelling Trace Value, a measure of tumor-detection performance, is computed from the probe responses in simulated studies

From Spheric to Aspheric Solid Polymer Lenses: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuo-Yung Hung

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new approach in the use of MEMS technology to fabricate micro-optofluidic polymer solid lenses in order to achieve the desired profile, focal length, numerical aperture, and spot size. The resulting polymer solid lenses can be applied in optical data storage systems, imaging systems, and automated optical inspection systems. In order to meet the various needs of different applications, polymer solid lenses may have a spherical or aspherical shape. The method of fabricating polymer solid lenses is different from methods used to fabricate tunable lenses with variable focal length or needing an external control system to change the lens geometry. The current trend in polymer solid lenses is toward the fabrication of microlenses with a high numerical aperture, small clear aperture (<2 mm, and high transmittance. In this paper we focus on the use of thermal energy and electrostatic force in shaping the lens profile, including both spherical and aspherical lenses. In addition, the paper discusses how to fabricate a lens with a high numerical aperture of 0.6 using MEMS and also compares the optical characteristics of polymer lens materials, including SU-8, Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA, and cyclic olefin copolymer (COC. Finally, new concepts and applications related to micro-optofluidic lenses and polymer materials are also discussed.

Controlled drug release on amine functionalized spherical MCM-41

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szegedi, Agnes, E-mail: szegedi@chemres.hu [Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1025 Budapest, Pusztaszeri ut 59-67 (Hungary); Popova, Margarita; Goshev, Ivan [Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia (Bulgaria); Klebert, Szilvia [Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1025 Budapest, Pusztaszeri ut 59-67 (Hungary); Mihaly, Judit [Institute of Molecular Pharmacology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1025 Budapest, Pusztaszeri ut 59-67 (Hungary)

2012-10-15

MCM-41 silica with spherical morphology and small particle sizes (100 nm) was synthesized and modified by post-synthesis method with different amounts of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). A comparative study of the adsorption and release of a model drug, ibuprofen, was carried out. The modified and drug loaded mesoporous materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, N{sub 2} physisorption, elemental analysis, thermal analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. A new method was developed for the quantitative determination of amino groups in surface modified mesoporous materials by the ninhydrin reaction. Good correlation was found between the amino content of the MCM-41 materials determined by the ninhydrin method and their ibuprofen adsorption capacity. Amino modification resulted in high degree of ibuprofen loading and slow release rate in comparison to the parent non-modified MCM-41. - Graphical abstract: Determination of surface amino groups by ninhidrin method. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Spherical MCM-41 modified by different amounts of APTES was studied. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ibuprofen (IBU) adsorption and release characteristics was tested. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The ninhydrin reaction was used for the quantitative determination of amino groups. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Stoichiometric amount of APTES is enough for totally covering the surface with amino groups. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Good correlation was found between the amino content and IBU adsorption capacity.

Developments in Scanning Hall Probe Microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Chouinard, Taras; Chu, Ricky; David, Nigel; Broun, David

2009-05-01

Low temperature scanning Hall probe microscopy is a sensitive means of imaging magnetic structures with high spatial resolution and magnetic flux sensitivity approaching that of a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device. We have developed a scanning Hall probe microscope with novel features, including highly reliable coarse positioning, in situ optimization of sensor-sample alignment and capacitive transducers for linear, long range positioning measurement. This has been motivated by the need to reposition accurately above fabricated nanostructures such as small superconducting rings. Details of the design and performance will be presented as well as recent progress towards time-resolved measurements with sub nanosecond resolution.

Study of ablation and implosion stages in wire arrays using coupled ultraviolet and X-ray probing diagnostics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, A. A.; Ivanov, V. V.; Astanovitskiy, A. L.; Wiewior, P. P.; Chalyy, O. [University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557 (United States); Papp, D. [University of Nevada Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557 (United States); ELI-ALPS, ELI-Hu Nkft., H-6720 Szeged (Hungary)

2015-11-15

Star and cylindrical wire arrays were studied using laser probing and X-ray radiography at the 1-MA Zebra pulse power generator at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Leopard laser provided backlighting, producing a laser plasma from a Si target which emitted an X-ray probing pulse at the wavelength of 6.65 Å. A spherically bent quartz crystal imaged the backlit wires onto X-ray film. Laser probing diagnostics at the wavelength of 266 nm included a 3-channel polarimeter for Faraday rotation diagnostic and two-frame laser interferometry with two shearing interferometers to study the evolution of the plasma electron density at the ablation and implosion stages. Dynamics of the plasma density profile in Al wire arrays at the ablation stage were directly studied with interferometry, and expansion of wire cores was measured with X-ray radiography. The magnetic field in the imploding plasma was measured with the Faraday rotation diagnostic, and current was reconstructed.

Effective pair potentials for spherical nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Zon, Ramses

2009-01-01

An effective description for rigid spherical nanoparticles in a fluid of point particles is presented. The points inside the nanoparticles and the point particles are assumed to interact via spherically symmetric additive pair potentials, while the distribution of points inside the nanoparticles is taken to be spherically symmetric and smooth. The resulting effective pair interactions between a nanoparticle and a point particle, as well as between two nanoparticles, are then given by spherically symmetric potentials. If overlap between particles is allowed, as can occur for some forms of the pair potentials, the effective potential generally has non-analytic points. It is shown that for each effective potential the expressions for different overlapping cases can be written in terms of one analytic auxiliary potential. Even when only non-overlapping situations are possible, the auxiliary potentials facilitate the formulation of the effective potentials. Effective potentials for hollow nanoparticles (appropriate e.g. for buckyballs) are also considered and shown to be related to those for solid nanoparticles. For hollow nanoparticles overlap is more physical, since this covers the case of a smaller particle embedded in a larger, hollow nanoparticle. Finally, explicit expressions are given for the effective potentials derived from basic pair potentials of power law and exponential form, as well as from the commonly used London–van der Waals, Morse, Buckingham, and Lennard-Jones potentials. The applicability of the latter is demonstrated by comparison with an atomic description of nanoparticles with an internal face centered cubic structure

Neutronic calculations of AFPR-100 reactor based on Spherical Cermet Fuel particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benchrif, A.; Chetaine, A.; Amsil, H.

2013-01-01

Highlights: • AFPR-100 reactor considered as a small nuclear reactor without on-site refueling originally based on TRISO micro-fuel element. • The AFPR-100 reactor was re-designed using the new Spherical Cermet fuel element. • The adoption of the Cermet fuel instead of TRISO fuel reduces the core lifetime operation by 3.1 equivalent full power years. • We discussed the new micro-fuel element candidate for small and medium sized reactors. - Abstract: The Atoms For Peace Reactor (AFPR-100), as a 100 MW(e) without the need of on-site refueling, was originally based on UO2 TRISO fuel coated particles embedded in a carbon matrix directly cooled by light water. AFPR-100 is considered as a small nuclear reactor without open-vessel refueling which is proposed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). An account of significant irradiation swelling in the silicon carbide fission product barrier coating layer of TRISO fuel element, a Spherical Cermet Fuel element has been proposed. Indeed, the new fuel concept, which was developed by PNNL, consists of changing the pyro-carbon and ceramic coatings that are incompatible with low temperature by Zirconium. The latter was chosen to avoid any potential Wigner energy effect issues in the TRISO fuel element. Actually, the purpose of this study is to assess the goal of AFPR-100 concept using the Cermet fuel; undeniably, the fuel core lifetime prediction may be extended for reasonably long period without on-site refueling. In fact, we investigated some neutronic parameters of reactor core by the calculation code SRAC95. The results suggest that the core fuel lifetime beyond 12 equivalent full power years (EFPYs) is possible. Hence, the adoption of Cermet fuel concept shows a core lifetime decrease of about 3.1 EFPY

Investigating fusion plasma instabilities in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak using mega electron volt proton emissions (invited)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez, R. V., E-mail: rvale006@fiu.edu; Boeglin, W. U.; Angulo, A.; Avila, P.; Leon, O.; Lopez, C. [Department of Physics, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8 ST, CP204, Miami, Florida 33199 (United States); Darrow, D. S. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, James Forrestal Campus, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Cecconello, M.; Klimek, I. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala SE-751 20 (Sweden); Allan, S. Y.; Akers, R. J.; Keeling, D. L.; McClements, K. G.; Scannell, R.; Conway, N. J. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Turnyanskiy, M. [ITER Physics Department, EFDA CSU Garching, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748, Garching (Germany); Jones, O. M. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Michael, C. A. [Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 (Australia)

2014-11-15

The proton detector (PD) measures 3 MeV proton yield distributions from deuterium-deuterium fusion reactions within the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST). The PD’s compact four-channel system of collimated and individually oriented silicon detectors probes different regions of the plasma, detecting protons (with gyro radii large enough to be unconfined) leaving the plasma on curved trajectories during neutral beam injection. From first PD data obtained during plasma operation in 2013, proton production rates (up to several hundred kHz and 1 ms time resolution) during sawtooth events were compared to the corresponding MAST neutron camera data. Fitted proton emission profiles in the poloidal plane demonstrate the capabilities of this new system.

Protein recognition by a pattern-generating fluorescent molecular probe

Science.gov (United States)

Pode, Zohar; Peri-Naor, Ronny; Georgeson, Joseph M.; Ilani, Tal; Kiss, Vladimir; Unger, Tamar; Markus, Barak; Barr, Haim M.; Motiei, Leila; Margulies, David

2017-12-01

Fluorescent molecular probes have become valuable tools in protein research; however, the current methods for using these probes are less suitable for analysing specific populations of proteins in their native environment. In this study, we address this gap by developing a unimolecular fluorescent probe that combines the properties of small-molecule-based probes and cross-reactive sensor arrays (the so-called chemical 'noses/tongues'). On the one hand, the probe can detect different proteins by generating unique identification (ID) patterns, akin to cross-reactive arrays. On the other hand, its unimolecular scaffold and selective binding enable this ID-generating probe to identify combinations of specific protein families within complex mixtures and to discriminate among isoforms in living cells, where macroscopic arrays cannot access. The ability to recycle the molecular device and use it to track several binding interactions simultaneously further demonstrates how this approach could expand the fluorescent toolbox currently used to detect and image proteins.

Field measuring probe for SSC magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganetis, G.; Herrera, J.; Hogue, R.; Skaritka, J.; Wanderer, P.; Willen, E.

1987-01-01

The field probe developed for measuring the field in SSC dipole magnets is an adaptation of the rotating tangential coil system in use at Brookhaven for several years. Also known as the MOLE, it is a self-contained room-temperature mechanism that is pulled through the aperture of the magnet with regular stops to measure the local field. Several minutes are required to measure the field at each point. The probe measures the multipole components of the field as well as the field angle relative to gravity. The sensitivity of the coil and electronics is such that the field up to the full 6.6 T excitation of the magnet as well as the field when warm with only 0.01 T excitation can be measured. Tethers are attached to both ends of the probe to carry electrical connections and to supply dry nitrogen to the air motors that rotate the tangential windings as well as the gravity sensor. A small computer is attached to the probe for control and for data collection, analysis and storage

Pitot-probe displacement in a supersonic turbulent boundary layer

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, J. M.

1972-01-01

Eight circular pitot probes ranging in size from 2 to 70 percent of the boundary-layer thickness were tested to provide experimental probe displacement results in a two-dimensional turbulent boundary layer at a nominal free-stream Mach number of 2 and unit Reynolds number of 8 million per meter. The displacement obtained in the study was larger than that reported by previous investigators in either an incompressible turbulent boundary layer or a supersonic laminar boundary layer. The large probes indicated distorted Mach number profiles, probably due to separation. When the probes were small enough to cause no appreciable distortion, the displacement was constant over most of the boundary layer. The displacement in the near-wall region decreased to negative displacement in some cases. This near-wall region was found to extend to about one probe diameter from the test surface.

Reactive probing of macroscopically quantum mechanical SQUID rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prance, R.J.; Clark, T.D.; Whiteman, R.; Diggins, J.; Ralph, J.F.; Prance, H.; Spiller, T.P.; Widom, A.; Srivastava, Y.

1994-01-01

In this paper we demonstrate that the energy level structure of ultra small capacitance SQUID rings can be probed adiabatically at radio frequency using both dynamical and quasistatic reactive techniques. ((orig.))

The variance of dispersion measure of high-redshift transient objects as a probe of ionized bubble size during reionization

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshiura, Shintaro; Takahashi, Keitaro

2018-01-01

The dispersion measure (DM) of high-redshift (z ≳ 6) transient objects such as fast radio bursts can be a powerful tool to probe the intergalactic medium during the Epoch of Reionization. In this paper, we study the variance of the DMs of objects with the same redshift as a potential probe of the size distribution of ionized bubbles. We calculate the DM variance with a simple model with randomly distributed spherical bubbles. It is found that the DM variance reflects the characteristics of the probability distribution of the bubble size. We find that the variance can be measured precisely enough to obtain the information on the typical size with a few hundred sources at a single redshift.

Method of producing spherical lithium aluminate particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, L.; Medico, R.R.; Baugh, W.A.

1983-01-01

Spherical particles of lithium aluminate are formed by initially producing aluminium hydroxide spheroids, and immersing the spheroids in a lithium ion-containing solution to infuse lithium ions into the spheroids. The lithium-infused spheroids are rinsed to remove excess lithium ion from the surface, and the rinsed spheroids are soaked for a period of time in a liquid medium, dried and sintered to form lithium aluminate spherical particles. (author)

Outcomes of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) in low myopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Reinstein, Dan Z; Carp, Glenn I; Archer, Timothy J; Gobbe, Marine

2014-12-01

To report the visual and refractive outcomes of small incision lenticule extraction for low myopia using the VisuMax femtosecond laser (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany). A retrospective analysis of 120 consecutive small incision lenticule extraction procedures was performed for low myopia. Inclusion criteria were preoperative spherical equivalent refraction up to -3.50 diopters (D), cylinder up to 1.50 D, and corrected distance visual acuity of 20/20 or better. Outcomes analysis was performed for all eyes with 1-year follow-up according to the Standard Graphs for Reporting Refractive Surgery, and also including mesopic contrast sensitivity. One-year data were available for 110 eyes (92%). Preoperatively, mean spherical equivalent refraction was -2.61 ± 0.54 D (range: -1.03 to -3.50 D) and mean cylinder was 0.55 ± 0.38 D (range: 0.00 to 1.50 D). Postoperatively, mean spherical equivalent refraction was -0.05 ± 0.36 D (range: -0.94 to +1.25 D) and mean cylinder was ± 0.50 D in 84% and ± 1.00 D in 99% of eyes. Uncorrected distance visual acuity was 20/20 or better in 96% of eyes and 20/25 or better in 100% of eyes. One line of corrected distance visual acuity was lost in 9%, but no eyes lost two or more lines. There was an initial overcorrection in mean spherical equivalent refraction on day 1 (+0.37 D) as expected, which regressed to +0.10 D at 1 month and -0.05 D at 3 months, after which stability was reached (mean spherical equivalent refraction was -0.05 D at 1 year). Contrast sensitivity at 1 year was slightly increased at 3, 6, 12, and 18 cycles per degree (P < .05). Small incision lenticule extraction for low myopia was found to be safe and effective with outcomes similar to those previously reported for LASIK. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Interaction of a ballistic probe with gaseous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucerovsky, Zden; Greason, William D

2008-01-01

Free-flying metal probes are used to determine charge densities in gaseous media containing free charge or low density plasma. The trajectory of the probe is ensured either by gravity or by propelling the probe to a certain velocity at the launch site. While travelling, the probe charge changes from its launch-site magnitude to that related to the space charge density existing along the trajectory. The degree to which the probe's arrival-site charge magnitude matches the space charge density in the area of interest depends on the probe shape and on the charge exchange processes between the probe body and the medium. The paper studies a probe acting as a free-flying charge carrier in air, and discusses the problems that may lead to an imbalance between the charge collected by the probe in the area of interest and the charge measured at the arrival site. The analysis and the described experiments are of the ballistic type: a small, triboelectrically pre-charged metal probe was propelled on a horizontal path, and the charge carried by the probe was measured at several points along the trajectory by means of contact-free induction rings; the initial and final charges were determined by static Faraday cups. A charge disparity was found under certain conditions, and its degree explained by the effects of the charge carrier potential. The studied probe charges ranged from 10 to 50 nF, and the fly-times needed to cross a one-meter path ranged from 20 to 40 ms. The probe to gas charge exchange experiments and their analysis yielded conditions under which the probe lost approximately 10 % of its charge. The results of our study may be of interest to those who intend to use the free-flying probe technique for the determination of space charge density.

A combined tactile and Raman probe for tissue characterization—design considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyberg, Morgan; Candefjord, Stefan; Ramser, Kerstin; Lindahl, Olof A; Jalkanen, Ville

2012-01-01

Histopathology is the golden standard for cancer diagnosis and involves the characterization of tissue components. It is labour intensive and time consuming. We have earlier proposed a combined fibre-optic near-infrared Raman spectroscopy (NIR-RS) and tactile resonance method (TRM) probe for detecting positive surgical margins as a complement to interoperative histopathology. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of attaching an RS probe inside a cylindrical TRM sensor and to investigate how laser-induced heating of the fibre-optic NIR-RS affected the temperature of the RS probe tip and an encasing TRM sensor. In addition, the possibility to perform fibre-optic NIR-RS in a well-lit environment was investigated. A small amount of rubber latex was preferable for attaching the thin RS probe inside the TRM sensor. The temperature rise of the TRM sensor due to a fibre-optic NIR-RS at 270 mW during 20 s was less than 2 °C. Fibre-optic NIR-RS was feasible in a dimmed bright environment using a small light shield and automatic subtraction of a pre-recorded contaminant spectrum. The results are promising for a combined probe for tissue characterization. (paper)

Fluid Fuel Fluctuations in the Spherical Tank

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. D. Nguyen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Many authors tried to solve a task concerning small fluctuations of the incompressible ideal liquid, which partially fills a stationary tank of any shape. There is a long list of references to this subject. The article presents a task solution on own fluctuations of liquid in spherical capacity, with boundary conditions on a free surface and a surface with a resistance – drain surface. Relevance of problem consists in assessment of influence of intra tank devices (measuring, intaking, damping devices, etc. on the liquid fuel fluctuations. The special attention is paid to finding the own values and frequencies of the equations of disturbed flow fluctuations with dissipation available on the boundary surfaces. In contrast to the previous examples, the lowering speed and the free surface area at undisturbed state are variable.The article also considers a variation formulation of the auxiliary boundary tasks. In solution of variation tasks, the attached Legendre's functions were used as coordinate functions. Further, after substitution of the variation tasks solution in the boundary conditions and the subsequent mathematical operations the characteristic equation was obtained. To obtain solutions of the cubic characteristic equation Cardano formulas were used. The article also considers the task on the own motions of liquid filling a capacity between two concentric spheres and flowing out via the intake in case there is a free surface. Reliability of the obtained numerical results is confirmed by comparison with calculation results of frequencies resulting from solutions of a task on the own fluctuations of liquid in the spherical capacity with the constant depth of liquid. All numerical calculations were performed using the Matlab environment.

MPAI (mass probes aided ionization) method for total analysis of biomolecules by mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Honda, Aki; Hayashi, Shinichiro; Hifumi, Hiroki; Honma, Yuya; Tanji, Noriyuki; Iwasawa, Naoko; Suzuki, Yoshio; Suzuki, Koji

2007-01-01

We have designed and synthesized various mass probes, which enable us to effectively ionize various molecules to be detected with mass spectrometry. We call the ionization method using mass probes the "MPAI (mass probes aided ionization)" method. We aim at the sensitive detection of various biological molecules, and also the detection of bio-molecules by a single mass spectrometry serially without changing the mechanical settings. Here, we review mass probes for small molecules with various functional groups and mass probes for proteins. Further, we introduce newly developed mass probes for proteins for highly sensitive detection.

