Numbers,scale and symbols: the public understanding of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology will be an increasing part of the everyday lives of most people in the world. There is a general recognition that few people understand the implications of the technology, the technology itself or even the definition of the word. This lack of understanding stems from a lack of knowledge about science in general but more specifically difficulty in grasping the size scale and symbolism of nanotechnology. A potential key to informing the general public is establishing the ability to comprehend the scale of nanotechnology. Transitioning from the macro to the nanoscale seems to require an ability to comprehend scales of one-billion. Scaling is a skill not common in most individuals and tests of their ability to extrapolate size based upon scaling a common object demonstrates that most individuals cannot scale to the extent needed to make the transition to nanoscale. Symbolism is another important vehicle to providing the general public with a basis to understand the concepts of nanotechnology. With increasing age, individuals are able to draw representations of atomic scale objects, but these tend to be iconic and the different representations not easily translated. Ball and stick models are most recognized by the public, which provides an opportunity to present not only useful symbolism but also a reference point for the atomic scale.     

宽波段单色仪多级谱高精度波长定标

通常利用单色仪输出的单色光对空间遥感光谱仪进行波长定标。提出以空间遥感光谱仪的置信度为标准,来评价宽波段单色仪高精度波长定标精度的方法。通过对仪器精度的分析,分别求出单色仪的波长的重复性误差和偏差。应用高压汞灯的本征谱和光栅衍射多级谱作为定标谱线,避免更换灯源带来的误差。通过粗细定标相结合的方法,缩短扫描时间,并且运用高斯拟合对波峰进行精确定位,缩小误差。最后利用高次拟合得到的关系式,测出单色仪波长精度,计算出空间遥感光谱仪定标的置信度。以1.5 M单色仪为例,单色仪在200～840 nm波段内波长精度±0.016 nm,则空间遥感光谱仪的波长精度达到±0.050 nm的置信度为99.82%。     

Distortion correction for a double inversion-recovery sequence with an echo-planar imaging readout

A double inversion-recovery (DIR) sequence with an echo-planar imaging (EPI) readout can be used to image selectively the grey matter of the brain, and this has previously been applied to improve the sensitivity of the statistical analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. If a procedure were to be implemented to remove the distortions that are inherent in the EPI-based fMRI data set, then a similar technique would have to be applied to the DIR-EPI image also to ensure that it matches the geometry of the functional data. A comparison of candidate methodologies for correcting distortions in DIR-EPI images, based on the reversed-gradient method, is presented. A corrected image could be calculated from two DIR-EPI images acquired with k-space traversal in opposite directions, but that method was not able to cope with the large regions of low signal intensity corresponding to the nulled white matter. It was found that the optimal procedure to apply the reversed-gradient method to DIR-EPI images was to acquire two additional EPI images (without the two inversion pulses) with opposite-direction k-space traversal; the distortion-correction information calculated from those EPI images was then applied to the DIR-EPI data.     

Generalizing Boltzmann Configurational Entropy to Surfaces,Point Patterns and Landscape Mosaics

Several methods have been recently proposed to calculate configurational entropy, based on Boltzmann entropy. Some of these methods appear to be fully thermodynamically consistent in their application to landscape patch mosaics, but none have been shown to be fully generalizable to all kinds of landscape patterns, such as point patterns, surfaces, and patch mosaics. The goal of this paper is to evaluate if the direct application of the Boltzmann relation is fully generalizable to surfaces, point patterns, and landscape mosaics. I simulated surfaces and point patterns with a fractal neutral model to control their degree of aggregation. I used spatial permutation analysis to produce distributions of microstates and fit functions to predict the distributions of microstates and the shape of the entropy function. The results confirmed that the direct application of the Boltzmann relation is generalizable across surfaces, point patterns, and landscape mosaics, providing a useful general approach to calculating landscape entropy.     

