Image Formation in Low Vacuum SEM

The role of positive gaseous ions in the formation of secondary electron images in low vacuum scanning electron microscopes is discussed. This paper describes the charging processes and related effects that occur during high vacuum imaging of insulators and then discusses the influence of ions on those processes. The ions are responsible for a number of phenomena, including distortion of the electric field above and below the specimen surface due to space charge, removal of excess negative charge from the specimen, alteration of the specimen surface barrier, and scavenging/filtering of the secondary electron emission. The resulting electron-specimen-ion interactions can give rise to interesting contrast effects that are unique to this class of instruments.     

Monitoring genomic alterations with a panel of oligonucleotide probes specific for various simple repeat motifs

Germline and somatic instability of the human genome was studied, using synthetic oligonucleotides specific for simple repeat motifs. The following probes were used: (GTG)5, (GACA)4, (GATA)4, (CT)8, (TTAGGG)3, (GT)8, (GAA)6 and (GGAT)4. Each of them is unique with respect to the target regions recognized in the genome. Thus compilation of the various fingerprint data provides a complex map of the genome (and its deviations). While the fingerprints of differentiated somatic tissues never showed any alterations, in tumor tissues (namely gliomas) many changes could be detected. Most of the latter reflect secondary karyological aberrations. In nearly one third of the gliomas, drastically amplified and apparently monomorphic DNA fragments were identified. This marker should make it possible to deal with causal pathogenetic mechanisms as well as novel diagnostic strategies.     

Motivic Serre invariants of curves

In this article, we generalize the theory of motivic integration on formal schemes topologically of finite type and the notion of motivic Serre invariant, to a relative point of view. We compute the relative motivic Serre invariant for curves defined over the field of fractions of a complete discrete valuation ring R of equicharacteristic zero. One aim of this study is to understand the behavior of motivic Serre invariants under ramified extension of the ring R. Thanks to our constructions, we obtain, in particular, an expression for the generating power series, whose coefficients are the motivic Serre invariant associated to a curve, computed on a tower of ramified extensions of R. We give an interpretation of this series in terms of the motivic zeta function of Denef and Loeser.     

Synchronization Analysis of Coupled Noncoherent Oscillators

We present two different approaches to detect and quantify phase synchronization in the case of coupled non-phase coherent oscillators. The first one is based on the general idea of curvature of an arbitrary curve. The second one is based on recurrences of the trajectory in phase space. We illustrate both methods in the paradigmatic example of the R?ssler system in the funnel regime. We show that the second method is applicable even in the case of noisy data. Furthermore, we extend the second approach to the application of chains of coupled systems, which allows us to detect easily clusters of synchronized oscillators. In order to illustrate the applicability of this approach, we show the results of the algorithm applied to experimental data from a population of 64 electrochemical oscillators.     

Über die Stromdichtepotentialkurven passivierbarer Metalle,am Beispiel des Eisens dargestellt

Zusammenfassung Es wurde an Hand des Zahlenmaterials meiner Arbeit »Über die Passivierung speziell des Eisens« a. a. O. gezeigt, da\ man unter BerÜcksichtigung der Zeiterscheinungen Stromspannungskurven fÜr die Passivierung des Eisens erhält, welche aus zwei ästen bestehen. Von diesen entspricht der eine dem Verhalten des aktiven, der andere dem Verhalten des passiven Metalles. Die frÜheren, ohne BerÜcksichtigung der Zeitverhältnisse von verschiedenen Forschern aufgestellten Kurven entsprechen mehr oder weniger Zufallswerten, geben das Verhalten eines Metalles, das aktiv und passiv auftreten kann, nicht vollständig wieder und sind als Grundlage theoretischer Diskussionen unzureichend.     

Functional calculus for non-commuting operators with real spectra via an iterated Cauchy formula

We define a smooth functional calculus for a non-commuting tuple of (unbounded) operators A_j on a Banach space with real spectra and resolvents with temperate growth, by means of an iterated Cauchy formula. The construction is also extended to tuples of more general operators allowing smooth functional calculii. We also discuss the relation to the case with commuting operators.