Small signal gain measurements in a small scale HF overtone laser

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wisniewski, C.F.; Hewett, K.B.; Manke, G.C. II; Hager, G.D. [Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate, 3550 Aberdeen Ave SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5776 (United States); Crowell, P.G. [Northrup Grumman Information Technology, Science and Technology Operating Unit, Advanced Technology Division, P.O. Box 9377, Albuquerque, NM 87119-9377 (United States); Truman, C.R. [Mechanical Engineering Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 (United States)

2003-07-01

The overtone gain medium of a small-scale HF overtone laser was probed using a sub-Doppler tunable diode laser. Two-dimensional spatially resolved small signal gain and temperature maps were generated for several ro-vibrational transitions in the HF (v=2{yields}v=0) overtone band. Our results compare well with previous measurements of the overtone gain in a similar HF laser device. (orig.)

Non-Spherical Microcapsules for Increased Core Content Volume Delivery

Science.gov (United States)

Oliva-Buisson, Yvette J.

2014-01-01

The goal of this project was to advance microencapsulation from the standard spherical microcapsule to a non-spherical, high-aspect ratio (HAR), elongated microcapsule. This was to be accomplished by developing reproducible methods of synthesizing or fabricating robust, non-spherical, HAR microcapsules. An additional goal of this project was to develop the techniques to the point where scale-up of these methods could be examined. Additionally, this project investigated ways to apply the microencapsulation techniques developed as part of this project to self-healing formulations.

FY1995 development of artificial arm 'SMART ARM' by spherical ultrasonic motor; 1995 nendo kyumen choonpa motor wo mochiita jinko gishu smart arm no kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

The project has an intention of development of new type artificial arm by spherical ultrasonic motor. We have succeeded in developing new type of spherical ultrasonic motor with three DOF. And we have succeeded in applying the motor to an artificial arm. This arm have advantages of small size, low weight torque comparing with conventional ones. We demonstrated them the new arm behaved well and it had good controlabilty. (NEDO)

Fluorescent probes and nanoparticles for intracellular sensing of pH values

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Wen; Li, Xiaohua; Ma, Huimin

2014-12-01

Intracellular pH regulates a number of cell metabolism processes and its sensing is thus of great importance for cell studies. Among various methods, fluorescent probes have been widely used for sensing intracellular pH values because of their high sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution capability. In this article, the development of fluorescent probes with good practicability in sensing intracellular pH values and pH variation during 2009 - 2014 is reviewed. These fluorescence probes are divided into two kinds: small molecules and nanoparticles. Photophysical properties, advantages/disadvantages and applications of the two kinds of probes are discussed in detail.

Effect of amine functionalization of spherical MCM-41 and SBA-15 on controlled drug release

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szegedi, A.; Popova, M.; Goshev, I.; Mihaly, J.

2011-01-01

MCM-41 and SBA-15 silica materials with spherical morphology and different particle sizes were synthesized and modified by post-synthesis method with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). A comparative study of the adsorption and release of a model drug, ibuprofen, were carried out. The modified and drug loaded mesoporous materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, N 2 physisorption, thermal analysis, elemental analysis and FT-IR spectroscopy. Surface modification with amino groups resulted in high degree of ibuprofen loading and slow rate of release for MCM-41, whereas it was the opposite for SBA-15. The adsorbed drug content and the delivery rate can be predetermined by the choice of mesoporous material with the appropriate structural characteristics and surface functionality. -- Graphical Abstract: Ibuprofen delivery from the parent and amino-modified spherical MCM-41 materials with 100 nm (small) and 500 nm (large) particle sizes. Display Omitted Highlights: → Spherical type MCM-41 and SBA-15 with different particle sizes were modified by APTES. → Adsorption and release rate of ibuprofen were compared. → High degree of ibuprofen loading, slow release rate for MCM-41, the opposite for SBA-15. → MCM-41 with 100 nm particles was more stable and showed slower release rate

MISR Dark Water aerosol retrievals: operational algorithm sensitivity to particle non-sphericity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. V. Kalashnikova

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to theoretically investigate the sensitivity of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR operational (version 22 Dark Water retrieval algorithm to aerosol non-sphericity over the global oceans under actual observing conditions, accounting for current algorithm assumptions. Non-spherical (dust aerosol models, which were introduced in version 16 of the MISR aerosol product, improved the quality and coverage of retrievals in dusty regions. Due to the sensitivity of the retrieval to the presence of non-spherical aerosols, the MISR aerosol product has been successfully used to track the location and evolution of mineral dust plumes from the Sahara across the Atlantic, for example. However, the MISR global non-spherical aerosol optical depth (AOD fraction product has been found to have several climatological artifacts superimposed on valid detections of mineral dust, including high non-spherical fraction in the Southern Ocean and seasonally variable bands of high non-sphericity. In this paper we introduce a formal approach to examine the ability of the operational MISR Dark Water algorithm to distinguish among various spherical and non-spherical particles as a function of the variable MISR viewing geometry. We demonstrate the following under the criteria currently implemented: (1 Dark Water retrieval sensitivity to particle non-sphericity decreases for AOD below about 0.1 primarily due to an unnecessarily large lower bound imposed on the uncertainty in MISR observations at low light levels, and improves when this lower bound is removed; (2 Dark Water retrievals are able to distinguish between the spherical and non-spherical particles currently used for all MISR viewing geometries when the AOD exceeds 0.1; (3 the sensitivity of the MISR retrievals to aerosol non-sphericity varies in a complex way that depends on the sampling of the scattering phase function and the contribution from multiple scattering; and (4 non-sphericity

Developement of Spherical Polyurethane Beads

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

K. Maeda; H. Ohmori; H. Gyotoku

2005-01-01

@@ 1Results and Discussion We established a new method to produce the spherical polyurethane beads which have narrower distribution of particle size. This narrower distribution was achieved by the polyurethane prepolymer which contains ketimine as a blocked chain-extending agent. Firstly, the prepolymer is dispersed into the aqueous solution containing surfactant. Secondaly, water comes into the inside of prepolymer as oil phase. Thirdly, ketimine is hydrolyzed to amine, and amine reacts with prepolymer immediately to be polyurethane.Our spherical polyurethane beads are very suitable for automotive interior parts especially for instrument panel cover sheet producing under the slush molding method, because of good process ability, excellent durability to the sunlight and mechanical properties at low temperature. See Fig. 1 ,Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 (Page 820).

Spherical null geodesics of rotating Kerr black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hod, Shahar

2013-01-01

The non-equatorial spherical null geodesics of rotating Kerr black holes are studied analytically. Unlike the extensively studied equatorial circular orbits whose radii are known analytically, no closed-form formula exists in the literature for the radii of generic (non-equatorial) spherical geodesics. We provide here an approximate formula for the radii r ph (a/M;cosi) of these spherical null geodesics, where a/M is the dimensionless angular momentum of the black hole and cos i is an effective inclination angle (with respect to the black-hole equatorial plane) of the orbit. It is well-known that the equatorial circular geodesics of the Kerr spacetime (the prograde and the retrograde orbits with cosi=±1) are characterized by a monotonic dependence of their radii r ph (a/M;cosi=±1) on the dimensionless spin-parameter a/M of the black hole. We use here our novel analytical formula to reveal that this well-known property of the equatorial circular geodesics is actually not a generic property of the Kerr spacetime. In particular, we find that counter-rotating spherical null orbits in the range (3√(3)−√(59))/4≲cosi ph (a/M;cosi=const) on the dimensionless rotation-parameter a/M of the black hole. Furthermore, it is shown that spherical photon orbits of rapidly-rotating black holes are characterized by a critical inclination angle, cosi=√(4/7), above which the coordinate radii of the orbits approach the black-hole radius in the extremal limit. We prove that this critical inclination angle signals a transition in the physical properties of the spherical null geodesics: in particular, it separates orbits which are characterized by finite proper distances to the black-hole horizon from orbits which are characterized by infinite proper distances to the horizon.

Sextupole system for the correction of spherical aberration

Science.gov (United States)

Crewe, A.V.; Kopf, D.A.

In an electron beam device in which an electron beam is developed and then focused by a lens to a particular spot, there is provided a means for eliminating spherical aberration. A sextupole electromagnetic lens is positioned between two focusing lenses. The interaction of the sextupole with the beam compensates for spherical aberration. (GHT)

Models for randomly distributed nanoscopic domains on spherical vesicles

Science.gov (United States)

Anghel, Vinicius N. P.; Bolmatov, Dima; Katsaras, John

2018-06-01

The existence of lipid domains in the plasma membrane of biological systems has proven controversial, primarily due to their nanoscopic size—a length scale difficult to interrogate with most commonly used experimental techniques. Scattering techniques have recently proven capable of studying nanoscopic lipid domains populating spherical vesicles. However, the development of analytical methods able of predicting and analyzing domain pair correlations from such experiments has not kept pace. Here, we developed models for the random distribution of monodisperse, circular nanoscopic domains averaged on the surface of a spherical vesicle. Specifically, the models take into account (i) intradomain correlations corresponding to form factors and interdomain correlations corresponding to pair distribution functions, and (ii) the analytical computation of interdomain correlations for cases of two and three domains on a spherical vesicle. In the case of more than three domains, these correlations are treated either by Monte Carlo simulations or by spherical analogs of the Ornstein-Zernike and Percus-Yevick (PY) equations. Importantly, the spherical analog of the PY equation works best in the case of nanoscopic size domains, a length scale that is mostly inaccessible by experimental approaches such as, for example, fluorescent techniques and optical microscopies. The analytical form factors and structure factors of nanoscopic domains populating a spherical vesicle provide a new and important framework for the quantitative analysis of experimental data from commonly studied phase-separated vesicles used in a wide range of biophysical studies.

Rayleigh-Taylor instability in multi-structured spherical targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, N.K.; Lawande, S.V.

1986-01-01

An eigenvalue equation for the exponential growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is derived in spherical geometry. The free surface and jump boundary conditions are obtained from the eigenvalue equation. The eigenvalue equation is solved in the cases where the initial fluid density profile has a step function or exponential variation in space and analytical formulae for growth rate of the instability are obtained. The solutions for the step function are generalized for any number N of spherical zones forming an arbitrary fluid density profile. The results of the numerical calculations for N spherical zones are compared with the exact analytical results for exponential fluid density profile with N=10 and a good agreement is observed. The formalism is further used to study the effects of density gradients on Rayleigh-Taylor instability in spherical geometry. Also analytical formulae are presented for a particular case of N=3 and shell targets. The formalism developed here can be used to study the growth of the instability in present day multi-structured shell targets. (author)

JUST: Joint Upgraded Spherical Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azizov, E.A.; Dvorkin, N.Ya.; Filatov, O.G.

1997-01-01

The main goals, ideas and the programme of JUST, spherical tokamak (ST) for the plasma burn investigation, are presented. The place and prospects of JUST in thermonuclear investigations are discussed. (author)

A 2.5-mm diameter probe for photoacoustic and ultrasonic endoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Joon-Mo; Chen, Ruimin; Favazza, Christopher; Yao, Junjie; Li, Chiye; Hu, Zhilin; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K Kirk; Wang, Lihong V

2012-10-08

We have created a 2.5-mm outer diameter integrated photo-acoustic and ultrasonic mini-probe which can be inserted into a standard video endoscope's instrument channel. A small-diameter focused ultrasonic transducer made of PMN-PT provides adequate signal sensitivity, and enables miniaturization of the probe. Additionally, this new endoscopic probe utilizes the same scanning mirror and micromotor-based built-in actuator described in our previous reports; however, the length of the rigid distal section of the new probe has been further reduced to ~35 mm. This paper describes the technical details of the mini-probe and presents experimental results that both quantify the imaging performance and demonstrate its in vivo imaging capability, which suggests that it could work as a mini-probe for certain clinical applications.

A 2.5-mm diameter probe for photoacoustic and ultrasonic endoscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Joon-Mo; Chen, Ruimin; Favazza, Christopher; Yao, Junjie; Li, Chiye; Hu, Zhilin; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk; Wang, Lihong V.

2012-01-01

We have created a 2.5-mm outer diameter integrated photo-acoustic and ultrasonic mini-probe which can be inserted into a standard video endoscope’s instrument channel. A small-diameter focused ultrasonic transducer made of PMN-PT provides adequate signal sensitivity, and enables miniaturization of the probe. Additionally, this new endoscopic probe utilizes the same scanning mirror and micromotor-based built-in actuator described in our previous reports; however, the length of the rigid distal section of the new probe has been further reduced to ~35 mm. This paper describes the technical details of the mini-probe and presents experimental results that both quantify the imaging performance and demonstrate its in vivo imaging capability, which suggests that it could work as a mini-probe for certain clinical applications. PMID:23188360

Spherical loudspeaker array for local active control of sound.

Science.gov (United States)

Rafaely, Boaz

2009-05-01

Active control of sound has been employed to reduce noise levels around listeners' head using destructive interference from noise-canceling sound sources. Recently, spherical loudspeaker arrays have been studied as multiple-channel sound sources, capable of generating sound fields with high complexity. In this paper, the potential use of a spherical loudspeaker array for local active control of sound is investigated. A theoretical analysis of the primary and secondary sound fields around a spherical sound source reveals that the natural quiet zones for the spherical source have a shell-shape. Using numerical optimization, quiet zones with other shapes are designed, showing potential for quiet zones with extents that are significantly larger than the well-known limit of a tenth of a wavelength for monopole sources. The paper presents several simulation examples showing quiet zones in various configurations.

Virial theorem and hypervirial theorem in a spherical geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yan; Chen Jingling; Zhang Fulin

2011-01-01

The virial theorem in the one- and two-dimensional spherical geometry are presented in both classical and quantum mechanics. Choosing a special class of hypervirial operators, the quantum hypervirial relations in the spherical spaces are obtained. With the aid of the Hellmann-Feynman theorem, these relations can be used to formulate a perturbation theorem without wavefunctions, corresponding to the hypervirial-Hellmann-Feynman theorem perturbation theorem of Euclidean geometry. The one-dimensional harmonic oscillator and two-dimensional Coulomb system in the spherical spaces are given as two sample examples to illustrate the perturbation method. (paper)

Small Column Ion Exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huff, Thomas

2010-01-01

Small Column Ion Exchange (SCIX) leverages a suite of technologies developed by DOE across the complex to achieve lifecycle savings. Technologies are applicable to multiple sites. Early testing supported multiple sites. Balance of SRS SCIX testing supports SRS deployment. A forma Systems Engineering Evaluation (SEE) was performed and selected Small Column Ion Exchange columns containing Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST) in a 2-column lead/lag configuration. SEE considered use of Spherical Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (sRF). Advantages of approach at SRS include: (1) no new buildings, (2) low volume of Cs waste in solid form compared to aqueous strip effluent; and availability of downstream processing facilities for immediate processing of spent resin.

Dynamic characterization of small fibers based on the flexural vibrations of a piezoelectric cantilever probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xiaofei; Ye, Xuan; Li, Xide

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present a cantilever-probe system excited by a piezoelectric actuator, and use it to measure the dynamic mechanical properties of a micro- and nanoscale fiber. Coupling the fiber to the free end of the cantilever probe, we found the dynamic stiffness and damping coefficient of the fiber from the resonance frequency and the quality factor of the fiber-cantilever-probe system. The properties of Bacillus subtilis fibers measured using our proposed system agreed with tensile measurements, validating our method. Our measurements show that the piezoelectric actuator coupled to cantilever probe can be made equivalent to a clamped cantilever with an effective length, and calculated results show that the errors of measured natural frequency of the system can be ignored if the coupled fiber has an inclination angle of alignment of less than 10°. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the first or second resonant mode is the sensitive mode to test the sample’s dynamic stiffness, while the damping property has different sensitivities for the first four modes. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that the double-cantilever probe is also an effective sensitive structure that can be used to perform dynamic loading and characterize dynamic response. Our method has the advantage of using amplitude-frequency curves to obtain the dynamic mechanical properties without directly measuring displacements and forces as in tensile tests, and it also avoids the effects of the complex surface structure and deformation presenting in contact resonance method. Our method is effective for measuring the dynamic mechanical properties of fiber-like one-dimensional (1D) materials. (paper)

Dynamic characterization of small fibers based on the flexural vibrations of a piezoelectric cantilever probe

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaofei; Ye, Xuan; Li, Xide

2016-08-01

In this paper, we present a cantilever-probe system excited by a piezoelectric actuator, and use it to measure the dynamic mechanical properties of a micro- and nanoscale fiber. Coupling the fiber to the free end of the cantilever probe, we found the dynamic stiffness and damping coefficient of the fiber from the resonance frequency and the quality factor of the fiber-cantilever-probe system. The properties of Bacillus subtilis fibers measured using our proposed system agreed with tensile measurements, validating our method. Our measurements show that the piezoelectric actuator coupled to cantilever probe can be made equivalent to a clamped cantilever with an effective length, and calculated results show that the errors of measured natural frequency of the system can be ignored if the coupled fiber has an inclination angle of alignment of less than 10°. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the first or second resonant mode is the sensitive mode to test the sample’s dynamic stiffness, while the damping property has different sensitivities for the first four modes. Our theoretical analysis demonstrates that the double-cantilever probe is also an effective sensitive structure that can be used to perform dynamic loading and characterize dynamic response. Our method has the advantage of using amplitude-frequency curves to obtain the dynamic mechanical properties without directly measuring displacements and forces as in tensile tests, and it also avoids the effects of the complex surface structure and deformation presenting in contact resonance method. Our method is effective for measuring the dynamic mechanical properties of fiber-like one-dimensional (1D) materials.

The spheric tokamak programme at Culham

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sykes, A.

1999-01-01

The Spherical Tokamak (ST) is the low aspect ratio limit of the conventional tokamak, and appears to offer attractive physics properties in a simpler device. The START (Small Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak) experiment provided the world's first demonstration of the properties of hot plasmas in an ST configuration, and was operational at Culham from January 1991 to March 1998, obtaining plasma current of up to 300 kA and pulse durations of ∼ 50 ms. Its successor, MAST is scheduled to obtain first plasma in Autumn 1998 and is a purpose built, high vacuum machine designed to have a tenfold increase in plasma volume with plasma currents up to 2 MA. Current drive and heating will be by a combination of induction-compression as on START, a high-performance central solenoid, 1.5 MW ECRH and 5 MW of Neutral Beam Injection. The promising results from START are reviewed, and the many challenges posed for the next generation of purpose-built STs (such as MAST) are described. (author)

The Spherical Deformation Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hobolth, Asgar

2003-01-01

Miller et al. (1994) describe a model for representing spatial objects with no obvious landmarks. Each object is represented by a global translation and a normal deformation of a sphere. The normal deformation is defined via the orthonormal spherical-harmonic basis. In this paper we analyse the s...

Van der Waals interaction between a molecule and a spherical cavity in a metal: Nonlocality and anisotropy effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Labani, B.; Boustimi, M.; Baudon, J.

1997-01-01

The electric response field of a small spherical metallic cavity to a molecule characterized by fluctuating dipolar and quadrupolar moments is built from spherical tensor theory. The electric susceptibility of the field gradient between the two points inside the metallic cavity is formulated by a general expression of the van der Waals energy between the two partners. The induction contribution is introduced by using the field gradient susceptibilities of the cavity at zero frequency. In order to illustrate the nonlocal effects as well as the importance of the curvature of the metallic cavity on the magnitude of the physisorption energy, we present numerical results for typical systems (HF, HCl on Ag, Al, and Cu). copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Phase coherence of parametric-decay modes during high-harmonic fast-wave heating in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlsson, J. A., E-mail: carlsson@pppl.gov [Crow Radio and Plasma Science, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States); Wilson, J. R.; Hosea, J. C.; Greenough, N. L.; Perkins, R. J. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-0451 (United States)

2016-06-15

Third-order spectral analysis, in particular, the auto bicoherence, was applied to probe signals from high-harmonic fast-wave heating experiments in the National Spherical Torus Experiment. Strong evidence was found for parametric decay of the 30 MHz radio-frequency (RF) pump wave, with a low-frequency daughter wave at 2.7 MHz, the local majority-ion cyclotron frequency. The primary decay modes have auto bicoherence values around 0.85, very close to the theoretical value of one, which corresponds to total phase coherence with the pump wave. The threshold RF pump power for onset of parametric decay was found to be between 200 kW and 400 kW.