AC losses dependence on a CuNi layer location in NbTi CICC

In the frame of the ITER fusion program, large Cable In Conduit Cables (CICC) made with NbTi superconductors are foreseen for the poloidal field system. These coils are pulsed and so subjected to fast variations in magnetic field. Superconductors have then to be designed in order to reduce AC losses to an acceptable level. A solution could be to insert a copper nickel resistive barrier in the copper stabilizer surrounding the filamentary area of the composite. The purpose of this barrier is to reduce interstrand coupling currents. In order to predict the effect of this barrier on AC losses, a modeling of a 36 strands CICC has been realized. According to this code, the ability of the resistive barrier to reduce coupling currents is dependent on its location. For this study, three CICC with three barrier locations, from the inner to the outer diameter of the copper crown stabilizer, have been produced. AC losses have been measured and compared to our numerical model.     

Ohmic Contacts to ZnSe-Based Materials

The formation of ohmic contacts to n- and p-type ZnSe is reviewed. The mechanisms for forming reasonable low-resistance ohmic contacts to n-ZnSe are well understood. This results from the fact that the Fermi energy level of ZnSe is unpinned and metals with sufficiently large work functions can make contact to n-type material. However, the situation is reversed for p-ZnSe where a large band gap and large electron affinity make it impossible to find metals with sufficiently large work functions to create an ohmic contact. Instead, the use of HgSe to form low barrier height Schottky contacts and of ZnSe/ZnTe multiple quantum wells (MQWs) to form ohmic contacts is reviewed. Although the MQWs can be used to form ohmic contacts to p-ZnSe, they degrade at high temperatures and high current densities. This is reviewed and shown to be a serious problem for applications to laser diodes.     

一种筒弹测试故障模拟器系统设计

为了测试人员能在平时使用模拟器系统进行测试训练。本文设计了一种筒弹测试故障模拟器系统,介绍了它的工作原理、系统的软硬件设计。该系统能对筒弹基本电气性能和测试接口进行模拟,在软件的控制下,实现模拟筒弹测试项目和模拟筒弹测试故障等功能,可以很好的完成筒弹测试设备测试人员对筒弹测试的操作训练。     

Lattice-Boltzmann simulations of dynamic interfacial tension due to soluble amphiphilic surfactant

An amphiphilic Lattice-Boltzmann approach is adopted to model dynamic interfacial tension due to non-ionic surfactant. In the current system, the surfactant adsorption kinetics is diffusion dominated and the interface separates two immiscible fluids. A rotational relaxation time and a diffusive/viscous relaxation time are associated with the surfactant. The model results are compared with experimental data for the dynamic interfacial tension of a pendant oil droplet in water, with oil soluble surfactant. We demonstrate how to adapt and calibrate the model to capture the adsorption timescale of the surfactant and the magnitude of interfacial tension reduction due to surfactant. A scheme to overcome numerical instabilities due to the relatively low surfactant concentration, is devised. We are able to qualitatively match the Frumkin equation of state for the interfacial tension.     

On the problem of finding a suitable distribution of students to universities in Germany

For many years, the problem of how to distribute students to the various universities in Germany according to the preferences of the students has remained unsolved. Various approaches, like the centralized method to let a central agency organize the distribution to the various universities or the decentralized method to let the students apply directly at their preferred universities, turned out to lead to a significant fraction of frustrated students ending up at universities not being on their preference list or even not having a place to study at all. With our centralized approach, we are able to decrease the fraction of frustrated students as well as the bureaucratic expenses for applicants and universities drastically.     

浅谈光电实验室的教学管理改革

实验教学是帮助学生将理论知识转化为实践技能的重要途径。因此在重视理论教学的同时,必须加强实验环节。针对光电实验室的现状,有必要进行教学方法和管理制度的改革。强化实验室仪器管理,创造好的硬件条件为实验教学服务;改革创新教学方法,使实验效果在传统实验教学的基础上更上一层楼;因材施教,满足各层次学生的不同需求;全方位展开改革实践,建立适合科技发展的教学新体系,培养理论知识扎实,实践技能过硬的复合型人才,以适应社会的发展。     

光纤传感实验设计

提出了一种适用于教学的光纤传感器实验研究系统。在实验过程中首先测定了LED光源的I-P特性曲线,接着对光纤的纤端光场分布进行测试,并通过实验得到的数据绘出光纤的纤端光场光强曲线,然后利用光纤传感实验仪对微位移用两种方式进行测量。根据现有的实验条件设计出适合于学生进行的基本实验。     

Understanding the Interaction of Glutamate Salts with Serum Albumin Protected Prism‐Shaped Silver Nanoparticles toward Glutamate Sensing

Surface plasmon spectroscopy of serum albumin protected prism‐shaped silver nanoparticles is used as simple and effective sensing tool to detect glutamate salts. The approach does not require any electrochemical setup to detect glutamates, in contrast to common techniques to detect glutamates in general. Experiments reveal that upon presence of high concentrations of glutamate salts, the prism‐shaped nanoparticles are transformed to smaller‐sized nanoclusters, while the remaining nanoparticles are assembled to form aggregates. Control experiments confirm that the interaction is specific to the serum albumin coating, the prism shape of the nanoparticles, and to silver.     

