Demonstration of a 100 Hz repetition rate gain-saturated diode-pumped table-top soft x-ray laser

We demonstrate the operation of a gain-saturated table-top soft x-ray laser at 100?Hz repetition rate. The laser generates an average power of 0.15?mW at λ=18.9 nm, the highest laser power reported to date from a sub-20-nm wavelength compact source. Picosecond laser pulses of 1.5?μJ energy were produced at λ=18.9 nm by amplification in a Mo plasma created by tailoring the temporal intensity profile of single pump pulses with 1?J energy produced by a diode-pumped chirped pulse amplification Yb:YAG laser. Lasing was also obtained in the 13.9?nm line of Ni-like Ag. These results increase by an order of magnitude the repetition rate of plasma-based soft x-ray lasers opening the path to milliwatt average power table-top lasers at sub-20?nm wavelengths.     

Learning alters theta amplitude, theta-gamma coupling and neuronal synchronization in inferotemporal cortex

Background

How oscillatory brain rhythms alone, or in combination, influence cortical information processing to support learning has yet to be fully established. Local field potential and multi-unit neuronal activity recordings were made from 64-electrode arrays in the inferotemporal cortex of conscious sheep during and after visual discrimination learning of face or object pairs. A neural network model has been developed to simulate and aid functional interpretation of learning-evoked changes.

Results

Following learning the amplitude of theta (4-8 Hz), but not gamma (30-70 Hz) oscillations was increased, as was the ratio of theta to gamma. Over 75% of electrodes showed significant coupling between theta phase and gamma amplitude (theta-nested gamma). The strength of this coupling was also increased following learning and this was not simply a consequence of increased theta amplitude. Actual discrimination performance was significantly correlated with theta and theta-gamma coupling changes. Neuronal activity was phase-locked with theta but learning had no effect on firing rates or the magnitude or latencies of visual evoked potentials during stimuli. The neural network model developed showed that a combination of fast and slow inhibitory interneurons could generate theta-nested gamma. By increasing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor sensitivity in the model similar changes were produced as in inferotemporal cortex after learning. The model showed that these changes could potentiate the firing of downstream neurons by a temporal desynchronization of excitatory neuron output without increasing the firing frequencies of the latter. This desynchronization effect was confirmed in IT neuronal activity following learning and its magnitude was correlated with discrimination performance.

Conclusions

Face discrimination learning produces significant increases in both theta amplitude and the strength of theta-gamma coupling in the inferotemporal cortex which are correlated with behavioral performance. A network model which can reproduce these changes suggests that a key function of such learning-evoked alterations in theta and theta-nested gamma activity may be increased temporal desynchronization in neuronal firing leading to optimal timing of inputs to downstream neural networks potentiating their responses. In this way learning can produce potentiation in neural networks simply through altering the temporal pattern of their inputs.     

Molecular orientation and alignment by intense single-cycle THz pulses

Intense single-cycle THz pulses resonantly interacting with molecular rotations are shown to induce field-free orientation and alignment under ambient conditions. We calculate and measure the degree of both orientation and alignment induced by the THz field in an OCS gas sample, and correlate between the two observables. The data presents the first observation of THz-induced molecular alignment in the gas phase.     

Nucleophilic reactivity of thiolate, hydroxide and phenolate ions towards a model O-arylated diazeniumdiolate prodrug in aqueous and cationic surfactant media

The kinetics of aromatic nucleophilic substitution of the nitric oxide‐generating diazeniumdiolate ion, DEA/NO, by thiols (L ‐glutathione, L ‐cysteine, DL ‐homocysteine, 1‐propanethiol, 2‐mercaptoethanol, and sodium thioglycolate) from the prodrug, DNP‐DEA/NO, has been examined in aqueous solution and in solutions of cationic DOTAP vesicles. Second‐order rate constants in buffered aqueous solutions (k_RS‐ = 3.48–30.9 M^?1 s^?1; 30 °C) gave a linear Brønsted plot (β_nuc = 0.414 ± 0.068) consistent with the rate‐limiting S_NAr nucleophilic attack by thiolate ions. Cationic DOTAP vesicles catalyze the thiolysis reactions with rate enhancements between 11 and 486‐fold in Tris‐HCl buffered solutions at pH 7.4. The maximum rate increase was obtained with thioglycolate ion. Thiolysis data are compared to data for nucleophilic displacement by phenolate (k_PhO‐ = 0.114 M^?1 s^?1) and hydroxide (k_OH‐ = 1.82 × 10^?2 M^?1 s^?1, 37 °C) ions. The base hydrolysis reaction is accelerated by CTAB micelles and DODAC vesicles, with the vesicles being ca 3‐fold more effective as catalysts. Analysis of the data using pseudo‐phase ion‐exchange (PIE) formalism implies that the rate enhancement of the thiolysis and base hydrolysis reactions is primarily due to reactant concentration in the surfactant pseudo‐phase. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ring inversion process for a series of 3,5‐dialkyl‐1‐oxa‐3,5‐diazacyclohexanes: 1H DNMR study and semiempirical calculations