Characterization of duplex stainless steels by TEM [transmission electron microscopy], SANS [small-angle neutron scattering], and APFIM [atom-probe field ion microscopy] techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, H.M.; Chopra, O.K.

1987-06-01

Results are presented of complementary characterization of aged duplex stainless steels by advanced metallographic techniques, including transmission and high-voltage electron microscopies; small-angle neutron scattering; and atom-probe field ion microscopy. On the basis of the characterization, the mechanisms of aging embrittlement have been shown to be associated with the precipitation of Ni- and Si-rich G phase and Cr-rich α' in the ferrite, and M 23 C 6 carbides on the austenite-ferrite phase boundaries. 19 refs., 19 figs., 1 tab

In Silico Mechanistic Profiling to Probe Small Molecule Binding to Sulfotransferases

Science.gov (United States)

Martiny, Virginie Y.; Carbonell, Pablo; Lagorce, David; Villoutreix, Bruno O.; Moroy, Gautier; Miteva, Maria A.

2013-01-01

Drug metabolizing enzymes play a key role in the metabolism, elimination and detoxification of xenobiotics, drugs and endogenous molecules. While their principal role is to detoxify organisms by modifying compounds, such as pollutants or drugs, for a rapid excretion, in some cases they render their substrates more toxic thereby inducing severe side effects and adverse drug reactions, or their inhibition can lead to drug–drug interactions. We focus on sulfotransferases (SULTs), a family of phase II metabolizing enzymes, acting on a large number of drugs and hormones and showing important structural flexibility. Here we report a novel in silico structure-based approach to probe ligand binding to SULTs. We explored the flexibility of SULTs by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in order to identify the most suitable multiple receptor conformations for ligand binding prediction. Then, we employed structure-based docking-scoring approach to predict ligand binding and finally we combined the predicted interaction energies by using a QSAR methodology. The results showed that our protocol successfully prioritizes potent binders for the studied here SULT1 isoforms, and give new insights on specific molecular mechanisms for diverse ligands’ binding related to their binding sites plasticity. Our best QSAR models, introducing predicted protein-ligand interaction energy by using docking, showed accuracy of 67.28%, 78.00% and 75.46%, for the isoforms SULT1A1, SULT1A3 and SULT1E1, respectively. To the best of our knowledge our protocol is the first in silico structure-based approach consisting of a protein-ligand interaction analysis at atomic level that considers both ligand and enzyme flexibility, along with a QSAR approach, to identify small molecules that can interact with II phase dug metabolizing enzymes. PMID:24039991

In silico mechanistic profiling to probe small molecule binding to sulfotransferases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virginie Y Martiny

Full Text Available Drug metabolizing enzymes play a key role in the metabolism, elimination and detoxification of xenobiotics, drugs and endogenous molecules. While their principal role is to detoxify organisms by modifying compounds, such as pollutants or drugs, for a rapid excretion, in some cases they render their substrates more toxic thereby inducing severe side effects and adverse drug reactions, or their inhibition can lead to drug-drug interactions. We focus on sulfotransferases (SULTs, a family of phase II metabolizing enzymes, acting on a large number of drugs and hormones and showing important structural flexibility. Here we report a novel in silico structure-based approach to probe ligand binding to SULTs. We explored the flexibility of SULTs by molecular dynamics (MD simulations in order to identify the most suitable multiple receptor conformations for ligand binding prediction. Then, we employed structure-based docking-scoring approach to predict ligand binding and finally we combined the predicted interaction energies by using a QSAR methodology. The results showed that our protocol successfully prioritizes potent binders for the studied here SULT1 isoforms, and give new insights on specific molecular mechanisms for diverse ligands' binding related to their binding sites plasticity. Our best QSAR models, introducing predicted protein-ligand interaction energy by using docking, showed accuracy of 67.28%, 78.00% and 75.46%, for the isoforms SULT1A1, SULT1A3 and SULT1E1, respectively. To the best of our knowledge our protocol is the first in silico structure-based approach consisting of a protein-ligand interaction analysis at atomic level that considers both ligand and enzyme flexibility, along with a QSAR approach, to identify small molecules that can interact with II phase dug metabolizing enzymes.

Expanding probe repertoire and improving reproducibility in human genomic hybridization

Science.gov (United States)

Dorman, Stephanie N.; Shirley, Ben C.; Knoll, Joan H. M.; Rogan, Peter K.

2013-01-01

Diagnostic DNA hybridization relies on probes composed of single copy (sc) genomic sequences. Sc sequences in probe design ensure high specificity and avoid cross-hybridization to other regions of the genome, which could lead to ambiguous results that are difficult to interpret. We examine how the distribution and composition of repetitive sequences in the genome affects sc probe performance. A divide and conquer algorithm was implemented to design sc probes. With this approach, sc probes can include divergent repetitive elements, which hybridize to unique genomic targets under higher stringency experimental conditions. Genome-wide custom probe sets were created for fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and microarray genomic hybridization. The scFISH probes were developed for detection of copy number changes within small tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes. The microarrays demonstrated increased reproducibility by eliminating cross-hybridization to repetitive sequences adjacent to probe targets. The genome-wide microarrays exhibited lower median coefficients of variation (17.8%) for two HapMap family trios. The coefficients of variations of commercial probes within 300 nt of a repetitive element were 48.3% higher than the nearest custom probe. Furthermore, the custom microarray called a chromosome 15q11.2q13 deletion more consistently. This method for sc probe design increases probe coverage for FISH and lowers variability in genomic microarrays. PMID:23376933

The tensor part of the Skyrme energy density functional. I. Spherical nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lesinski, T.; Meyer, J. [Universite de Lyon, F-69003 Lyon (France)]|[Institut de Physique Nucleaire de Lyon, CNRS/IN2P3, Universite Lyon 1, F-69622 Villeurbanne (France); Bender, M. [DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)]|[Universite Bordeaux, CNRS/IN2P3, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Bordeaux Gradignan, UMR5797, Chemin du Solarium, BP120, F-33175 Gradignan (France); Bennaceur, K. [Universite de Lyon, F-69003 Lyon (France)]|[Institut de Physique Nucleaire de Lyon, CNRS/IN2P3, Universite Lyon 1, F-69622 Villeurbanne (France)]|[DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Duguet, T. [National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)

2007-04-15

We perform a systematic study of the impact of the J-vector{sup 2} tensor term in the Skyrme energy functional on properties of spherical nuclei. In the Skyrme energy functional, the tensor terms originate both from zero-range central and tensor forces. We build a set of 36 parameterizations which cover a wide range of the parameter space of the isoscalar and isovector tensor term coupling constants with a fit protocol very similar to that of the successful SLy parameterizations. We analyze the impact of the tensor terms on a large variety of observables in spherical mean-field calculations, such as the spin-orbit splittings and single-particle spectra of doubly-magic nuclei, the evolution of spin-orbit splittings along chains of semi-magic nuclei, mass residuals of spherical nuclei, and known anomalies of radii. The major findings of our study are (i) tensor terms should not be added perturbatively to existing parameterizations, a complete refit of the entire parameter set is imperative. (ii) The free variation of the tensor terms does not lower the {chi}{sup 2} within a standard Skyrme energy functional. (iii) For certain regions of the parameter space of their coupling constants, the tensor terms lead to instabilities of the spherical shell structure, or even the coexistence of two configurations with different spherical shell structure. (iv) The standard spin-orbit interaction does not scale properly with the principal quantum number, such that single-particle states with one or several nodes have too large spin-orbit splittings, while those of node-less intruder levels are tentatively too small. Tensor terms with realistic coupling constants cannot cure this problem. (v) Positive values of the coupling constants of proton-neutron and like-particle tensor terms allow for a qualitative description of the evolution of spin-orbit splittings in chains of Ca, Ni and Sn isotopes. (vi) For the same values of the tensor term coupling constants, however, the overall

Holographic probes of collapsing black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hubeny, Veronika E.; Maxfield, Henry

2014-01-01

We continue the programme of exploring the means of holographically decoding the geometry of spacetime inside a black hole using the gauge/gravity correspondence. To this end, we study the behaviour of certain extremal surfaces (focusing on those relevant for equal-time correlators and entanglement entropy in the dual CFT) in a dynamically evolving asymptotically AdS spacetime, specifically examining how deep such probes reach. To highlight the novel effects of putting the system far out of equilibrium and at finite volume, we consider spherically symmetric Vaidya-AdS, describing black hole formation by gravitational collapse of a null shell, which provides a convenient toy model of a quantum quench in the field theory. Extremal surfaces anchored on the boundary exhibit rather rich behaviour, whose features depend on dimension of both the spacetime and the surface, as well as on the anchoring region. The main common feature is that they reach inside the horizon even in the post-collapse part of the geometry. In 3-dimensional spacetime, we find that for sub-AdS-sized black holes, the entire spacetime is accessible by the restricted class of geodesics whereas in larger black holes a small region near the imploding shell cannot be reached by any boundary-anchored geodesic. In higher dimensions, the deepest reach is attained by geodesics which (despite being asymmetric) connect equal time and antipodal boundary points soon after the collapse; these can attain spacetime regions of arbitrarily high curvature and simultaneously have smallest length. Higher-dimensional surfaces can penetrate the horizon while anchored on the boundary at arbitrarily late times, but are bounded away from the singularity. We also study the details of length or area growth during thermalization. While the area of extremal surfaces increases monotonically, geodesic length is neither monotonic nor continuous

Invariants of the spherical sector in conformal mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakobyan, Tigran; Nersessian, Armen; Saghatelian, Armen; Lechtenfeld, Olaf

2011-01-01

A direct relation is established between the constants of motion for conformal mechanics and those for its spherical part. In this way, we find the complete set of functionally independent constants of motion for the so-called cuboctahedric Higgs oscillator, which is just the spherical part of the rational A 3 Calogero model (describing four Calogero particles after decoupling their center of mass).

Design of fiber optic probes for laser light scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Dhadwal, Harbans S.; Chu, Benjamin

1989-01-01

A quantitative analysis is presented of the role of optical fibers in laser light scattering. Design of a general fiber optic/microlens probe by means of ray tracing is described. Several different geometries employing an optical fiber of the type used in lightwave communications and a graded index microlens are considered. Experimental results using a nonimaging fiber optic detector probe show that due to geometrical limitations of single mode fibers, a probe using a multimode optical fiber has better performance, for both static and dynamic measurements of the scattered light intensity, compared with a probe using a single mode fiber. Fiber optic detector probes are shown to be more efficient at data collection when compared with conventional approaches to measurements of the scattered laser light. Integration of fiber optic detector probes into a fiber optic spectrometer offers considerable miniaturization of conventional light scattering spectrometers, which can be made arbitrarily small. In addition static and dynamic measurements of scattered light can be made within the scattering cell and consequently very close to the scattering center.

Violation of the Sphericity Assumption and Its Effect on Type-I Error Rates in Repeated Measures ANOVA and Multi-Level Linear Models (MLM).

Science.gov (United States)

Haverkamp, Nicolas; Beauducel, André

2017-01-01

We investigated the effects of violations of the sphericity assumption on Type I error rates for different methodical approaches of repeated measures analysis using a simulation approach. In contrast to previous simulation studies on this topic, up to nine measurement occasions were considered. Effects of the level of inter-correlations between measurement occasions on Type I error rates were considered for the first time. Two populations with non-violation of the sphericity assumption, one with uncorrelated measurement occasions and one with moderately correlated measurement occasions, were generated. One population with violation of the sphericity assumption combines uncorrelated with highly correlated measurement occasions. A second population with violation of the sphericity assumption combines moderately correlated and highly correlated measurement occasions. From these four populations without any between-group effect or within-subject effect 5,000 random samples were drawn. Finally, the mean Type I error rates for Multilevel linear models (MLM) with an unstructured covariance matrix (MLM-UN), MLM with compound-symmetry (MLM-CS) and for repeated measures analysis of variance (rANOVA) models (without correction, with Greenhouse-Geisser-correction, and Huynh-Feldt-correction) were computed. To examine the effect of both the sample size and the number of measurement occasions, sample sizes of n = 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 were considered as well as measurement occasions of m = 3, 6, and 9. With respect to rANOVA, the results plead for a use of rANOVA with Huynh-Feldt-correction, especially when the sphericity assumption is violated, the sample size is rather small and the number of measurement occasions is large. For MLM-UN, the results illustrate a massive progressive bias for small sample sizes ( n = 20) and m = 6 or more measurement occasions. This effect could not be found in previous simulation studies with a smaller number of measurement occasions. The

Babcock and Wilcox plate fabrication experience with uranium silicide spherical fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todd, Lawrence E.; Pace, Brett W.

1996-01-01

This report is written to present the fuel fabrication experience of Babcock and Wilcox using atomized spherical uranium silicide powder. The intent is to demonstrate the ability to fabricate fuel plates using spherical powder and to provide useful information proceeding into the next phase of work using this type of fuel. The limited quantity of resources- spherical powder and time, did not allow for much process optimizing in this work scope. However, the information contained within provides optimism for the future of spherical uranium silicide fuel plate fabrication at Babcock and Wilcox.The success of assembling fuel elements with spherical powder will enable Babcock and Wilcox to reduce overall costs to its customers while still maintaining our reputation for providing high quality research and test reactor products. (author)

Spherical Cancer Models in Tumor Biology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louis-Bastien Weiswald

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Three-dimensional (3D in vitro models have been used in cancer research as an intermediate model between in vitro cancer cell line cultures and in vivo tumor. Spherical cancer models represent major 3D in vitro models that have been described over the past 4 decades. These models have gained popularity in cancer stem cell research using tumorospheres. Thus, it is crucial to define and clarify the different spherical cancer models thus far described. Here, we focus on in vitro multicellular spheres used in cancer research. All these spherelike structures are characterized by their well-rounded shape, the presence of cancer cells, and their capacity to be maintained as free-floating cultures. We propose a rational classification of the four most commonly used spherical cancer models in cancer research based on culture methods for obtaining them and on subsequent differences in sphere biology: the multicellular tumor spheroid model, first described in the early 70s and obtained by culture of cancer cell lines under nonadherent conditions; tumorospheres, a model of cancer stem cell expansion established in a serum-free medium supplemented with growth factors; tissue-derived tumor spheres and organotypic multicellular spheroids, obtained by tumor tissue mechanical dissociation and cutting. In addition, we describe their applications to and interest in cancer research; in particular, we describe their contribution to chemoresistance, radioresistance, tumorigenicity, and invasion and migration studies. Although these models share a common 3D conformation, each displays its own intrinsic properties. Therefore, the most relevant spherical cancer model must be carefully selected, as a function of the study aim and cancer type.

Erosion and damage by hard spherical particles on glass

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slikkerveer, P.J.; Verspui, M.A.; Skerka, G.J.E.

1999-01-01

Solid particle impact of hard spherical particles on glass is of fundamental interest because of the presence of a number of different impact regimes. Understanding the impact of spherical particles is also a step toward modeling the behavior of rounded particles. This paper verifies theoretical

Molecular engineering of two-photon fluorescent probes for bioimaging applications

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hong-Wen; Liu, Yongchao; Wang, Peng; Zhang, Xiao-Bing

2017-03-01

During the past two decades, two-photon microscopy (TPM), which utilizes two near-infrared photons as the excitation source, has emerged as a novel, attractive imaging tool for biological research. Compared with one-photon microscopy, TPM offers several advantages, such as lowering background fluorescence in living cells and tissues, reducing photodamage to biosamples, and a photobleaching phenomenon, offering better 3D spatial localization, and increasing penetration depth. Small-molecule-based two-photon fluorescent probes have been well developed for the detection and imaging of various analytes in biological systems. In this review, we will give a general introduction of molecular engineering of two-photon fluorescent probes based on different fluorescence response mechanisms for bioimaging applications during the past decade. Inspired by the desired advantages of small-molecule two-photon fluorescent probes in biological imaging applications, we expect that more attention will be devoted to the development of new two-photon fluorophores and applications of TPM in areas of bioanalysis and disease diagnosis.

Spherical reconciliation for a continuous-variable quantum key distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Zhao; Shi Jian-Hong; Li Feng-Guang

2017-01-01

Information reconciliation is a significant step for a continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) system. We propose a reconciliation method that allows two authorized parties to extract a consistent and secure binary key in a CV-QKD protocol, which is based on Gaussian-modulated coherent states and homodyne detection. This method named spherical reconciliation is based on spherical quantization and non-binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. With the suitable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and code rate of non-binary LDPC codes, spherical reconciliation algorithm has a high efficiency and can extend the transmission distance of CV-QKD. (paper)

Fluorescent probes and nanoparticles for intracellular sensing of pH values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Wen; Li, Xiaohua; Ma, Huimin

2014-01-01

Intracellular pH regulates a number of cell metabolism processes and its sensing is thus of great importance for cell studies. Among various methods, fluorescent probes have been widely used for sensing intracellular pH values because of their high sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution capability. In this article, the development of fluorescent probes with good practicability in sensing intracellular pH values and pH variation during 2009 − 2014 is reviewed. These fluorescence probes are divided into two kinds: small molecules and nanoparticles. Photophysical properties, advantages/disadvantages and applications of the two kinds of probes are discussed in detail. (topical review)

Interaction of a spheromak-like compact toroid with a high beta spherical tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, D.Q.; McLean, H.S.; Baker, K.L.; Evans, R.W.; Horton, R.D.; Terry, S.D.; Howard, S.; Schmidt, G.L.

2000-01-01

Recent experiments using accelerated spheromak-like compact toroids (SCTs) to fuel tokamak plasmas have quantified the penetration mechanism in the low beta regime; i.e. external magnetic field pressure dominates plasma thermal pressure. However, fusion reactor designs require high beta plasma and, more importantly, the proper plasma pressure profile. Here, the effect of the plasma pressure profile on SCT penetration, specifically, the effect of diamagnetism, is addressed. It is estimated that magnetic field pressure dominates penetration even up to 50% local beta. The combination of the diamagnetic effect on the toroidal magnetic field and the strong poloidal field at the outer major radius of a spherical tokamak will result in a diamagnetic well in the total magnetic field. Therefore, the spherical tokamak is a good candidate to test the potential trapping of an SCT in a high beta diamagnetic well. The diamagnetic effects of a high beta spherical tokamak discharge (low aspect ratio) are computed. To test the penetration of an SCT into such a diamagnetic well, experiments have been conducted of SCT injection into a vacuum field structure which simulates the diamagnetic field effect of a high beta tokamak. The diamagnetic field gradient length is substantially shorter than that of the toroidal field of the tokamak, and the results show that it can still improve the penetration of the SCT. Finally, analytic results have been used to estimate the effect of plasma pressure on penetration, and the effect of plasma pressure was found to be small in comparison with the magnetic field pressure. The penetration condition for a vacuum field only is reported. To study the diamagnetic effect in a high beta plasma, additional experiments need to be carried out on a high beta spherical tokamak. (author)

Divertor heat flux mitigation in the National Spherical Torus Experimenta)

Science.gov (United States)

Soukhanovskii, V. A.; Maingi, R.; Gates, D. A.; Menard, J. E.; Paul, S. F.; Raman, R.; Roquemore, A. L.; Bell, M. G.; Bell, R. E.; Boedo, J. A.; Bush, C. E.; Kaita, R.; Kugel, H. W.; Leblanc, B. P.; Mueller, D.; NSTX Team

2009-02-01

Steady-state handling of divertor heat flux is a critical issue for both ITER and spherical torus-based devices with compact high power density divertors. Significant reduction of heat flux to the divertor plate has been achieved simultaneously with favorable core and pedestal confinement and stability properties in a highly shaped lower single null configuration in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 2000] using high magnetic flux expansion at the divertor strike point and the radiative divertor technique. A partial detachment of the outer strike point was achieved with divertor deuterium injection leading to peak flux reduction from 4-6MWm-2to0.5-2MWm-2 in small-ELM 0.8-1.0MA, 4-6MW neutral beam injection-heated H-mode discharges. A self-consistent picture of the outer strike point partial detachment was evident from divertor heat flux profiles and recombination, particle flux and neutral pressure measurements. Analytic scrape-off layer parallel transport models were used for interpretation of NSTX detachment experiments. The modeling showed that the observed peak heat flux reduction and detachment are possible with high radiated power and momentum loss fractions, achievable with divertor gas injection, and nearly impossible to achieve with main electron density, divertor neutral density or recombination increases alone.