Exploitation of the Fiber Capacity in Optical Networks Using Time, Frequency, and Space Division Multiple Accesses

In this work we investigate how to obtain very high capacity transmissions in optical networks taking into account the limitations due to the physical channel. We consider both the case in which all the users are connected by a star coupler and the case in which the users are directly connected by the network topology. As a reference, we consider a ring network and a Shuffle Multihop Network (SMN). The use of optical systems to implement high-capacity networks is numerically investi gated by means of numerical simulations taking into consideration the channel limitations due to the chromatic dispersion, the Kerr effect, and the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise of the optical amplifiers. In our model, we consider that the signal, during the routing process that is performed at the user position, undergoes only an attenuation. We suppose the use of intensity modulated signals and receivers with direct detection. Packet switching and digital transmission are assumed with soliton and conventional nonreturn to zero signals. Both wave length and time division multiple accesses are considered. The results show that, in the case of the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique, the use of a star coupler to connect the users reduces the capacity of a network with respect to the case in which a direct connection of the users is used. This is due to the strong power fluctuations that are present during the signal propagation and to the large quantity of accumulated ASE noise. On the other hand, the use of a star coupler shows the advantage to being easily reconfigurable. The Wavelength Divison Multiple Access (WDMA) technique permits us to achieve higher capacities with respect to the TDMA. This is due to the fact that in the propagation conditions, due to the presence of a star coupler, high bit rate signals are strongly degraded. On the other hand, several low bit rate signals operating at different wavelengths can propagate with a low power level, avoiding strong degradation due to the Four Wave Mixing (FWM) effect. Among the topologies considered in this work, the SMN is the one that generally permits us to reach the highest throughput because in the SMN the signal hops in a limited number of Network Interface Units (NIUs) before reaching the final destination.     

Calculation of a High Order QCD Process-gg to ttgg

We use the permutation group of order 4 to classify the fouith order tree QCD Feynman diagrams, which contribute to the gg to tfgg process. (There are 159 of them.) We also provide new methods to make the color sum, and to check the gauge symmetry of the matrix elements and Feynman parts.     

AEGIS-K code for linear kinetic analysis of toroidally axisymmetric plasma stability

A linear kinetic stability code for tokamak plasmas: AEGIS-K (Adaptive EiGenfunction Independent Solutions-Kinetic), is described. The AEGIS-K code is based on the newly developed gyrokinetic theory [L.J. Zheng, M.T. Kotschenreuther, J.W. Van Dam, Phys. Plasmas 14 (2007) 072505]. The success in recovering the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) from this newly developed gyrokinetic theory in the proper limit leads the AEGIS-K code to be featured by being fully kinetic in essence but hybrid in appearance. The radial adaptive shooting scheme based on the method of the independent solution decomposition in the MHD AEGIS code [L.J. Zheng, M.T. Kotschenreuther, J. Comp. Phys. 211 (2006) 748] is extended to the kinetic calculation. A numerical method is developed to solve the gyrokinetic equation of lowest order for the response to the independent solutions of the electromagnetic perturbations, with the quasineutrality condition taken into account. A transform method is implemented to allow the pre-computed Z-function (i.e., the plasma dispersion function) to be used to reduce the integration dimension in the moment calculation and to assure the numerical accuracy in determining the wave–particle resonance effects. Periodic boundary condition along the whole banana orbit is introduced to treat the trapped particles, in contrast to the usual reflection symmetry conditions at the banana tips. Due to the adaptive feature, the AEGIS-K code is able to resolve the coupling between the kinetic resonances and the shear Alfvén continuum damping. Application of the AEGIS-K code to compute the resistive wall modes in ITER is discussed.     