The ring inversion process for a series of 3,5‐dialkyl‐1‐oxa‐3,5‐diazacyclohexanes was studied using proton dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H DNMR) spectroscopy in conjunction with semiempirical calculations. At low temperature, the ring methylene protons decoalesced into two AB spin systems in a 2:1 ratio. Lineshape simulations of the DNMR spectra provided first‐order rate constants for magnetic exchange. The energy barrier for each inversion reaction was calculated from the respective rate constants. In general, as the size of the N‐alkyl group increased, the barrier to ring inversion decreased. A similar trend was seen in semiempirical calculations that modeled the ring inversion process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NO dissociation and N2 production in the presence of co-adsorbed SO2 and D2 on Pt(3 3 2)

NO dissociation and subsequent N₂ production in the presence of co-adsorbed S¹⁸O₂ and D₂ on the surface of stepped Pt(3 3 2) were studied using Fourier transform infra red reflection–absorption spectroscopy (FTIR-RAS) combined with thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). Reduction of NO by D (D₂ is adsorbed dissociatively on Pt surfaces) proceeds to a limited extent, because this reaction is rate-controlled by NO dissociation and the supply of D atoms at the higher surface temperatures at which NO dissociation becomes significant (350 K and higher). NO–D reaction is suppressed in the presence of S¹⁸O₂, depending significantly on the S¹⁸O₂ coverage and the competition between the reactions NO–D and S¹⁸O₂–D. When the supply of D₂ is limited, e.g., 0.1 L in this study, the presence of S¹⁸O₂ suppresses the NO–D reaction. With a sufficient supply of D₂, e.g., 0.4 L and higher, D-atom competing reactions do not play a role any more because the reactions of both NO and S¹⁸O₂ with D proceed only to a very limited extent. As such, generation of O atoms from S¹⁸O₂ dissociation is the main reaction that leads to the suppression in NO dissociation and consequently, N₂ production.It is also concluded that the presence of S¹⁸O₂ does not seriously poison the active sites on the Pt surface, providing that there is a sufficient D supply to remove O atoms from both NO dissociation and S¹⁸O₂ dissociation.     

Variable-frequency EPR study of Mn(2+)-doped NH(4)Cl(0.9)I(0.1) single crystal at 9.6, 36, and 249.9 GHz: structural phase transition

Multifrequency electron paramagnetic resonance studies on the Mn(2+) impurity ion in a mixed single crystal NH(4)Cl(0.9)I(0.1) were carried out at 9.62 (X-band) in the range 120-295 K, at 35.87 (Q-band) at 77 and 295 K, and at 249.9 GHz (far-infrared band) at 253 K. The high-field EPR spectra at 249.9 GHz are well into the high-field limit leading to a considerable simplification of the spectra and their interpretation. Three magnetically inequivalent, but physically equivalent, Mn(2+) ions with their respective magnetic Z-axes oriented along the crystallographic [100], [010], [001] axes were observed. Simultaneous fitting of EPR line positions observed at X-, Q-, and far infra-red bands was performed using a least-squares procedure and matrix diagonalization to estimate accurately the Mn(2+) spin-Hamiltonian parameters. The temperature variation of the linewidth and peak-to-peak intensities of the EPR lines indicate the presence of lambda-transitions in the mixed NH(4)Cl(0.9)I(0.1) crystal at 242 and 228 K consistent with those observed in the pure NH(4)Cl and NH(4)I crystals, respectively. A superposition-model analysis of the spin-Hamiltonian parameters reveals that the local environment of the Mn(2+) ion is considerably reorganized to produce axially symmetric crystal fields about the respective Z-axes of the three magnetically inequivalent ions as a consequence of the vacancy created due to charge-compensation when the divalent Mn(2+) ion substitutes for a monovalent NH(4)(+) ion in the NH(4)Cl(0.9)I(0.1) crystal. This reorganization is almost the same as that observed in NH(4)Cl and NH(4)I single crystals, although the latter two are characterized by different, simple cubic and face-centered cubic, structures.     

Quasi-wavelet calculations of sound scattering behind barriers

Quasi-wavelets (QWs) are a representation of turbulence consisting of self-similar, eddy-like structures with random orientations and positions in space. They are used in this paper to calculate the scattering, due to turbulent velocity fluctuations, of sound behind noise barriers as a function of the size and spatial location of the eddies. The sound scattering cross-section for QWs of an individual size class (eddy size) is derived and shown to reproduce results for the von Kármán spectrum when the scattered energies from a continuous distribution of QW sizes are combined. A Bragg resonance condition is derived for the eddy size that scatters most strongly for a given acoustic wavenumber and scattering angle. Results for scattering over barriers show that, for typical barrier conditions, most of the scattered energy originates from eddies in the size range of approximately one-half to twice the size of the eddies responsible for maximum scattering. The results also suggest that scattering over the barrier due to eddies with a line of sight to both the source and receiver is generally significant only for frequencies above several kilohertz, for sources and receivers no more than a few meters below the top of the barrier, and for very turbulent atmospheric conditions.