Electrostatic axisymmetric mirror with removable spherical aberration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birmuzaev, S.B.; Serikbaeva, G.S.; Hizirova, M.A.

1999-01-01

The electrostatic axisymmetric mirror, assembled from three coaxial cylinders with an equal diameter d and under the potential v1, v2 and v3, was computed. The proportions of geometrical and electric parameters of the mirror, with which the spherical 3-order aberration may be eliminated, were determined. The computation outcomes of the case, when the focal power of the mirror is enough large and the object plane in the focus is out of its field, are presented (Fig. 1 - potentials proportion that makes elimination of the spherical aberration possible; Fig. 2 - the focus coordinates when the spherical aberration is eliminated). The geometrical values are presented by d, and the electric ones are presented by v1. The figures on the curves present a length of the second (middle) electrode. The zero point is located in the middle of the gap between the first and second electrodes The investigated mirror may be used as a lens for the transmission electron microscope

A study on heat transfer characteristics of spherical and fibrous alumina nanofluids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chang Kyu; Lee, Gyoung-Ja; Rhee, Chang Kyu

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Spherical and fibrous alumina nanoparticles were prepared by pulsed wire evaporation and hydrolysis methods. ► Fibrous alumina nanofluid exhibited higher thermal conductivity enhancement than spherical one due to entangled structure of nanofibers with high aspect-ratio. ► Decreasing rate of viscosity with temperature for fibrous alumina nanofluid was much larger than that for spherical one. - Abstract: Ethylene glycol based nanofluids containing spherical/fibrous alumina nanoparticles were synthesized by pulsed wire evaporation and hydrolysis methods. The crystallographic and morphological properties of the prepared nanoparticles were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen gas adsorption and transmission electron microscopy. The average diameter of spherical alumina nanoparticles was about 80 nm and the alumina nanofibers exhibited a high aspect ratio (length/width). The viscosity and thermal conductivity of the spherical/fibrous alumina nanofluids were experimentally measured in the temperature range from 25 to 80 °C. For the fibrous alumina nanofluid, the increase of temperature raised thermal conductivity but lowered viscosity. On the other hand, for the spherical alumina nanofluid, both thermal conductivity and viscosity were decreased with increasing temperature. In particular, the fibrous alumina nanofluid exhibited a higher enhancement of thermal conductivity than the spherical one due to the well-connected structure between entangled nanofibers with high aspect ratio.

Cylindrical and spherical dust-acoustic wave modulations in dusty ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abstract. The nonlinear wave modulation of planar and non-planar (cylindrical and spherical) dust-acoustic waves (DAW) propagating in dusty plasmas, in the presence of non-extensive distribu- tions for ions and electrons is investigated. By employing multiple scales technique, a cylindrically and spherically modified ...

Remote tuning of NMR probe circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Kodibagkar, V D; Conradi, M S

2000-05-01

There are many circumstances in which the probe tuning adjustments cannot be located near the rf NMR coil. These may occur in high-temperature NMR, low-temperature NMR, and in the use of magnets with small diameter access bores. We address here circuitry for connecting a fixed-tuned probe circuit by a transmission line to a remotely located tuning network. In particular, the bandwidth over which the probe may be remotely tuned while keeping the losses in the transmission line acceptably low is considered. The results show that for all resonant circuit geometries (series, parallel, series-parallel), overcoupling of the line to the tuned circuit is key to obtaining a large tuning bandwidth. At equivalent extents of overcoupling, all resonant circuit geometries have nearly equal remote tuning bandwidths. Particularly for the case of low-loss transmission line, the tuning bandwidth can be many times the tuned circuit's bandwidth, f(o)/Q. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Integrated ultrasound and gamma imaging probe for medical diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pani, R.; Pellegrini, R.; Cinti, M. N.; Polito, C.; Orlandi, C.; Fabbri, A.; Vincentis, G. De

2016-01-01

In the last few years, integrated multi-modality systems have been developed, aimed at improving the accuracy of medical diagnosis correlating information from different imaging techniques. In this contest, a novel dual modality probe is proposed, based on an ultrasound detector integrated with a small field of view single photon emission gamma camera. The probe, dedicated to visualize small organs or tissues located at short depths, performs dual modality images and permits to correlate morphological and functional information. The small field of view gamma camera consists of a continuous NaI:Tl scintillation crystal coupled with two multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. Both detectors were characterized in terms of position linearity and spatial resolution performances in order to guarantee the spatial correspondence between the ultrasound and the gamma images. Finally, dual-modality images of custom phantoms are obtained highlighting the good co-registration between ultrasound and gamma images, in terms of geometry and image processing, as a consequence of calibration procedures

Determining spherical lens correction for astronaut training underwater.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Jason; Gibson, C Robert; Strauss, Samuel

2011-09-01

To develop a model that will accurately predict the distance spherical lens correction needed to be worn by National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts while training underwater. The replica space suit's helmet contains curved visors that induce refractive power when submersed in water. Anterior surface powers and thicknesses were measured for the helmet's protective and inside visors. The impact of each visor on the helmet's refractive power in water was analyzed using thick lens calculations and Zemax optical design software. Using geometrical optics approximations, a model was developed to determine the optimal distance spherical power needed to be worn underwater based on the helmet's total induced spherical power underwater and the astronaut's manifest spectacle plane correction in air. The validity of the model was tested using data from both eyes of 10 astronauts who trained underwater. The helmet's visors induced a total power of -2.737 D when placed underwater. The required underwater spherical correction (FW) was linearly related to the spectacle plane spherical correction in air (FAir): FW = FAir + 2.356 D. The mean magnitude of the difference between the actual correction worn underwater and the calculated underwater correction was 0.20 ± 0.11 D. The actual and calculated values were highly correlated (r = 0.971) with 70% of eyes having a difference in magnitude of astronauts. The model accurately predicts the actual values worn underwater and can be applied (more generally) to determine a suitable spectacle lens correction to be worn behind other types of masks when submerged underwater.

High-spatial-resolution electron density measurement by Langmuir probe for multi-point observations using tiny spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, H.; Røed, K.; Bekkeng, T. A.; Trondsen, E.; Clausen, L. B. N.; Miloch, W. J.; Moen, J. I.

2017-11-01

A method for evaluating electron density using a single fixed-bias Langmuir probe is presented. The technique allows for high-spatio-temporal resolution electron density measurements, which can be effectively carried out by tiny spacecraft for multi-point observations in the ionosphere. The results are compared with the multi-needle Langmuir probe system, which is a scientific instrument developed at the University of Oslo comprising four fixed-bias cylindrical probes that allow small-scale plasma density structures to be characterized in the ionosphere. The technique proposed in this paper can comply with the requirements of future small-sized spacecraft, where the cost-effectiveness, limited space available on the craft, low power consumption and capacity for data-links need to be addressed. The first experimental results in both the plasma laboratory and space confirm the efficiency of the new approach. Moreover, detailed analyses on two challenging issues when deploying the DC Langmuir probe on a tiny spacecraft, which are the limited conductive area of the spacecraft and probe surface contamination, are presented in the paper. It is demonstrated that the limited conductive area, depending on applications, can either be of no concern for the experiment or can be resolved by mitigation methods. Surface contamination has a small impact on the performance of the developed probe.

A study of response time of pitot pressure probes designed for rapid response and protection of transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, J. A.

1979-01-01

An eight orifice probe, designed to protect the transducer without the use of a baffle, was compared to a standard orifice-baffle probe in the small shock tube and in the expansion tube under normal run conditions. In both facilities, the response time of eight orifice probe was considerable better than the standard probe design.

An Adaptive Langmuir Probe for CubeSats and Explorers

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We propose to build an Adaptive Langmuir Probe (ALP) for CubeSats designed to mitigate spacecraft charging unique to small platforms. This project builds a new...

Resolution limit of probe-forming systems with magnetic quadrupole lens triplets and quadruplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ponomarev, A.G.; Melnik, K.I.; Miroshnichenko, V.I.; Storizhko, V.E.; Sulkio-Cleff, B.

2003-01-01

Over the past decade, in MeV ion beam microanalysis efforts to achieve a spatial resolution better than 0.1 μm with a beam current of ∼100 pA have been connected with microprobes of new generation where the probe is formed by means of separated magnetic quadrupole lens structures . However, as was pointed out in , no dramatic improvements in spatial resolution have been produced so far. For better understanding of the situation the authors carried out theoretical studies of multiparameter sets of probe-forming systems based on separated triplets and quadruplets of magnetic quadrupole lenses. Comparisons were made between the highest current values attained at different systems for a given beam spot size. The maximum parasitic sextupole and octupole field components were found whose contributions to spot broadening are tolerable. It is shown that the use of modern electrostatic accelerators and precision magnetic quadrupole lenses makes it possible to eliminate the effect of chromatic aberrations and second- and third-order parasitic aberrations resulting from distortions of the quadrupole lens symmetry. Therefore probe-forming systems with triplets and quadruplets of magnetic quadrupole lenses have a lower theoretical spatial resolution limit which is restricted mainly by intrinsic spherical third-order aberrations in state-of-the-art microprobes

Quality control of radiosurgery: dosimetry with micro camera in spherical mannequin; Control de calidad en radiocirugia: dosimetria con microcamara en maniqui esferico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casado Villalon, F. J.; Navarro Guirado, F.; Garci Pareja, S.; Benitez Villegas, E. M.; Galan Montenegro, P.; Moreno Saiz, C.

2013-07-01

The dosimetry of small field is part of quality control in the treatment of cranial radiosurgery. In this work the results of absorbed dose in the isocenter, Planner, with those obtained from are compared experimentally with a micro-camera into an spherical mannequin. (Author)

Plasma diagnostics by electron guns and electric field probes on ISEE-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pedersen, A.

1982-01-01

The use of electron guns to control the potential of a satellite with conductive surfaces is discussed with reference to the results of the ISEE-1 satellite experiment. The two electron guns carried by the satellite can emit electrons with energies up to 48 eV, and the emitted electron current has a maximum value of 0.5-1.0 mA. The satellite potential, with or without gun operation, can be measured with reference to one or two spherical electric field probes positioned on booms at a distance of 36 m from the satellite. The probes are biased with a negative current from a high-impedance source to be slightly positive (0.5-1.0 V) relative to the plasma, and the spacecraft is normally several volts more positive and can be further positively charged by operating the electron gun. Plasma diagnostics can be carried out by appropriate sweeps of gun currents and energy of emitted electrons to obtain information about density and characteristic energy of ambient electrons. 9 references

[Depth of focus in spherical and aspheric intraocular lenses].

Science.gov (United States)

Nan, Li; Tang, Xin; Liu, Yong-ji

2012-02-01

To investigate depth of focus (DOF) in spherical and aspheric IOL eye models. Computer numerical simulation experiment was used. IOL eye model based on Liou-Brennan eye model was constructed by using ZEMAX optical design software. Different IOL were implanted in this eye model. Monochromatic through focus modulation transfer function (MTF) curves were computed. Pupil and aspheric designs' effect on DOF were analyzed. DOF of eye model increased with pupil shrinkage in 550 nm monochromatic light (FY60AD 1.20 D at 6 mm pupil, 1.35 D at 5 mm pupil, 1.70 D at 4 mm pupil, 2.46 D at 3 mm pupil; YA60BBR 1.24 D at 6 mm pupil, 1.48 D at 5 mm pupil, 1.80 D at 4 mm pupil, 2.50 D at 3 mm pupil). MTF in spherical IOL eye model was higher with minus defocus, this trend was obvious at larger pupil. MTF of aspheric IOL eyes were higher than spherical IOL eyes when well focused at 5 mm pupil, while the DOF was lower in aspheric IOL with negative spherical aberration (Tecnis Z9000 1.31 D, FY60AD 1.35 D, CeeOn911 1.55 D, YA60BBR 1.48 D). DOF decreased less in aspheric IOL with zero spherical aberration (LI61AO 1.42 D). DOF in IOL eye model was higher at smaller pupil. When the pupil was large, well focused aspheric IOL improved optical quality compared with spherical IOL, while DOF and the tolerance to defocus in aspheric IOL were partially lost; this phenomenon was obvious with minus defocus.

Nanofabrication of magnetic scanned-probe microscope sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chong, B.K.

2001-10-01

This thesis presents the development of novel magnetic sensor combined with Atomic Force Microscope probe (AFM) using conventional semiconductor processing techniques and Electron Beam Lithography (EBL). The fabrication of these magnetic sensors was performed on a common micromachined silicon substrate using a generic batch fabrication technique. Sub-micron Hall bar for Scanning Hall probe Microscopy (SHPM) and electromagnetic force coil magnet for Scanning Electromagnetic Force Microscopy (eMFM) were designed and constructed at the apex of Silicon attractive mode cantilever probes. The process demonstrates good control over sensor parameters. Results indicated controllability of Hall bar junction sizes (spatial resolution) to below 100nm and Coil diameter sizes to below 500nm with minimum sizes down to 50nm and 270nm respectively. The process has shown its flexibility to accommodate different material systems. The same technology was used to fabricate multiple devices such as double Hall bars on a tip as well as a small electro-magnet coil probe co-defined with the Hall probe to form a magnetic imaging / modification probe. A conventional Non-Contact mode AFM employing heterodyne interferometry and in-house built electronics was modified for SHPM and eMFM. These probes had been scanned over a commercial computer hard disk. These microscopes showed the capability of resolving magnetic bits and topographic information independently and simultaneously. All scanning experiments were carried out under ambient conditions. The experiments required no extra preparation to be done to the specimen before imaging and measurements were carried out under ambient conditions. These probes offer the prospect of direct magnetic field measurement, non- invasiveness, very close proximity, possible local manipulation, better control over the tip- specimen interaction distance and topographic imaging. It is hoped that these magnetic microscope probes will be of great interest and

Kohn-Sham potentials for fullerenes and spherical molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavlyukh, Y.; Berakdar, J.

2010-01-01

We present a procedure for the construction of accurate Kohn-Sham potentials of quasispherical molecules starting from the first-principles valence densities. The method is demonstrated for the case of icosahedral C 20 2+ and C 60 molecules. Provided the density is N representable the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem guarantees the uniqueness of the obtained potentials. The potential is iteratively built following the suggestion of R. van Leeuwen and E. J. Baerends [Phys. Rev. A 49, 2421 (1994)]. The high symmetry of the molecules allows a parametrization of the angular dependence of the densities and the potentials using a small number of symmetry-adapted spherical harmonics. The radial behavior of these quantities is represented on a grid and the density is reconstructed from the approximate potential by numerically solving the coupled-channel Kohn-Sham equations. Subsequently, the potential is updated and the procedure is continued until convergence is achieved.

Monolithically Integrated, Mechanically Resilient Carbon-Based Probes for Scanning Probe Microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kaul, Anupama B.; Megerian, Krikor G.; Jennings, Andrew T.; Greer, Julia R.

2010-01-01

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is an important tool for performing measurements at the nanoscale in imaging bacteria or proteins in biology, as well as in the electronics industry. An essential element of SPM is a sharp, stable tip that possesses a small radius of curvature to enhance spatial resolution. Existing techniques for forming such tips are not ideal. High-aspect-ratio, monolithically integrated, as-grown carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been formed that show promise for SPM applications by overcoming the limitations present in wet chemical and separate substrate etching processes.

Hysteresis in η/s for QFTs dual to spherical black holes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cadoni, Mariano; Franzin, Edgardo; Tuveri, Matteo [Cagliari Univ., Monserrato (Italy). Dipt. di Fisica; INFN, Sezione di Cagliari, Monserrato (Italy)

2017-12-15

We define and compute the (analog) shear viscosity to entropy density ratio η/s for the QFTs dual to spherical AdS black holes both in Einstein and Gauss-Bonnet gravity in five spacetime dimensions. Although in this case, owing to the lack of translational symmetry of the background, η does not have the usual hydrodynamic meaning, it can be still interpreted as the rate of entropy production due to a strain. At large and small temperatures it is found that η/s is a monotonic increasing function of the temperature. In particular, at large temperatures it approaches a constant value, whereas at small temperatures, when the black hole has a regular, stable extremal limit, η/s goes to zero with scaling law behavior. Whenever the phase diagram of the black hole has a Van der Waals-like behavior, i.e. it is characterized by the presence of two stable states (small and large black holes), connected by a meta-stable region (intermediate black holes), the system evolution must occur through the meta-stable region- and temperature-dependent hysteresis of η/s is generated by non-equilibrium thermodynamics. (orig.)

Hysteresis in η/s for QFTs dual to spherical black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cadoni, Mariano; Franzin, Edgardo; Tuveri, Matteo

2017-01-01

We define and compute the (analog) shear viscosity to entropy density ratio η/s for the QFTs dual to spherical AdS black holes both in Einstein and Gauss-Bonnet gravity in five spacetime dimensions. Although in this case, owing to the lack of translational symmetry of the background, η does not have the usual hydrodynamic meaning, it can be still interpreted as the rate of entropy production due to a strain. At large and small temperatures it is found that η/s is a monotonic increasing function of the temperature. In particular, at large temperatures it approaches a constant value, whereas at small temperatures, when the black hole has a regular, stable extremal limit, η/s goes to zero with scaling law behavior. Whenever the phase diagram of the black hole has a Van der Waals-like behavior, i.e. it is characterized by the presence of two stable states (small and large black holes), connected by a meta-stable region (intermediate black holes), the system evolution must occur through the meta-stable region- and temperature-dependent hysteresis of η/s is generated by non-equilibrium thermodynamics. (orig.)

Effects of small, intense laser spots on thin films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Estabrook, K.

1986-01-01

Two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations show that small diameter laser spots burn through flat foils considerably faster than larger spots. The physical mechanisms are (1) more nearly spherical divergence from the smaller spots which allows the debris to rapidly convect radially away from the small volume of laser heated plasma and (2) a variation on thermal self-focusing in which light is refracted into this volume, increasing the local heating rate

Investigation of Gas Solid Fluidized Bed Dynamics with Non-Spherical Particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choudhuri, Ahsan [Univ. of Texas, El Paso, TX (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2013-06-30

One of the largest challenges for 21st century is to fulfill global energy demand while also reducing detrimental impacts of energy generation and use on the environment. Gasification is a promising technology to meet the requirement of reduced emissions without compromising performance. Coal gasification is not an incinerating process; rather than burning coal completely a partial combustion takes place in the presence of steam and limited amounts of oxygen. In this controlled environment, a chemical reaction takes place to produce a mixture of clean synthetic gas. Gas-solid fluidized bed is one such type of gasification technology. During gasification, the mixing behavior of solid (coal) and gas and their flow patterns can be very complicated to understand. Many attempts have taken place in laboratory scale to understand bed hydrodynamics with spherical particles though in actual applications with coal, the particles are non-spherical. This issue drove the documented attempt presented here to investigate fluidized bed behavior using different ranges of non-spherical particles, as well as spherical. For this investigation, various parameters are controlled that included particle size, bed height, bed diameter and particle shape. Particles ranged from 355 µm to 1180 µm, bed diameter varied from 2 cm to 7 cm, two fluidized beds with diameters of 3.4 cm and 12.4 cm, for the spherical and non-spherical shaped particles that were taken into consideration. Pressure drop was measured with increasing superficial gas velocity. The velocity required in order to start to fluidize the particle is called the minimum fluidization velocity, which is one of the most important parameters to design and optimize within a gas-solid fluidized bed. This minimum fluidization velocity was monitored during investigation while observing variables factors and their effect on this velocity. From our investigation, it has been found that minimum fluidization velocity is independent of bed

Electrical probe measurements in low and high pressure discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, D.