Controlling Surface Interactions with Grafted Polymers

The interactions between surfaces modified with grafted polymers is studied theoretically. The aim of this work is to find polymer surface modifications that will result in localized attractive interactions between the surfaces. The practical motivation of the work is to find means to control the distance between bilayers and solid supports in supported membranes. Two theoretical approaches are used, the analytical treatment of Alexander and a molecular theory. It is found that grafting each end of the polymer to each surface results in an interaction with a well defined minimum. The location of the minima is found to be very close to the thickness of the polymer layer when the chains are grafted to only one of the surfaces. The predictions of the analytical theory are in excellent agreement with the molecular approach in this case. It is found that increasing the surface coverage increases the strength of the interaction. However, increasing the polymer chain length at fixed surface coverage results in a decrease of the free energy cost associated with separating the surfaces from their optimal distance. For the cases in which grafting to both surfaces is not possible, the molecular theory is used to study the effect of functionalizing segments of the chain to achieve an attractive well. It is found that by functionalizing the free end-groups of the polymers with segments attracted to the membrane, the range of the attractive interaction is significantly larger than the thickness of the unperturbed layer. Functionlizing the middle segments of the chains results in a shorter range attraction but of the same strength as in the end-functionalized layers. The optimal polymer modification is found to be such that the functionlized groups are attracted to the bare surface but are not attracted to the grafting surface. The relevance of the results to the design of experimental surface modifiers is discussed.     

Whole-field analysis of uniaxial tensile tests by Moiré interferometry

Moiré interferometry—a high sensitivity whole-field optical technique—was used to follow the evolution of the deformation process of an aluminium sample subjected to a uniaxial tensile test. This technique allowed us to measure the two in-plane displacement components undergone by the sample, to evaluate the strain, stress and rotation fields, and to appreciate the trends in the deformation pattern that characterized the different stages of the test. Through a subtraction process between fields obtained at two different load levels, we were able to identify the area where strains began to localize and to observe the appearance of the diffuse neck.     

Nonsensitive Homotopy-Padé Approach: Anharmonic Oscillators

In order to investigate a complicated physical system, it is convenient to consider a simple, easy to solve model, which is chosen to reflect as much physics as possible of the original system, as an ideal approximation. Motivated by this fundamentalidea, we propose a novel asymptotic method, the nonsensitive homotopy-Padé approach. In this method, homotopy relations are constructed to link the original system with an ideal, solvable model. An artificial homotopy parameter is introduced to the homotopy relations as the normal perturbation parameter to generatethe perturbation series, and is used to implement the Padé approximation. Meanwhile, some other auxiliary nonperturbative parameters, which are used to control the convergence of the perturbation series, are inserted to the approximants, and are fixed via the principle of minimal sensitivity. The method is used to study the eigenvalue problem of the quantum anharmonic oscillators. Highly accurate numerical results show its validity. Possible further studies on this method are also briefly discussed.     

A rigorous criterion to identify the validity of the Born approximation

This paper intends to identify the validity of the orn approximation by a new universal criterion, which is ultimately reduced to the calculation of an operator norm. With the purpose of enabling the criterion to be applicable to general scattering problems, a method is proposed to estimate the norm of the operator concerned. Compared with the conventional criterion, this method excels in its ability to acquire a quantificational upper bound of the relative error by Born approximation as well as to extend its valid frequency to a wider range. Two canonical scattering examples are given as evidence for the validity of the criterion.     

Ultrahigh pressure equation of state of CaS to 1.5 Mbar

Abstract

Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction (EDXD) was performed at room temperature to gather structural data on CaS between approximately 1.7 GPa to nearly 150GPa. In these experiments, CaS retained the B1 structure up to approximately 40 GPa above which it began to transform to the B2 structure. The B2 structure remained stable to the highest pressure reached, 149 GPa, where the relative volume V/V₀ was 0.490. Previous studies on CaS extended only up to 52 GPa, which is barely 10 GPa after the B1 phase changes to the B2 structure. Thus it was not possible to accurately extrapolate the equation of state (EOS) for the B2 phase region to significantly higher pressures. In the present study EOS data for CaS was collected to 150 GPa and no other structural change was observed. EOS parameters for the B1 and B2 phase regions agree well with values reported in the literature.