1976-11-01

The construction of an apparatus for automatic determination of electron distributions is described, whereafter measurements of electron energy distributions before and after a stationary plasma sheath in a low pressure mercury discharge are presented. The sheath appears at a constriction of the discharge tube. The measurements have been made with a spheric probe, using the second-derivative method, and the results show that the energy distribution on the anode side of the sheath is a sum of a thermal population and an accelerated distribution. Near the sheath the accelerated electrons suffice to carry the discharge current, but far from it the current must be carried by an anisotropy in the thermal part of the distribution function. A comparison is made with calculated distributions. The cross-sections for electron-neutral and Coulomb collisions are not sufficient to account for the damping of the accelerated population, suggesting the presence of a plasma instability. In order to study the distribution function of the axial velocity component, preliminary measurements of the first derivative of the current to a plane probe have been made. Such measurements yield information about the anisotropy and the current transport, and may perhaps shed some light on the phenomenon of current limitation. Some measurements on a TIG welding arc are also described. (Auth.)

Normal modes and quality factors of spherical dielectric resonators: I ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Eigenmodes; spherical resonators; spherical dielectric resonators; quality factors. PACS No. 42.50. .... Alternatively, introducing the angular momentum operator L defined as, L = (1/j)( r × ∇) ...... referee of the article for some helpful comments.

A review of recent advances in the spherical harmonics expansion method for semiconductor device simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rupp, K; Jungemann, C; Hong, S-M; Bina, M; Grasser, T; Jüngel, A

The Boltzmann transport equation is commonly considered to be the best semi-classical description of carrier transport in semiconductors, providing precise information about the distribution of carriers with respect to time (one dimension), location (three dimensions), and momentum (three dimensions). However, numerical solutions for the seven-dimensional carrier distribution functions are very demanding. The most common solution approach is the stochastic Monte Carlo method, because the gigabytes of memory requirements of deterministic direct solution approaches has not been available until recently. As a remedy, the higher accuracy provided by solutions of the Boltzmann transport equation is often exchanged for lower computational expense by using simpler models based on macroscopic quantities such as carrier density and mean carrier velocity. Recent developments for the deterministic spherical harmonics expansion method have reduced the computational cost for solving the Boltzmann transport equation, enabling the computation of carrier distribution functions even for spatially three-dimensional device simulations within minutes to hours. We summarize recent progress for the spherical harmonics expansion method and show that small currents, reasonable execution times, and rare events such as low-frequency noise, which are all hard or even impossible to simulate with the established Monte Carlo method, can be handled in a straight-forward manner. The applicability of the method for important practical applications is demonstrated for noise simulation, small-signal analysis, hot-carrier degradation, and avalanche breakdown.

Numerical relativity in spherical coordinates with the Einstein Toolkit

Science.gov (United States)

Mewes, Vassilios; Zlochower, Yosef; Campanelli, Manuela; Ruchlin, Ian; Etienne, Zachariah B.; Baumgarte, Thomas W.

2018-04-01

Numerical relativity codes that do not make assumptions on spatial symmetries most commonly adopt Cartesian coordinates. While these coordinates have many attractive features, spherical coordinates are much better suited to take advantage of approximate symmetries in a number of astrophysical objects, including single stars, black holes, and accretion disks. While the appearance of coordinate singularities often spoils numerical relativity simulations in spherical coordinates, especially in the absence of any symmetry assumptions, it has recently been demonstrated that these problems can be avoided if the coordinate singularities are handled analytically. This is possible with the help of a reference-metric version of the Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura formulation together with a proper rescaling of tensorial quantities. In this paper we report on an implementation of this formalism in the Einstein Toolkit. We adapt the Einstein Toolkit infrastructure, originally designed for Cartesian coordinates, to handle spherical coordinates, by providing appropriate boundary conditions at both inner and outer boundaries. We perform numerical simulations for a disturbed Kerr black hole, extract the gravitational wave signal, and demonstrate that the noise in these signals is orders of magnitude smaller when computed on spherical grids rather than Cartesian grids. With the public release of our new Einstein Toolkit thorns, our methods for numerical relativity in spherical coordinates will become available to the entire numerical relativity community.

Gravitational settling of a highly concentrated system of solid spherical particles

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhipov, V. A.; Usanina, A. S.

2017-09-01

In the present paper, we report on the results of an experimental study of the process of gravity sedimentation of a cloud of monodispersed solid spherical particles with initial volume concentration C > 0.03, which was performed in a wide range of Reynolds numbers. An analytical estimate of the settling regimes of spherical particle clouds is presented. A new method for creating a spherical particle cloud with a high concentration of particles is proposed. A qualitative picture of the settling process of a highly concentrated particle cloud under gravity is revealed. A criterial dependence for the drag coefficient of a sedimenting spherical particle cloud as an entity is obtained.

Mobile Probing and Probes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duvaa, Uffe; Ørngreen, Rikke; Weinkouff Mathiasen, Anne-Gitte

2013-01-01

Mobile probing is a method, developed for learning about digital work situations, as an approach to discover new grounds. The method can be used when there is a need to know more about users and their work with certain tasks, but where users at the same time are distributed (in time and space......). Mobile probing was inspired by the cultural probe method, and was influenced by qualitative interview and inquiry approaches. The method has been used in two subsequent projects, involving school children (young adults at 15-17 years old) and employees (adults) in a consultancy company. Findings point...... to mobile probing being a flexible method for uncovering the unknowns, as a way of getting rich data to the analysis and design phases. On the other hand it is difficult to engage users to give in depth explanations, which seem easier in synchronous dialogs (whether online or face2face). The development...

Mobile Probing and Probes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duvaa, Uffe; Ørngreen, Rikke; Weinkouff, Anne-Gitte

2012-01-01

Mobile probing is a method, which has been developed for learning about digital work situations, as an approach to discover new grounds. The method can be used when there is a need to know more about users and their work with certain tasks, but where users at the same time are distributed (in time...... and space). Mobile probing was inspired by the cultural probe method, and was influenced by qualitative interview and inquiry approaches. The method has been used in two subsequent projects, involving school children (young adults at 15-17 years old) and employees (adults) in a consultancy company. Findings...... point to mobile probing being a flexible method for uncovering the unknowns, as a way of getting rich data to the analysis and design phases. On the other hand it is difficult to engage users to give in depth explanations, which seem easier in synchronous dialogs (whether online or face2face...

Design innovations of the next-step spherical torus experiment and spherical torus development path

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, M.; Kessel, C.; Peng, M.

2003-01-01

The spherical torus (ST) fusion energy development path is complementary to the tokamak burning plasma experiment such as ITER as it focuses toward the compact Component Test Facility (CTF) and higher toroidal beta regimes to improve the design of DEMO and a Power Plant. To support the ST development path, one option of a Next Step Spherical Torus (NSST) device is examined. NSST is a 'performance extension' (PE) stage ST with a plasma current of 5 - 10 MA, R = 1.5, B T ≤ 2.7 T with flexible physics capability to 1) Provide a sufficient physics basis for the design of the CTF, 2) Explore advanced operating scenarios with high bootstrap current fraction/high performance regimes, which can then be utilized by CTF, DEMO, and Power Plants, 3) Contribute to the general plasma/fusion science of high β toroidal plasmas. The NSST facility is designed to utilize the TFTR site to minimize the cost and time required for the construction. (author)

Gravity Probe B Inspection

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

The space vehicle Gravity Probe B (GP-B) is the relativity experiment developed at Stanford University to test two extraordinary predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. The experiment will measure, very precisely, the expected tiny changes in the direction of the spin axes of four gyroscopes contained in an Earth-orbiting satellite at a 400-mile altitude. So free are the gyroscopes from disturbance that they will provide an almost perfect space-time reference system. They will measure how space and time are very slightly warped by the presence of the Earth, and, more profoundly, how the Earth's rotation very slightly drags space-time around with it. These effects, though small for the Earth, have far-reaching implications for the nature of matter and the structure of the Universe. GP-B is among the most thoroughly researched programs ever undertaken by NASA. This is the story of a scientific quest in which physicists and engineers have collaborated closely over many years. Inspired by their quest, they have invented a whole range of technologies that are already enlivening other branches of science and engineering. In this photograph, engineer Gary Reynolds is inspecting the inside of the probe neck during probe thermal repairs. GP-B is scheduled for launch in April 2004 and managed for NASA by the Marshall Space Flight Center. Development of the GP-B is the responsibility of Stanford University along with major subcontractor Lockheed Martin Corporation. (Image credit to Russ Leese, Gravity Probe B, Stanford University)

Relativistic fluids in spherically symmetric space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dipankar, R.

1977-12-01

Some of McVittie and Wiltshire's (1977) solutions of Walker's (1935) isotropy conditions for relativistic perfect fluid spheres are generalized. Solutions are spherically symmetric and conformally flat

Next Step Spherical Torus Design Studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neumeyer, C.; Heitzenroeder, P.; Kessel, C.; Ono, M.; Peng, M.; Schmidt, J.; Woolley, R.; Zatz, I.

2002-01-01

Studies are underway to identify and characterize a design point for a Next Step Spherical Torus (NSST) experiment. This would be a ''Proof of Performance'' device which would follow and build upon the successes of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) a ''Proof of Principle'' device which has operated at PPPL since 1999. With the Decontamination and Decommissioning (DandD) of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) nearly completed, the TFTR test cell and facility will soon be available for a device such as NSST. By utilizing the TFTR test cell, NSST can be constructed for a relatively low cost on a short time scale. In addition, while furthering spherical torus (ST) research, this device could achieve modest fusion power gain for short-pulse lengths, a significant step toward future large burning plasma devices now under discussion in the fusion community. The selected design point is Q=2 at HH=1.4, P subscript ''fusion''=60 MW, 5 second pulse, with R subscript ''0''=1.5 m, A=1.6, I subscript ''p''=10vMA, B subscript ''t''=2.6 T, CS flux=16 weber. Most of the research would be conducted in D-D, with a limited D-T campaign during the last years of the program

Mini Tensiometer-Time Domain Reflectometry Coil Probe for Measuring Soil Water Retention Properties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Subedi, Shaphal; Kawamoto, Ken; Karunarathna, Anurudda Kumara

2013-01-01

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is used widely for measuring soil-water content. New TDR coil probe technology facilitates the development of small, nondestructive probes for simultaneous measurement of soil-water content (θ) and soil-water potential (ψ). In this study we developed mini tensiomet...... between measured soil-water retention curves (ψ > –100 cm H2O) by the new T-TDR coil probes and independent measurements by the hanging water column method....

Present status and future prospects of spherical aberration corrected TEM/STEM for study of nanomaterials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Nobuo

2008-01-01

The present status of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is described from the viewpoint of the observation of nanomaterials. Characteristic features in TEM and STEM are explained using the experimental data obtained by our group and other research groups. Cs correction up to the 3rd-order aberration of an objective lens has already been established and research interest is focused on correcting the 5th-order spherical aberration and the chromatic aberration in combination with the development of a monochromator below an electron gun for smaller point-to-point resolution in optics. Another fundamental area of interest is the limitation of TEM and STEM resolution from the viewpoint of the scattering of electrons in crystals. The minimum size of the exit-wave function below samples undergoing TEM imaging is determined from the calculation of scattering around related atomic columns in the crystals. STEM does not have this limitation because the resolution is, in principle, determined by the probe size. One of the future prospects of Cs-corrected TEM/STEM is the possibility of extending the space around the sample holder by correcting the chromatic and spherical aberrations. This wider space will contribute to the ease of performing in situ experiments and various combinations of TEM and other analysis methods. High-resolution, in situ dynamic and 3D observations/analysis are the most important keywords in the next decade of high-resolution electron microscopy. (topical review)

Modeling the Insertion Mechanics of Flexible Neural Probes Coated with Sacrificial Polymers for Optimizing Probe Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sagar Singh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Single-unit recording neural probes have significant advantages towards improving signal-to-noise ratio and specificity for signal acquisition in brain-to-computer interface devices. Long-term effectiveness is unfortunately limited by the chronic injury response, which has been linked to the mechanical mismatch between rigid probes and compliant brain tissue. Small, flexible microelectrodes may overcome this limitation, but insertion of these probes without buckling requires supporting elements such as a stiff coating with a biodegradable polymer. For these coated probes, there is a design trade-off between the potential for successful insertion into brain tissue and the degree of trauma generated by the insertion. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a finite element model (FEM to simulate insertion of coated neural probes of varying dimensions and material properties into brain tissue. Simulations were performed to predict the buckling and insertion forces during insertion of coated probes into a tissue phantom with material properties of brain. The simulations were validated with parallel experimental studies where probes were inserted into agarose tissue phantom, ex vivo chick embryonic brain tissue, and ex vivo rat brain tissue. Experiments were performed with uncoated copper wire and both uncoated and coated SU-8 photoresist and Parylene C probes. Model predictions were found to strongly agree with experimental results (<10% error. The ratio of the predicted buckling force-to-predicted insertion force, where a value greater than one would ideally be expected to result in successful insertion, was plotted against the actual success rate from experiments. A sigmoidal relationship was observed, with a ratio of 1.35 corresponding to equal probability of insertion and failure, and a ratio of 3.5 corresponding to a 100% success rate. This ratio was dubbed the “safety factor”, as it indicated the degree to which the coating

Stability of transparent spherically symmetric thin shells and wormholes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishak, Mustapha; Lake, Kayll

2002-01-01

The stability of transparent spherically symmetric thin shells (and wormholes) to linearized spherically symmetric perturbations about static equilibrium is examined. This work generalizes and systematizes previous studies and explores the consequences of including the cosmological constant. The approach shows how the existence (or not) of a domain wall dominates the landscape of possible equilibrium configurations

Effects of Mach number on pitot-probe displacement in a turbulent boundary layer

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, J. M.

1974-01-01

Experimental pitot-probe-displacement data have been obtained in a turbulent boundary layer at a local free-stream Mach number of 4.63 and unit Reynolds number of 6.46 million meter. The results of this study were compared with lower Mach number results of previous studies. It was found that small probes showed displacement only, whereas the larger probes showed not only displacement but also distortion of the shape of the boundary-layer profile. The distortion pattern occurred lower in the boundary layer at the higher Mach number than at the the lower Mach number. The maximum distortion occurred when the center of the probe was about one probe diameter off the test surface. For probes in the wall contact position, the indicated Mach numbers were, for all probes tested, close to the true profile. Pitot-probe displacement was found to increase significantly with increasing Mach number.

Overview and initial results of the ETE spherical tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berni, L.A.; Del Bosco, E.; Ferreira, J.G.; Ludwig, G.O.; Oliveira, R.M.; Shibata, C.S.; Barbosa, L.F.F.P.W.; Vilela, W.A.

2003-01-01

The ETE spherical tokamak is a small size aspect-ratio machine with major and minor radius of 30 cm and 20 cm, respectively. The vessel was made of Inconel 625 and provides good access for plasma diagnostics through 58 Conflat ports. The first plasma was obtained at the end of 2000 and presently plasma currents of about 45 kA lasting for about 4 ms with electron temperature up to 160 eV and densities of 2.2x10 19 m -3 are routinely obtained. Achievement of the designed parameters for the first phase of operation is expected by the end of this year, with plasma current up to 200 kA lasting for about 15 ms. This paper describes some details of the ETE project, construction and mainly the first results and analysis of basic parameters. (author)

Probing the oxidation kinetics of small permalloy particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Xiaolei; Song, Xiao; Yin, Shiliu; Shirolkar, Mandar M.; Li, Ming; Wang, Haiqian

2017-01-01

The oxidation of permalloys is important to apply in a wide range. The oxidation and diffusion mechanisms of small permalloy particles with different Fe content are studied by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and microstructure characterizations. Fe 2 O 3 /(Ni, Fe) 3 O 4 plays a key role in the morphology evolution and diffusion mechanisms of small NiFe particles upon oxidation. The activation energies of grain boundary diffusion for the NiFe alloys increase from 141 kJ/mol to 208 kJ/mol as the Fe content increases from 0 to ~50 wt%. We have developed a diffusion process resolved temperature programed oxidation (PR-TPO) analysis method. Three diffusion mechanisms have been recognized by using this method: In addition to the grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion, our TGA analysis suggests that the phase conversion from Fe 2 O 3 to (Ni, Fe) 3 O 4 induces diffusion change and affects the diffusion process at the intermediate temperature. Relevant oxidation kinetics and diffusion mechanisms are discussed. - Graphical abstract: The oxidation mechanisms of small Permalloy particles with different Fe content is studied by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and microstructure characterizations. The activation energies of grain boundary diffusion for the NiFe alloys increases from 140 kJ/mol to 208 kJ/mol as the Fe content increases from 0 to 50 wt% as determined by TGA. We have developed a diffusion process resolved temperature programed oxidation (DPR-TPO) analysis method, and three diffusion mechanisms have been recognized by using this method: In addition to the well-known grain boundary diffusion and lattice diffusion, we found that the phase conversion from Fe 2 O 3 to (Ni, Fe) 3 O 4 will induce diffusion changes and affect the diffusion process at the intermediate temperature. The diffusion processes can be characterized by the corresponding characteristic peak temperatures in temperature programmed oxidation (TPO) analysis. This work not only

Modelling of UWB Antenna Perturbed by Human Phantom in Spherical Harmonics Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mhedhbi, Meriem; Avrillon, Stephane; Pedersen, Troels

2014-01-01

is attractive for simulation purposes. We propose a simple model for the spherical harmonics coefficients allowing to predict the antenna behavior perturbed by a human phantom. The model is based on knowledge of the spherical harmonic coefficients of antenna in free space and the antenna-phantom distance.......In this paper we study how the antenna radiation pattern is perturbed in the presence of a human phantom in terms of changes in the coefficients of the spherical harmonic antenna representation. The spherical harmonic basis allows for a compact representation of the antenna pattern which...

A Spherical Aerial Terrestrial Robot

Science.gov (United States)

Dudley, Christopher J.

This thesis focuses on the design of a novel, ultra-lightweight spherical aerial terrestrial robot (ATR). The ATR has the ability to fly through the air or roll on the ground, for applications that include search and rescue, mapping, surveillance, environmental sensing, and entertainment. The design centers around a micro-quadcopter encased in a lightweight spherical exoskeleton that can rotate about the quadcopter. The spherical exoskeleton offers agile ground locomotion while maintaining characteristics of a basic aerial robot in flying mode. A model of the system dynamics for both modes of locomotion is presented and utilized in simulations to generate potential trajectories for aerial and terrestrial locomotion. Details of the quadcopter and exoskeleton design and fabrication are discussed, including the robot's turning characteristic over ground and the spring-steel exoskeleton with carbon fiber axle. The capabilities of the ATR are experimentally tested and are in good agreement with model-simulated performance. An energy analysis is presented to validate the overall efficiency of the robot in both modes of locomotion. Experimentally-supported estimates show that the ATR can roll along the ground for over 12 minutes and cover the distance of 1.7 km, or it can fly for 4.82 minutes and travel 469 m, on a single 350 mAh battery. Compared to a traditional flying-only robot, the ATR traveling over the same distance in rolling mode is 2.63-times more efficient, and in flying mode the system is only 39 percent less efficient. Experimental results also demonstrate the ATR's transition from rolling to flying mode.

Initial value formulation for the spherically symmetric dust solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, H.

1990-01-01

An initial value formulation for the dust solution with spherical symmetry is given explicitly in which the initial distributions of dust and its velocity on an initial surface are chosen to be the initial data. As special cases, the Friedmann universe, the Schwarzschild solution in comoving coordinates, and a spherically symmetric and radially inhomogeneous cosmological model are derived

Effect of the spherical Earth on a simple pendulum

OpenAIRE

Burko, Lior M.

2003-01-01

We consider the period of a simple pendulum in the gravitational field of the spherical Earth. Effectively, gravity is enhanced compared with the often used flat Earth approximation, such that the period of the pendulum is shortened. We discuss the flat Earth approximation, and show when the corrections due to the spherical Earth may be of interest.

Multiple small-angle neutron scattering studies of anisotropic materials

CERN Document Server

Allen, A J; Long, G G; Ilavsky, J

2002-01-01

Building on previous work that considered spherical scatterers and randomly oriented spheroidal scatterers, we describe a multiple small-angle neutron scattering (MSANS) analysis for nonrandomly oriented spheroids. We illustrate this with studies of the multi-component void morphologies found in plasma-spray thermal barrier coatings. (orig.)

Development of a spherical neutron rem monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panchal, C.G.; Madhavi, V.; Bansode, P.Y.; Jakati, R.K.; Ghodgaonkar, M.D.; Desai, S.S.; Shaikh, A.M.; Sathian, V.

2007-01-01

A new neutron rem monitor based on spherical LINUS with the state of art electronic circuits has been designed in Electronics Division. This prototype instrument encompasses a spherical double polythene moderator to improve an isotropic response and a lead layer to extend its energy response compared to the conventional neutron rem monitors. A systematic testing and calibration of the energy and directional response of the prototype monitor have been carried out. Although the monitor is expected to perform satisfactorily upto an energy ∼ 55 MeV, at present its response has been tested upto 5 MeV. (author)

Spherical harmonics and integration in superspace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bie, H de; Sommen, F

2007-01-01

In this paper, the classical theory of spherical harmonics in R m is extended to superspace using techniques from Clifford analysis. After defining a super-Laplace operator and studying some basic properties of polynomial null-solutions of this operator, a new type of integration over the supersphere is introduced by exploiting the formal equivalence with an old result of Pizzetti. This integral is then used to prove orthogonality of spherical harmonics of different degree, Green-like theorems and also an extension of the important Funk-Hecke theorem to superspace. Finally, this integration over the supersphere is used to define an integral over the whole superspace, and it is proven that this is equivalent with the Berezin integral, thus providing a more sound definition of the Berezin integral

Compression dynamics of quasi-spherical wire arrays with different linear mass profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitrofanov, K. N.; Aleksandrov, V. V.; Gritsuk, A. N.; Grabovski, E. V.; Frolov, I. N.; Laukhin, Ya. N.; Oleinik, G. M.; Ol’khovskaya, O. G.

2016-01-01

Results of experimental studies of the implosion of quasi-spherical wire (or metalized fiber) arrays are presented. The goal of the experiments was to achieve synchronous three-dimensional compression of the plasma produced in different regions of a quasi-spherical array into its geometrical center. To search for optimal synchronization conditions, quasi-spherical arrays with different initial profiles of the linear mass were used. The following dependences of the linear mass on the poloidal angle were used: m_l(θ) ∝ sin"–"1θ and m_l(θ) ∝ sin"–"2θ. The compression dynamics of such arrays was compared with that of quasi-spherical arrays without linear mass profiling, m_l(θ) = const. To verify the experimental data, the spatiotemporal dynamics of plasma compression in quasi-spherical arrays was studied using various diagnostics. The experiments on three-dimensional implosion of quasi-spherical arrays made it possible to study how the frozen-in magnetic field of the discharge current penetrates into the array. By measuring the magnetic field in the plasma of a quasi-spherical array, information is obtained on the processes of plasma production and formation of plasma flows from the wire/fiber regions with and without an additionally deposited mass. It is found that penetration of the magnetic flux depends on the initial linear mass profile m_l(θ) of the quasi-spherical array. From space-resolved spectral measurements and frame imaging of plasma X-ray emission, information is obtained on the dimensions and shape of the X-ray source formed during the implosion of a quasi-spherical array. The intensity of this source is estimated and compared with that of the Z-pinch formed during the implosion of a cylindrical array.

Scanning probe microscopy experiments in microgravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drobek, Tanja; Reiter, Michael; Heckl, Wolfgang M.

2004-01-01

The scanning probe microscopy setups are small, lightweight and do not require vacuum or high voltage supply. In addition, samples can be investigated directly without further preparation. Therefore, these techniques are well-suited for applications in space, in particular, for operation on the International Space Station (ISS) or for high resolution microscopy on planetary missions. A feasibility study for a scanning tunneling microscopy setup was carried out on a parabolic flight campaign in November 2001 in order to test the technical setup for microgravity applications. With a pocket-size design microscope, a graphite surface was imaged under ambient conditions. Atomic resolution was achieved although the quality of the images was inferior in comparison to laboratory conditions. Improvements for future scanning probe microscopy experiments in microgravity are suggested

Mixed-Degree Spherical Simplex-Radial Cubature Kalman Filter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiyuan Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Conventional low degree spherical simplex-radial cubature Kalman filters often generate low filtering accuracy or even diverge for handling highly nonlinear systems. The high-degree Kalman filters can improve filtering accuracy at the cost of increasing computational complexity; nevertheless their stability will be influenced by the negative weights existing in the high-dimensional systems. To efficiently improve filtering accuracy and stability, a novel mixed-degree spherical simplex-radial cubature Kalman filter (MSSRCKF is proposed in this paper. The accuracy analysis shows that the true posterior mean and covariance calculated by the proposed MSSRCKF can agree accurately with the third-order moment and the second-order moment, respectively. Simulation results show that, in comparison with the conventional spherical simplex-radial cubature Kalman filters that are based on the same degrees, the proposed MSSRCKF can perform superior results from the aspects of filtering accuracy and computational complexity.

Synchrotron radiation from spherically accreting black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ipser, J.R.; Price, R.H.

1982-01-01

Spherical accretion onto a Schwartzchild black hole, of gas with frozen-in magnetic field, is studied numerically and analytically for a range of hole masses and accretion rates in which synchrotron emission is the dominant radiative mechanism. At small radii the equipartition of magnetic, kinetic, and gravitational energy is assumed to apply, and the gas is heated by dissipation of infalling magnetic energy, turbulent energy, etc. The models can be classified into three types: (a) synchrotron cooling negligible, (b) synchrotron cooling important but synchrotron self-absorption negligible, (c) synchrotron cooling and self-absorption important. In the first case gas temperatures become very high near the horizon but luminosity efficiencies (luminosity/mass-energy accretion rate) are low. In cases (b) and (c) the gas flow near the horizon is essentially isothermal and luminosity efficiencies are fairly high. The analysis and results for the isothermal cases (b) and (c) are valid only for moderate dissipative heating and synchrotron self-absorption. If self-absorption is very strong or if dissipated energy is comparable to infall energy, Comptonization effects, not included in the analysis, become important

Detecting topology in a nearly flat spherical universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weeks, Jeffrey; Lehoucq, Roland; Uzan, Jean-Philippe

2003-01-01

When the density parameter is close to unity, the universe has a large curvature radius independent of its being hyperbolic or spherical, or in the limiting case of an infinite curvature radius, flat. Whatever the curvature, the universe may have either a simply connected or a multiply connected topology. In the flat case, the topology scale is arbitrary, and there is no a priori reason for this scale to be of the same order as the size of the observable universe. In the hyperbolic case, any nontrivial topology would almost surely be on a length scale too large to detect. In the spherical case, in contrast, the topology could easily occur on a detectable scale. The present paper shows how, in the spherical case, the assumption of a nearly flat universe simplifies the algorithms for detecting a multiply connected topology, but also reduces the amount of topology that can be seen. This is of primary importance for the upcoming cosmic microwave background data analysis. This paper shows that for spherical spaces one may restrict the search to diametrically opposite pairs of circles in the circles-in-the-sky method and still detect the cyclic factor in the standard factorization of the holonomy group. This vastly decreases the algorithm's run time. If the search is widened to include pairs of candidate circles whose centres are almost opposite and whose relative twist varies slightly, then the cyclic factor along with a cyclic subgroup of the general factor may also be detected. Unfortunately, the full holonomy group is, in general, unobservable in a nearly flat spherical universe, and so a full six-parameter search is unnecessary. Crystallographic methods could also potentially detect the cyclic factor and a cyclic subgroup of the general factor, but nothing else

Detecting topology in a nearly flat spherical universe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weeks, Jeffrey [15 Farmer St, Canton NY 13617-1120 (United States); Lehoucq, Roland [CE-Saclay, DSM/DAPNIA/Service d' Astrophysique, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex (France); Uzan, Jean-Philippe [Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris, GReCO, CNRS-FRE 2435, 98 bis, Bd Arago, 75014 Paris (France)

2003-04-21

When the density parameter is close to unity, the universe has a large curvature radius independent of its being hyperbolic or spherical, or in the limiting case of an infinite curvature radius, flat. Whatever the curvature, the universe may have either a simply connected or a multiply connected topology. In the flat case, the topology scale is arbitrary, and there is no a priori reason for this scale to be of the same order as the size of the observable universe. In the hyperbolic case, any nontrivial topology would almost surely be on a length scale too large to detect. In the spherical case, in contrast, the topology could easily occur on a detectable scale. The present paper shows how, in the spherical case, the assumption of a nearly flat universe simplifies the algorithms for detecting a multiply connected topology, but also reduces the amount of topology that can be seen. This is of primary importance for the upcoming cosmic microwave background data analysis. This paper shows that for spherical spaces one may restrict the search to diametrically opposite pairs of circles in the circles-in-the-sky method and still detect the cyclic factor in the standard factorization of the holonomy group. This vastly decreases the algorithm's run time. If the search is widened to include pairs of candidate circles whose centres are almost opposite and whose relative twist varies slightly, then the cyclic factor along with a cyclic subgroup of the general factor may also be detected. Unfortunately, the full holonomy group is, in general, unobservable in a nearly flat spherical universe, and so a full six-parameter search is unnecessary. Crystallographic methods could also potentially detect the cyclic factor and a cyclic subgroup of the general factor, but nothing else.

Small Molecules and Sum Frequency Generation Probes of Nanoparticulate TiO2

Science.gov (United States)

Shultz, Mary Jane

2006-03-01

Anatase TiO2 is known to photo catalytically mineralize a wide variety of pollutants and pathogens, both airborne and in aqueous solution. One of the major benefits of basing water treatment systems on TiO2 is that it is environmentally benign and so non toxic that it is used as a colorant in creamy salad dressing. The primary impediment to wide spread implementation of a TiO2 based system for water decontamination is that the quantum efficiency in contact with condense phase water is less than 5%. Since the quantum efficiency for destruction of airborne materials is greater than 80%, the potential for increased efficiency is very real. To convert the potential to practice, the oxidation mechanism needs to be more fully understood. We will report on the results of using a nonlinear optical spectroscopy, sum frequency generation (SFG) as an in situ probe of interactions at the TiO2 surface. Results suggest that the dominant oxidation mechanism converts from a direct to an indirect mechanism as the water content (vapor pressure) increases. This presentation will discuss the probe technique as well as the results.

Spherical Pendulum, Actions, and Spin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richter, Peter H.; Dullin, Holger R.; Waalkens, Holger; Wiersig, Jan

1996-01-01

The classical and quantum mechanics of a spherical pendulum are worked out, including the dynamics of a suspending frame with moment of inertia θ. The presence of two separatrices in the bifurcation diagram of the energy-momentum mapping has its mathematical expression in the hyperelliptic nature of

Determination of stamp deformation during imprinting on semi-spherical surfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kafka, Jan; Matschuk, Maria; Pranov, Henrik

of sol-gel was applied onto spherical injection mold inserts and subsequently imprinted using a flexible stamp. A hard curing step transformed the sol-gel into a quartz-like and durable material. As an example, we present theory and results regarding the imprint of pillar nanostructures on semi......-spherical mold surfaces. Imprints were realized on three different radii of circumferenceof the spherical mold: R = 0.5 mm, R = 1.0 mm, and R = 2 mm. After hard-curing of theimprinted sol-gel, the inserts were used for cold-mold as well as vario-therm injection molding.The polymer replicas and the inserts were...

Three-dimensional reconstruction of neutron, gamma-ray, and x-ray sources using spherical harmonic decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Volegov, P. L.; Danly, C. R.; Fittinghoff, D.; Geppert-Kleinrath, V.; Grim, G.; Merrill, F. E.; Wilde, C. H.

2017-11-01

Neutron, gamma-ray, and x-ray imaging are important diagnostic tools at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) for measuring the two-dimensional (2D) size and shape of the neutron producing region, for probing the remaining ablator and measuring the extent of the DT plasmas during the stagnation phase of Inertial Confinement Fusion implosions. Due to the difficulty and expense of building these imagers, at most only a few two-dimensional projections images will be available to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) sources. In this paper, we present a technique that has been developed for the 3D reconstruction of neutron, gamma-ray, and x-ray sources from a minimal number of 2D projections using spherical harmonics decomposition. We present the detailed algorithms used for this characterization and the results of reconstructed sources from experimental neutron and x-ray data collected at OMEGA and NIF.

Fabrication and Characterization of Nanoenergetic Hollow Spherical Hexanitrostibene (HNS Derivatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiong Cao

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The spherization of nanoenergetic materials is the best way to improve the sensitivity and increase loading densities and detonation properties for weapons and ammunition, but the preparation of spherical nanoenergetic materials with high regularization, uniform size and monodispersity is still a challenge. In this paper, nanoenergetic hollow spherical hexanitrostibene (HNS derivatives were fabricated via a one-pot copolymerization strategy, which is based on the reaction of HNS and piperazine in acetonitrile solution. Characterization results indicated the as-prepared reaction nanoenergetic products were HNS-derived oligomers, where a free radical copolymerization reaction process was inferred. The hollow sphere structure of the HNS derivatives was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, transmission electron microscope (TEM, and synchrotron radiation X-ray imaging technology. The properties of the nanoenergetic hollow spherical derivatives, including thermal decomposition and sensitivity are discussed in detail. Sensitivity studies showed that the nanoenergetic derivatives exhibited lower impact, friction and spark sensitivity than raw HNS. Thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimeter (TG-DSC results showed that continuous exothermic decomposition occurred in the whole temperature range, which indicated that nanoenergetic derivatives have a unique role in thermal applications. Therefore, nanoenergetic hollow spherical HNS derivatives could provide a new way to modify the properties of certain energetic compounds and fabricate spherical nanomaterials to improve the charge configuration.

Towards linearization of atmospheric radiative transfer in spherical geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walter, Holger H.; Landgraf, Jochen

2005-01-01

We present a general approach for the linearization of radiative transfer in a spherical planetary atmosphere. The approach is based on the forward-adjoint perturbation theory. In the first part we develop the theoretical background for a linearization of radiative transfer in spherical geometry. Using an operator formulation of radiative transfer allows one to derive the linearization principles in a universally valid notation. The application of the derived principles is demonstrated for a radiative transfer problem in simplified spherical geometry in the second part of this paper. Here, we calculate the derivatives of the radiance at the top of the atmosphere with respect to the absorption properties of a trace gas species in the case of a nadir-viewing satellite instrument

Detection based on rainbow refractometry of droplet sphericity in liquid-liquid systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lohner, H; Lehmann, P; Bauckhage, K

1999-03-01

The shape of droplets in liquid-liquid systems influences their mass and momentum transfer processes. The deviation from sphericity of rising droplets in liquid-liquid systems was investigated for different droplet sizes. Rainbow refractometry permits one to test, in this case, whether the use of laser-optical particle sizing will be correct or faulty. Since the assumption of spherical particle geometry is a general basis of laser-optical particle-sizing techniques such as rainbow refractometry or phase Doppler anemometry, deviation from the spherical shape results in a measuring error. A sphericity check based on rainbow refractometry is introduced.

Interplay of spherical closed shells and N /Z asymmetry in quasifission dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanto, G.; Hinde, D. J.; Banerjee, K.; Dasgupta, M.; Jeung, D. Y.; Simenel, C.; Simpson, E. C.; Wakhle, A.; Williams, E.; Carter, I. P.; Cook, K. J.; Luong, D. H.; Palshetkar, C. S.; Rafferty, D. C.

2018-05-01

Background: Quasifission (QF) has gained tremendous importance in heavy-ion nuclear physics research because of its strong influence on superheavy-element synthesis. Collisions involving closed-shell nuclei in the entrance channel are found to affect the QF reaction mechanism. Hence, it is important to improve the understanding of their effect on QF. Apart from that, some recent studies show that the difference in N /Z of reaction partners influences the reaction dynamics. Since heavier doubly magic nuclei have different N /Z than lighter doubly magic nuclei, it is important to understand the effect of N /Z mismatch as well as the effect of shell closures. Purpose: To investigate the effect of entrance-channel shell closures and N /Z asymmetry on QF. The reactions were chosen to decouple these effects from the contributions of other entrance-channel parameters. Method: Fission fragment mass-angle distributions were measured using the CUBE fission spectrometer, consisting of two large area position-sensitive multi-wire proportional counters (MWPCs), for five reactions, namely, 50Cr+208Pb , 52Cr+Pb,208206 , 54Cr+Pb,208204 . Result: Two components were observed in the measured fragment mass angle distribution, a fast mass-asymmetric quasifission and a slow mass-symmetric component having a less significant mass-angle correlation. The ratio of these components was found to depend on spherical closed shells in the entrance channel nuclei and the magnitude of the N /Z mismatch between the two reaction partners, as well as the beam energy. Conclusions: Entrance-channel spherical closed shells can enhance compound nucleus formation provided the N /Z asymmetry is small. Increase in the N /Z asymmetry is expected to destroy the effect of entrance-channel spherical closed shells, through nucleon transfer reactions.

Segmented gamma scanning method for measuring holdup in the spherical container

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Jingshan; Li Ze; Gan Lin; Lu Wenguang; Dong Mingli

2007-01-01

Some special nuclear material (SNM) is inevitably deposited in the facilities (mixer, reactor) of nuclear material process line. Exactly knowing the quantity of nuclear material holdup is very important for nuclear material accountability and critical safety. This paper presents segmented gamma scanning method for SNM holdup measurement of spherical container, at the left, right and back of which other equipments exist so that the detectors can be put at the only front of container for measurement. The nuclear material deposited in the spherical container can be looked as spherical shell source, which is divided into many layers. The detectors scanning spherical shell source are moved layer by layer from the top to the bottom to obtain projection data, with which deposited material distribution can be reconstructed by using Least Square (LS) method or Maximum Likelihood (ML) method. With these methods accurate total holdup can be obtained by summing up all the segmental values reconstructed. In this paper this measurement method for holdup in the spherical container was verified with Monte-Carlo simulation calculation and experiment. (authors)

Electromagnetic radiation and scattering from small canonical structures of double-negative metamaterials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arslanagic, Samel

2007-01-01

aspects associated with DNG materials, and was subsequently extended to investigations of the radiation and scattering from two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) MTM-based canonical problems in electromagnetic theory. As to the theoretical aspects of DNG materials, the sign, or more generally the branch......, cylindrical and spherical configurations to design electrically small, resonant structures such as cavities, waveguides, scatterers and radiators. These ideas are extended here to canonical antenna and scattering configurations which consist of electrically small resonant cylindrical and spherical MTM......-based structures excited by an arbitrarily located electric line source and an arbitrarily located and oriented electric Hertzian dipole, respectively. Exact analytical solutions, based on eigenfunction series, are derived and then numerically evaluated to study the radiation and scattering from these structures...

Photodetachment of H− near a Hard Spherical Surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haneef, M.; Rahman, A.; Ahmad, Iftikhar; Afaq, A.

2012-01-01

The photodetachment of a hydrogen negative ion (H − ) near a hard spherical surface is investigated by using the theoretical imaging method. The surface is oriented in such a fashion that the laser polarization direction is perpendicular to the principal axis of the spherical surface. Analytical expressions are derived for the detached-electron flux and photodetachment cross section. Strong interference patterns are observed in the detached-electron flux, while no visible oscillations are found in the photodetachment cross section. (atomic and molecular physics)

Measurements of H-atom density by a catalytic probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vesel, A.; Drenik, A.; Mozetic, M.

2006-01-01

One of the important plasma parameters in tokamaks is the density of neutral hydrogen atoms which can be measured by catalytic probes. The method is based on the catalytic recombination of H atoms on the metal surface. In order to prevent a substantial drain of atoms by the probe, it should be made as small as possible. But still this effect can not be neglected. Therefore a study of the influence of a catalytic probe on the H-atom density was performed. The source of neutral H-atoms was inductively coupled RF hydrogen plasma. The gas from the discharge vessel was leaked to an experimental chamber through a narrow tube with the diameter of 5 mm and the length of 6 cm. Charged particles created in the discharge vessel were recombined on the walls of the narrow tube, so that the gas entering the experimental chamber was a mixture of hydrogen atoms and molecules only. The density of H-atoms in the experimental chamber was measured with two nickel catalytic probes. One probe was at fixed position and the other one was made movable. A change in the probe signal of the fixed probe was measured versus the position of the movable probe. The measurements were performed at the pressures between 10 Pa and 200 Pa and at two different RF powers 200 W and 300 W. It was found that the density of neutral hydrogen atoms was reduced for about 20% due to the presence of the probe. This result was independent from the pressure in the experimental chamber. (author)

Novel high-resolution temperature probe for radiofrequency dosimetry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schuderer, Juergen [Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society (IT' IS), Integrated Systems Laboratory IIS, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), CH-8092 Zurich (Switzerland); Schmid, Thomas [Schmid and Partner Engineering AG, 8004 Zurich (Switzerland); Urban, Gerald [IMTEK, Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg (Germany); Samaras, Theodoros [Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki (Greece); Kuster, Niels [Foundation for Research on Information Technologies in Society (IT' IS), Integrated Systems Laboratory IIS, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), CH-8092 Zurich (Switzerland)

2004-03-21

A novel integrated thermistor probe for temperature evaluations in radiofrequency-heated environments was realized. The probe's sensitive area is based on a highly resistive 50 {mu}m x 100 {mu}m layer of amorphous germanium processed on a glass tip. The small dimensions allow measurements with a distance as close as 150 {mu}m from solid boundaries. Due to its high temperature resolution of 4 mK and its short response time of the order of 10 ms, the sensor is very well suited for dosimetric measurements in strong absorption gradients. The influence of radiofrequency (RF) electric fields on the signal is minimized due to the high resistance of the sensor and the leads. The probe was successfully used to determine the highly nonuniform absorption distribution resulting from the RF exposure of cell cultures placed in Petri dishes. (note)

Novel high-resolution temperature probe for radiofrequency dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuderer, Juergen; Schmid, Thomas; Urban, Gerald; Samaras, Theodoros; Kuster, Niels

2004-01-01

A novel integrated thermistor probe for temperature evaluations in radiofrequency-heated environments was realized. The probe's sensitive area is based on a highly resistive 50 μm x 100 μm layer of amorphous germanium processed on a glass tip. The small dimensions allow measurements with a distance as close as 150 μm from solid boundaries. Due to its high temperature resolution of 4 mK and its short response time of the order of 10 ms, the sensor is very well suited for dosimetric measurements in strong absorption gradients. The influence of radiofrequency (RF) electric fields on the signal is minimized due to the high resistance of the sensor and the leads. The probe was successfully used to determine the highly nonuniform absorption distribution resulting from the RF exposure of cell cultures placed in Petri dishes. (note)

Unlabeled probes for the detection and typing of herpes simplex virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Dames, Shale; Pattison, David C; Bromley, L Kathryn; Wittwer, Carl T; Voelkerding, Karl V

2007-10-01

Unlabeled probe detection with a double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) binding dye is one method to detect and confirm target amplification after PCR. Unlabeled probes and amplicon melting have been used to detect small deletions and single-nucleotide polymorphisms in assays where template is in abundance. Unlabeled probes have not been applied to low-level target detection, however. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) was chosen as a model to compare the unlabeled probe method to an in-house reference assay using dual-labeled, minor groove binding probes. A saturating dsDNA dye (LCGreen Plus) was used for real-time PCR. HSV-1, HSV-2, and an internal control were differentiated by PCR amplicon and unlabeled probe melting analysis after PCR. The unlabeled probe technique displayed 98% concordance with the reference assay for the detection of HSV from a variety of archived clinical samples (n = 182). HSV typing using unlabeled probes was 99% concordant (n = 104) to sequenced clinical samples and allowed for the detection of sequence polymorphisms in the amplicon and under the probe. Unlabeled probes and amplicon melting can be used to detect and genotype as few as 10 copies of target per reaction, restricted only by stochastic limitations. The use of unlabeled probes provides an attractive alternative to conventional fluorescence-labeled, probe-based assays for genotyping and detection of HSV and might be useful for other low-copy targets where typing is informative.

Automatic X-ray inspection for the HTR-PM spherical fuel elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yi, DU, E-mail: duyi11@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building A309, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Xiangang, WANG, E-mail: wangxiangang@tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building A309, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Xincheng, XIANG, E-mail: inetxxc@tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China); Bing, LIU, E-mail: bingliu@tsinghua.edu.cn [Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), Tsinghua University, Energy Science Building, Haidian District, Beijing 100084 (China)

2014-12-15

Highlights: • An automatic X-ray inspection method is established to characterize HTR pebbles. • The method provides physical characterization and the inner structure of pebbles. • The method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. • Sample pebbles were measured with this AXI method for validation. • The method shows the potential to be applied in situ. - Abstract: Inefficient quality assessment and control (QA and C) of spherical fuel elements for high temperature reactor-pebblebed modules (HTR-PM) has been a long-term problem, since conventional methods are labor intensive and cannot reveal the inside information nondestructively. Herein, we proposed a nondestructive, automated X-ray inspection (AXI) method to characterize spherical fuel elements including their inner structures based on X-ray digital radiography (DR). Briefly, DR images at different angles are first obtained and then the chosen important parameters such as spherical diameters, geometric and mass centers, can be automatically extracted and calculated via image processing techniques. Via evaluating sample spherical fuel elements, we proved that this AXI method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. This method not only provides accurate physical characterization of spherical fuel elements but also reveals their inner structure with good resolution, showing great potentials to facilitate fast QA and C in HTM-PM spherical fuel element development and production.

Automatic X-ray inspection for the HTR-PM spherical fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, DU; Xiangang, WANG; Xincheng, XIANG; Bing, LIU

2014-01-01

Highlights: • An automatic X-ray inspection method is established to characterize HTR pebbles. • The method provides physical characterization and the inner structure of pebbles. • The method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. • Sample pebbles were measured with this AXI method for validation. • The method shows the potential to be applied in situ. - Abstract: Inefficient quality assessment and control (QA and C) of spherical fuel elements for high temperature reactor-pebblebed modules (HTR-PM) has been a long-term problem, since conventional methods are labor intensive and cannot reveal the inside information nondestructively. Herein, we proposed a nondestructive, automated X-ray inspection (AXI) method to characterize spherical fuel elements including their inner structures based on X-ray digital radiography (DR). Briefly, DR images at different angles are first obtained and then the chosen important parameters such as spherical diameters, geometric and mass centers, can be automatically extracted and calculated via image processing techniques. Via evaluating sample spherical fuel elements, we proved that this AXI method can be conducted non-destructively, quickly and automatically. This method not only provides accurate physical characterization of spherical fuel elements but also reveals their inner structure with good resolution, showing great potentials to facilitate fast QA and C in HTM-PM spherical fuel element development and production

Modeling the Interaction of Mineral Dust with Solar Radiation: Spherical versus Non-spherical Particles

Science.gov (United States)

Hoshyaripour, A.; Vogel, B.; Vogel, H.

2017-12-01

Mineral dust, emitted from arid and semi-arid regions, is the most dominant atmospheric aerosol by mass. Beside detrimental effect on air quality, airborne dust also influences the atmospheric radiation by absorbing and scattering solar and terrestrial radiation. As a result, while the long-term radiative impacts of dust are important for climate, the short-term effects are significant for the photovoltaic energy production. Therefore, it is a vital requirement to accurately forecast the effects of dust on energy budget of the atmosphere and surface. To this end, a major issue is the fact that dust particles are non-spherical. Thus, the optical properties of such particles cannot be calculated precisely using the conventional methods like Mie theory that are often used in climate and numerical weather forecast models. In this study, T-Matrix method is employed, which is able to treat the non-sphericity of particles. Dust particles are assumed to be prolate spheroids with aspect ratio of 1.5 distributed in three lognormal modes. The wavelength-dependent refractive indices of dust are used in T-Matrix algorithm to calculate the extinction coefficient, single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter and backscattering ratio at different wavelengths. These parameters are then implemented in ICON-ART model (ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic model with Aerosols and Reactive Trace gases) to conduct a global simulation with 80 km horizontal resolution and 90 vertical levels. April 2014 is selected as the simulation period during which North African dust plumes reached central Europe and Germany. Results show that treatment of non-sphericity reduces the dust AOD in the range of 10 to 30%/. The impacts on diffuse and direct radiation at global, regional and local scales show strong dependency on the size distribution of the airborne dust. The implications for modeling and remote sensing the dust impacts on solar energy are also discussed.

In vivo reproducibility of robotic probe placement for an integrated US-CT image-guided radiation therapy system

Science.gov (United States)

Lediju Bell, Muyinatu A.; Sen, H. Tutkun; Iordachita, Iulian; Kazanzides, Peter; Wong, John

2014-03-01

Radiation therapy is used to treat cancer by delivering high-dose radiation to a pre-defined target volume. Ultrasound (US) has the potential to provide real-time, image-guidance of radiation therapy to identify when a target moves outside of the treatment volume (e.g. due to breathing), but the associated probe-induced tissue deformation causes local anatomical deviations from the treatment plan. If the US probe is placed to achieve similar tissue deformations in the CT images required for treatment planning, its presence causes streak artifacts that will interfere with treatment planning calculations. To overcome these challenges, we propose robot-assisted placement of a real ultrasound probe, followed by probe removal and replacement with a geometrically-identical, CT-compatible model probe. This work is the first to investigate in vivo deformation reproducibility with the proposed approach. A dog's prostate, liver, and pancreas were each implanted with three 2.38-mm spherical metallic markers, and the US probe was placed to visualize the implanted markers in each organ. The real and model probes were automatically removed and returned to the same position (i.e. position control), and CT images were acquired with each probe placement. The model probe was also removed and returned with the same normal force measured with the real US probe (i.e. force control). Marker positions in CT images were analyzed to determine reproducibility, and a corollary reproducibility study was performed on ex vivo tissue. In vivo results indicate that tissue deformations with the real probe were repeatable under position control for the prostate, liver, and pancreas, with median 3D reproducibility of 0.3 mm, 0.3 mm, and 1.6 mm, respectively, compared to 0.6 mm for the ex vivo tissue. For the prostate, the mean 3D tissue displacement errors between the real and model probes were 0.2 mm under position control and 0.6 mm under force control, which are both within acceptable

Multiplication factor evaluation of bare and reflected small fast assemblies using variational methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dwivedi, S.R.; Jain, D.

1979-01-01

The multigroup collision probability equations were solved by the variational method to derive a simple relation between the multiplication factor and the size of a small spherical bare or reflected fast reactor. This relation was verified by a number of 26-group, S 4 , transport theory calculations in one-dimensional spherical geometry for enriched uranium and plutonium systems. It has been shown that further approximations to the above relation lead to the universal empirical relation obtained by Anil Kumar. (orig.) [de

Dr. Harry Whelan With the Light Emitting Diode Probe

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

The red light from the Light Emitting Diode (LED) probe shines through the fingers of Dr. Harry Whelan, a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Dr. Whelan uses the long waves of light from the LED surgical probe to activate special drugs that kill brain tumors. Laser light previously has been used for this type of surgery, but the LED light illuminates through all nearby tissues, reaching parts of tumors that shorter wavelengths of laser light carnot. The new probe is safer because the longer wavelengths of light are cooler than the shorter wavelengths of laser light, making the LED less likely to injure normal brain tissue near the tumor. Also, it can be used for hours at a time while still remaining cool to the touch. The probe was developed for photodynamic cancer therapy under a NASA Small Business Innovative Research Program grant. The program is part of NASA's Technology Transfer Department at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

An electromagnetic spherical phased array thermonuclear fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okress, E.C.

1983-01-01

Discussed are salient physics aspects of a microwave singly reentrant spherical periodic phased array of uniformally distributed identical coaxial radiation elements in an essentially simulated infinite array environment. The array is capable of maintaining coherence or phase control (to the limit of the order of 300 GHz) of its spherically converging electromagnetic transverse magnetic mode radiation field, for confinement (and heating) of thermonuclear plasma in steady-state or inertial thermonuclear fusion. The array also incorporates capability for coaxial directional coupler extraction of fusionpower. The radiation elements of the array are shielded against DT Thermonuclear plasma emissions (i.e., neutrons and bremsstrahlung) by either sufficiently (available) low less tangent and cooled, spherically concentric shield (e.g., Titanium oxide); or alternately by identical material dome windows mounted on each radiation element's aperture of the array. The pump microwave power required for thermonuclear fusion feasibility comprises an array of phase-locked available klystron amplifiers (comparable gyratron amplifiers remain to be developed)

Plane-wave decomposition by spherical-convolution microphone array

Science.gov (United States)

Rafaely, Boaz; Park, Munhum

2004-05-01

Reverberant sound fields are widely studied, as they have a significant influence on the acoustic performance of enclosures in a variety of applications. For example, the intelligibility of speech in lecture rooms, the quality of music in auditoria, the noise level in offices, and the production of 3D sound in living rooms are all affected by the enclosed sound field. These sound fields are typically studied through frequency response measurements or statistical measures such as reverberation time, which do not provide detailed spatial information. The aim of the work presented in this seminar is the detailed analysis of reverberant sound fields. A measurement and analysis system based on acoustic theory and signal processing, designed around a spherical microphone array, is presented. Detailed analysis is achieved by decomposition of the sound field into waves, using spherical Fourier transform and spherical convolution. The presentation will include theoretical review, simulation studies, and initial experimental results.

Indicators of Mass in Spherical Stellar Atmospheres

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, John B.; Dinshaw, Rayomond; Neilson, Hilding R.

2013-04-01

Mass is the most important stellar parameter, but it is not directly observable for a single star. Spherical model stellar atmospheres are explicitly characterized by their luminosity ( L⋆), mass ( M⋆), and radius ( R⋆), and observations can now determine directly L⋆ and R⋆. We computed spherical model atmospheres for red giants and for red supergiants holding L⋆ and R⋆ constant at characteristic values for each type of star but varying M⋆, and we searched the predicted flux spectra and surface-brightness distributions for features that changed with mass. For both stellar classes we found similar signatures of the stars’ mass in both the surface-brightness distribution and the flux spectrum. The spectral features have been use previously to determine log 10(g), and now that the luminosity and radius of a non-binary red giant or red supergiant can be observed, spherical model stellar atmospheres can be used to determine a star’s mass from currently achievable spectroscopy. The surface-brightness variations of mass are slightly smaller than can be resolved by current stellar imaging, but they offer the advantage of being less sensitive to the detailed chemical composition of the atmosphere.

Features of spherical uranium-graphite HTGR fuel elements control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kreindlin, I.I.; Oleynikov, P.P.; Shtan, A.S.

1985-01-01

Control features of spherical HTGR uranium-graphite fuel elements with spherical coated fuel particles are mainly determined by their specific construction and fabrication technology. The technology is chiefly based on methods of ceramic fuel (fuel microspheres fabrication) and graphite production practice it is necessary to deal with a lot of problems from determination of raw materials properties to final fuel elements testing. These procedures are described

Features of spherical uranium-graphite HTGR fuel elements control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kreindlin, I I; Oleynikov, P P; Shtan, A S

1985-07-01

Control features of spherical HTGR uranium-graphite fuel elements with spherical coated fuel particles are mainly determined by their specific construction and fabrication technology. The technology is chiefly based on methods of ceramic fuel (fuel microspheres fabrication) and graphite production practice it is necessary to deal with a lot of problems from determination of raw materials properties to final fuel elements testing. These procedures are described.

E-Beam-Cured Layered-Silicate and Spherical Silica Epoxy Nanocomposites (Preprint)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Chen, Chenggang; Anderson, David P

2007-01-01

.... The nanofillers can be two dimensional (layered-silicate) and zero dimensional (spherical silica). Both the spherical silica epoxy nanocomposite and the layered-silicate epoxy nanocomposite can be cured to a high degree of curing...

Quality metric for spherical panoramic video

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharchenko, Vladyslav; Choi, Kwang Pyo; Park, Jeong Hoon

2016-09-01

Virtual reality (VR)/ augmented reality (AR) applications allow users to view artificial content of a surrounding space simulating presence effect with a help of special applications or devices. Synthetic contents production is well known process form computer graphics domain and pipeline has been already fixed in the industry. However emerging multimedia formats for immersive entertainment applications such as free-viewpoint television (FTV) or spherical panoramic video require different approaches in content management and quality assessment. The international standardization on FTV has been promoted by MPEG. This paper is dedicated to discussion of immersive media distribution format and quality estimation process. Accuracy and reliability of the proposed objective quality estimation method had been verified with spherical panoramic images demonstrating good correlation results with subjective quality estimation held by a group of experts.

Analysis of a spherical permanent magnet actuator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, J.; Jewell, G.W.; Howe, D.

1997-01-01

This paper describes a new form of actuator with a spherical permanent magnet rotor and a simple winding arrangement, which is capable of a high specific torque by utilizing a rare-earth permanent magnet. The magnetic-field distribution is established using an analytical technique formulated in spherical coordinates, and the results are validated by finite element analysis. The analytical field solution allows the prediction of the actuator torque and back emf in closed forms. In turn, these facilitate the characterization of the actuator and provide a firm basis for design optimization, system dynamic modeling, and closed-loop control law development. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

Flat synchronizations in spherically symmetric space-times

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrero, Alicia; Morales-Lladosa, Juan Antonio

2010-01-01

It is well known that the Schwarzschild space-time admits a spacelike slicing by flat instants and that the metric is regular at the horizon in the associated adapted coordinates (Painleve-Gullstrand metric form). We consider this type of flat slicings in an arbitrary spherically symmetric space-time. The condition ensuring its existence is analyzed, and then, we prove that, for any spherically symmetric flat slicing, the densities of the Weinberg momenta vanish. Finally, we deduce the Schwarzschild solution in the extended Painleve-Gullstrand-LemaItre metric form by considering the coordinate decomposition of the vacuum Einstein equations with respect to a flat spacelike slicing.

Monodromy in the quantum spherical pendulum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillemin, V.; Uribe, A.

1989-01-01

In this article we show that monodromy in the quantum spherical pendulum can be interpreted as a Maslov effect: i.e. as multi-valuedness of a certain generating function of the quantum energy levels. (orig.)

A Robust Solution of the Spherical Burmester Problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Angeles, Jorge; Bai, Shaoping

2010-01-01

The problem of spherical four-bar linkage synthesis is revisited in this paper. The work is aimed at developing a robust synthesis method by taking into account both the formulation and the solution method. In addition, the synthesis of linkages with spherical prismatic joints is considered...... by treating them as a special case of the linkages under study. A two-step synthesis method is developed, which sequentially deals with equation-solving by a semigraphical approach and branching-detection. Examples are included to demonstrate the proposed method....

A new expression for determination of fluences from a spherical moderator neutron source for the calibration of spherical neutron measuring devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khoshnoodi, M.; Sohrabi, M.

1997-01-01

A new expression modifying the inverse square law for determination of neutron fluences from spherical moderator neutron sources is reported. The formalism is based on the neutron fluence at a point outside the moderator as the summation of fluxes of two groups of neutrons: direct neutrons from the central region of the moderator, and moderated neutrons which, to a first approximation, are scattered from the outermost layers of the spherical moderator. The expression has been further developed for spherical neutron measuring devices with an appropriate geometry factor which corrects the reading of the device for non-uniform irradiation of the detector. The combination of the new fluence function and those of the air and room scattered components introduce a calibration model. The fluence relationship obtained for moderated sources may conveniently be used for calculating the more rapid change of neutron dose at close distances than that which is based on the inverse square dependence. (author)

The Role of Structural Enthalpy in Spherical Nucleic Acid Hybridization.

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Lam-Kiu; Wang, Ziwei; Schatz, George C; Luijten, Erik; Mirkin, Chad A

2018-05-23

DNA hybridization onto DNA-functionalized nanoparticle surfaces (e.g., in the form of a spherical nucleic acid (SNA)) is known to be enhanced relative to hybridization free in solution. Surprisingly, via isothermal titration calorimetry, we reveal that this enhancement is enthalpically, as opposed to entropically, dominated by ∼20 kcal/mol. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the observed enthalpic enhancement results from structurally confining the DNA on the nanoparticle surface and preventing it from adopting enthalpically unfavorable conformations like those observed in the solution case. The idea that structural confinement leads to the formation of energetically more stable duplexes is evaluated by decreasing the degree of confinement a duplex experiences on the nanoparticle surface. Both experiment and simulation confirm that when the surface-bound duplex is less confined, i.e., at lower DNA surface density or at greater distance from the nanoparticle surface, its enthalpy of formation approaches the less favorable enthalpy of duplex formation for the linear strand in solution. This work provides insight into one of the most important and enabling properties of SNAs and will inform the design of materials that rely on the thermodynamics of hybridization onto DNA-functionalized surfaces, including diagnostic probes and therapeutic agents.

Statistical decision making with a dual-detector probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hickernell, T.S.

1988-01-01

Conventional imaging techniques for cancer detection have difficulty finding small, deep tumors. Single-detector radiation probes have been developed to search for deep lesions in a patient who has been given a tumor-seeking radiopharmaceutical. These probes perform poorly, however, when the background activity in the patient varies greatly from site to site. We have developed a surgical dual-detector probe that solves the problem of background activity variation, by simultaneously monitoring counts from a region of interest and counts from adjacent normal tissue. A comparison of counts from the detectors can reveal the class of tissue, tumor or normal, in the region of interest. In this study, we apply methods from statistical decision theory and derive a suitable comparison of counts to help us decide whether a tumor is present in the region of interest. We use the Hotelling trace criterion with a few assumptions to find a linear discriminant function, which can be reduced to a normalized subtraction of the counts for large background count-rate variations. Using a spatial response map of the dual probe, a computer torso phantom, and estimates of activity distribution, we simulate a surgical staging procedure to test the dual probe and the discriminant functions

Population spherical aberration: associations with ametropia, age, corneal curvature, and image quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kingston AC

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Amanda C Kingston,1,2 Ian G Cox11Bausch + Lomb, Rochester, NY, USA; 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USAPurpose: The aim of this analysis was to determine the total ocular wavefront aberration values of a large phakic population of physiologically normal, ametropic eyes, gathered under the same clinical protocol using the same diagnostic wavefront sensor.Materials and methods: Studies were conducted at multiple sites in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. A Bausch + Lomb Zywave II Wavefront Aberrometer (Rochester, NY, USA was used to measure the lower and higher order aberrations of each eye. Data analysis was conducted using linear regression analysis to determine the relationship between total spherical aberration, ametropia, age, corneal curvature, and image quality.Results: Linear regression analysis showed no correlation (r = 0.0207, P = 0.4874 between degree of ametropia and the amount of spherical aberration. There was also no correlation when the population was stratified into myopic and hyperopic refractive groups (rm = 0.0529, Pm = 0.0804 and rh = 0.1572, Ph = 0.2754. There was a statistically significant and weak positive correlation (r = 0.1962, P < 0.001 between age and the amount of spherical aberration measured in the eye; spherical aberration became more positive with increasing age. Also, there was a statistically significant and moderately positive correlation (r = 0.3611, P < 0.001 with steepness of corneal curvature; spherical aberration became more positive with increasing power of the anterior corneal surface. Assessment of image quality using optical design software (Zemax™, Bellevue, WA, USA showed that there was an overall benefit in correcting the average spherical aberration of this population.Conclusion: Analysis of this dataset provides insights into the inherent spherical aberration of a typical phakic, pre-presbyopic, population and provides the ability to

Recent Advances in Target Characterization and Identification by Photoaffinity Probes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sang J. Chung

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Target identification of biologically active molecules such as natural products, synthetic small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides mainly relies on affinity chromatography, activity-based probes, or photoaffinity labeling (PAL. Amongst them, activity-based probes and PAL have offered great advantages in target identification technology due to their ability to form covalent bonds with the corresponding targets. Activity-based probe technology mainly relies on the chemical reactivity of the target proteins, thereby limiting the majority of the biological targets to enzymes or proteins which display reactive residues at the probe-binding site. In general, the probes should bear a reactive moiety such as an epoxide, a Michael acceptor, or a reactive alkyl halide in their structures. On the other hand, photoaffinity probes (PAPs are composed of a target-specific ligand and a photoactivatable functional group. When bound to the corresponding target proteins and activated with wavelength-specific light, PAPs generate highly reactive chemical species that covalently cross-link proximal amino acid residues. This process is better known as PAL and is widely employed to identify cellular targets of biologically active molecules. This review highlights recent advances in target identification by PAL, with a focus on the structure and chemistry of the photoaffinity probes developed in the recent decade, coupled to the target proteins identified using these probes.

Scalable Fabrication Framework of Implantable Ultrathin and Flexible Probes with Biodegradable Sacrificial Layers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, Xiangbing; Wang, Yuan; Qing, Quan

2017-12-13

For long-term biocompatibility and performance, implanted probes need to further reduce their size and mechanical stiffness to match that of the surrounding cells, which, however, makes accurate and minimally invasive insertion operations difficult due to lack of rigidity and brings additional complications in assembling and surgery. Here, we report a scalable fabrication framework of implantable probes utilizing biodegradable sacrificial layers to address this challenge. Briefly, the integrated biodegradable sacrificial layer can dissolve in physiological fluids shortly after implantation, which allows the in situ formation of functional ultrathin film structures off of the initial small and rigid supporting backbone. We show that the dissolution of this layer does not affect the viability and excitability of neuron cells in vitro. We have demonstrated two types of probes that can be used out of the box, including (1) a compact probe that spontaneously forms three-dimensional bend-up devices only after implantation and (2) an ultraflexible probe as thin as 2 μm attached to a small silicon shaft that can be accurately delivered into the tissue and then get fully released in situ without altering its shape and position because the support is fully retracted. We have obtained a >93% yield of the bend-up structure, and its geometry and stiffness can be systematically tuned. The robustness of the ultraflexible probe has been tested in tissue-mimicking agarose gels with <1% fluctuation in the test resistance. Our work provides a general strategy to prepare ultrasmall and flexible implantable probes that allow high insertion accuracy and minimal surgical damages with the best biocompatibility.

Structural and phase transition changes of sodium dodecyl sulfate micellar solution in alcohols probed by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Putra, Edy Giri Rachman [Neutron Scattering Laboratory, National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN), Gedung 40 BATAN, Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong, Tangerang 15314 (Indonesia); Patriati, Arum [Neutron Scattering Laboratory, National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN), Gedung 40 BATAN, Kawasan Puspiptek Serpong, Tangerang 15314 (Indonesia); Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Gadjah Mada, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia giri@batan.go.id (Indonesia)

2015-04-16

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements on 0.3M sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micellar solutions have been performed in the presence of n-alcohols, from ethanol to decanol at different alcohol concentrations, 2–10 wt%. The ellipsoid micellar structure which occurred in the 0.3M SDS in aqueous solution with the size range of 30–50 Å has different behavior at various hydrocarbon chain length and concentration of alcohols. At low concentration and short chain-length of alcohols, such as ethanol, propanol, and butanol, the size of micelles reduced and had a spherical-like structure. The opposite effect occurred as medium to long chain alcohols, such as hexanol, octanol and decanol was added into the 0.3M SDS micellar solutions. The micelles structure changed to be more elongated in major axis and then crossed the critical phase transition from micellar solution into liquid crystal phase as lamellar structure emerged by further addition of alcohols. The inter-lamellar distances were also depending on the hydrocarbon chain length and concentration of alcohols. In the meantime, the persistent micellar structures occurred in addition of medium chain of n-alcohol, pentanol at all concentrations.

Structural and phase transition changes of sodium dodecyl sulfate micellar solution in alcohols probed by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Putra, Edy Giri Rachman; Patriati, Arum

2015-01-01

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements on 0.3M sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micellar solutions have been performed in the presence of n-alcohols, from ethanol to decanol at different alcohol concentrations, 2–10 wt%. The ellipsoid micellar structure which occurred in the 0.3M SDS in aqueous solution with the size range of 30–50 Å has different behavior at various hydrocarbon chain length and concentration of alcohols. At low concentration and short chain-length of alcohols, such as ethanol, propanol, and butanol, the size of micelles reduced and had a spherical-like structure. The opposite effect occurred as medium to long chain alcohols, such as hexanol, octanol and decanol was added into the 0.3M SDS micellar solutions. The micelles structure changed to be more elongated in major axis and then crossed the critical phase transition from micellar solution into liquid crystal phase as lamellar structure emerged by further addition of alcohols. The inter-lamellar distances were also depending on the hydrocarbon chain length and concentration of alcohols. In the meantime, the persistent micellar structures occurred in addition of medium chain of n-alcohol, pentanol at all concentrations

Hawking radiation from a spherical loop quantum gravity black hole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gambini, Rodolfo; Pullin, Jorge

2014-01-01

We introduce quantum field theory on quantum space-times techniques to characterize the quantum vacua as a first step toward studying black hole evaporation in spherical symmetry in loop quantum gravity and compute the Hawking radiation. We use as quantum space-time the recently introduced exact solution of the quantum Einstein equations in vacuum with spherical symmetry and consider a spherically symmetric test scalar field propagating on it. The use of loop quantum gravity techniques in the background space-time naturally regularizes the matter content, solving one of the main obstacles to back-reaction calculations in more traditional treatments. The discreteness of area leads to modifications of the quantum vacua, eliminating the trans-Planckian modes close to the horizon, which in turn eliminates all singularities from physical quantities, like the expectation value of the stress–energy tensor. Apart from this, the Boulware, Hartle–Hawking and Unruh vacua differ little from the treatment on a classical space-time. The asymptotic modes near scri are reproduced very well. We show that the Hawking radiation can be computed, leading to an expression similar to the conventional one but with a high frequency cutoff. Since many of the conclusions concern asymptotic behavior, where the spherical mode of the field behaves in a similar way as higher multipole modes do, the results can be readily generalized to non spherically symmetric fields. (paper)

The poloidal distribution of turbulent fluctuations in the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antar, G.Y.; Counsell, G.; Ahn, J.-W.; Yang, Y.; Price, M.; Tabasso, A.; Kirk, A.

2005-01-01

Recently, it was shown that intermittency observed in magnetic fusion devices is caused by large-scales events with high radial velocity reaching about 1/10th of the sound speed (called avaloids or blobs) [G. Antar et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87 065001 (2001)]. In the present paper, the poloidal distribution of turbulence is investigated on the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak [A. Sykes et al., Phys. Plasmas 8 2101 (2001)]. To achieve our goal, target probes that span the divertor strike points are used and one reciprocating probe at the midplane. Moreover, a fast imaging camera that can reach 10 μs exposure time looks tangentially at the plasma allowing us to view a poloidal cut of the plasma. The two diagnostics allow us to have a rather accurate description of the particle transport in the poloidal plane for L-mode discharges. Turbulence properties at the low-field midplane scrape-off layer are discussed and compared to other poloidal positions. On the low-field target divertor plates, avaloids bursty signature is not detected but still intermittency is observed far from the strike point. This is a consequence of the field line expansion which transforms a structure localized in the poloidal plane into a structure which expands over several tens of centimeters at the divertor target plates. Around the X point and in the high-field side, however, different phenomena enter into play suppressing the onset of convective transport generation. No signs of intermittency are observed in these regions. Accordingly, like 'normal' turbulence, the onset of convective transport is affected by the local magnetic curvature and shear

The free energy of spherical bubbles in lattice SU(3) gauge theory

CERN Document Server

Kajantie, Keijo; Rummukainen, K; Karkkainen, Leo

1992-01-01

We study the coefficients of the expansion $F(R) = 1/3 c_3 R^3 + 1/2 c_2 R^2 + c_1 R$ of the free energy of spherical bubbles at $T=T_c$ in pure glue QCD using lattice Monte Carlo techniques. The coefficient $c_3$ vanishes at $T=T_c$ and our results suggest that the sign and the order of magnitude of $c_1$ is in agreement with the value $c_1=\\pm 32\\pi T_c^2/9$ (- for hadronic bubbles in quark phase, + for quark bubbles in hadronic phase) computed by Mardor and Svetitsky from the MIT bag model. The parameter $c_2$ is small in agreement with earlier determinations.

Anomalous diffusion of a probe in a bath of active granular chains

Science.gov (United States)

Jerez, Michael Jade Y.; Confesor, Mark Nolan P.; Carpio-Bernido, M. Victoria; Bernido, Christopher C.

2017-08-01

We investigate the dynamics of a passive probe particle in a bath of active granular chains (AGC). The bath and the probe are enclosed in an experimental compartment with a sinusoidal boundary to prevent AGC congestion along the boundary while connected to an electrodynamic shaker. Single AGC trajectory analysis reveals a persistent type of motion compared to a purely Brownian motion as seen in its mean squared displacement (MSD). It was found that at small concentration, Φ ≤ 0.44, the MSD exhibits two dynamical regimes characterized by two different scaling exponents. For small time scales, the dynamics is superdiffusive (1.32-1.63) with the MSD scaling exponent increasing monotonically with increasing AGC concentration. On the other hand, at long time, we recover the Brownian dynamics regime, MSD = DΔt, where the mobility D ∝ Φ. We quantify the probe dynamics at short time scale by modeling it as a fractional Brownian motion. The analytical form of the MSD agrees with experimental results.

Evaluation of roundness error using a new method based on a small displacement screw

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nouira, Hichem; Bourdet, Pierre

2014-01-01

In relation to industrial need and the progress of technology, LNE would like to improve the measurement of its primary pressure, spherical and flick standards. The spherical and flick standards are respectively used to calibrate the spindle motion error and the probe which equips commercial conventional cylindricity measuring machines. The primary pressure standards are obtained using pressure balances equipped with rotary pistons with an uncertainty of 5 nm for a piston diameter of 10 mm. Conventional machines are not able to reach such an uncertainty level. That is why the development of a new machine is necessary. To ensure such a level of uncertainty, both stability and performance of the machine are not sufficient, and the data processing should also be done with accuracy less than a nanometre. In this paper, a new method based on the small displacement screw (SDS) model is proposed. A first validation of this method is proposed on a theoretical dataset published by the European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) in report no 3327. Then, an experiment is prepared in order to validate the new method on real datasets. Specific environment conditions are taken into account and many precautions are considered. The new method is applied to analyse the least-squares circle, minimum zone circle, maximum inscribed circle and minimum circumscribed circle. The results are compared to those done by the reference Chebyshev best-fit method and reveal perfect agreement. The sensibilities of the SDS and Chebyshev methodologies are investigated, and it is revealed that results remain unchanged when the value of the diameter exceeds 700 times the form error. (paper)

Electrostatic probes driven by broad band high power and propagation of the turbulent perturbation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhijiang; Sun Xuan; Wan Shude; Wen Yizhi; Yu Changxuan; Liu Wandong; Wang Cheng; Pan Gesheng

2003-01-01

A high dynamic output, broad-band power source for driving electrostatic probes in the investigation on propagation of turbulent perturbation has been built and used successfully in experiments on the KT-5C tokamak. The details of the experiment setup as well as some preliminary results are presented. Detections both from the small size magnetic probes and electrostatic probes indicate that the modified perturbation excited by the power source may propagate electrostatically, and electromagnetically as well

Metal enrichment in the Fermi bubbles as a probe of their origin

Science.gov (United States)

Inoue, Yoshiyuki; Nakashima, Shinya; Tahara, Masaya; Kataoka, Jun; Totani, Tomonori; Fujita, Yutaka; Sofue, Yoshiaki

2015-06-01

The Fermi bubbles are gigantic gamma-ray structures in our Galaxy. The physical origin of the bubbles is still under debate. The leading scenarios can be divided into two categories. One is nuclear star-forming activity similar to extragalactic starburst galaxies and the other is past active galactic nucleus (AGN)-like activity of the Galactic center supermassive black hole. In this letter, we propose that metal abundance measurements will provide an important clue to probe their origin. Based on a simple spherically symmetric bubble model, we find that the generated metallicity and abundance patterns of the bubbles' gas strongly depend on assumed star formation or AGN activities. Star formation scenarios predict higher metallicities and abundance ratios of [O/Fe] and [Ne/Fe] than AGN scenarios do because of supernovae ejecta. Furthermore, the resultant abundance depends on the gamma-ray emission process because different mass injection histories are required for the different gamma-ray emission processes due to the acceleration and cooling time scales of non-thermal particles. Future X-ray missions such as ASTRO-H and Athena will give a clue to probe the origin of the bubbles through abundance measurements with their high energy resolution instruments.

Trapped surfaces in spherical stars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bizon, P.; Malec, E.; O'Murchadha, N.

1988-01-01

We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of trapped surfaces in spherically symmetric spacetimes. These conditions show that the formation of trapped surfaces depends on both the degree of concentration and the average flow of the matter. The result can be considered as a partial validation of the cosmic-censorship hypothesis

Boundary causality versus hyperbolicity for spherical black holes in Gauss–Bonnet gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrade, Tomás; Cáceres, Elena; Keeler, Cynthia

2017-01-01

We explore the constraints boundary causality places on the allowable Gauss–Bonnet gravitational couplings in asymptotically AdS spaces, specifically considering spherical black hole solutions. We additionally consider the hyperbolicity properties of these solutions, positing that hyperbolicity-violating solutions are sick solutions whose causality properties provide no information about the theory they reside in. For both signs of the Gauss–Bonnet coupling, spherical black holes violate boundary causality at smaller absolute values of the coupling than planar black holes do. For negative coupling, as we tune the Gauss–Bonnet coupling away from zero, both spherical and planar black holes violate hyperbolicity before they violate boundary causality. For positive coupling, the only hyperbolicity-respecting spherical black holes which violate boundary causality do not do so appreciably far from the planar bound. Consequently, eliminating hyperbolicity-violating solutions means the bound on Gauss–Bonnet couplings from the boundary causality of spherical black holes is no tighter than that from planar black holes. (paper)

Lower Bound for the Radiation $Q$ of Electrically Small Magnetic Dipole Antennas With Solid Magnetodielectric Core

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Oleksiy S.; Breinbjerg, Olav

2011-01-01

A new lower bound for the radiation $Q$ of electrically small spherical magnetic dipole antennas with solid magnetodielectric core is derived in closed form using the exact theory. The new bound approaches the Chu lower bound from above as the antenna electrical size decreases. For $ka, the new...... bound is lower than the bounds for spherical magnetic as well as electric dipole antennas composed of impressed electric currents in free space....

The Fatigue Life Prediction of Train Wheel Rims Containing Spherical Inclusions

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yajie; Chen, Huanguo; Cai, Li; Chen, Pei; Qian, Jiacheng; Wu, Jianwei

2018-03-01

It is a common phenomenon that fatigue crack initiation occurs frequently in the inclusions of wheel rims. Research on the fatigue life of wheel rims with spherical inclusions is of great significance on the reliability of wheels. To find the danger point and working condition of a wheel, the stress state of the wheel rim with spherical inclusions was analyzed using the finite element method. Results revealed that curve conditions are dangerous. The critical plane method, based on the cumulative fatigue damage theory, was used to predict the fatigue life of the wheel rim and whether it contained spherical inclusions or not under curve conditions. It was found that the fatigue life of the wheel rim is significantly shorter when the wheel rim contains spherical inclusions. Analysis of the results can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for train operations and maintenance.

Normal range of facial asymmetry in spherical coordinates: a CBCT study