Freeze-drying for the stabilisation of shellfish toxins in mussel tissue (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus edulis</Emphasis>) reference materials

Two samples of mussels (Mytilus edulis) were collected from the southwest of Ireland. One sample contained domoic acid, the other sample contained okadaic acid, dinophysistoxin-2 and azaspiracid-1, -2 and -3. Wet and freeze-dried reference materials were prepared from each of the two samples to test for differences in homogeneity, stability and extractability of the analytes in either condition. Wet materials were homogenised, aliquoted and hermetically sealed under argon and subsequently frozen at −80 °C. Dry materials were similarly homogenised but frozen in flat cakes prior to freeze-drying. After grinding, sieving and further homogenisation, the resulting powder was aliquoted and hermetically sealed. Domoic acid materials were characterised using HPLC–UV, while LC–MS was used for the determination of lipophilic toxins. The extractabilities of all phycotoxins studied were comparable for wet and freeze-dried materials once a sonication step had been carried out for reconstitution of the freeze-dried materials prior to extraction. Homogeneity was assessed through replicate analysis of the phycotoxins (n = 10), and was found to be similar for wet and freeze-dried materials, for both hydrophilic and lipophilic toxins. Water contents were determined for both wet and freeze-dried materials, and particle size was determined for the freeze-dried materials. Stability was evaluated isochronously over eight months at four temperatures (−20, +4, +20 and +40 °C). The freeze-dried material containing domoic acid was stable over the whole duration at all temperatures, while in the wet material domoic acid degraded to some extent at all temperatures except −20 °C. In freeze-dried and wet materials containing lipophilic toxins, okadaic acid, dinophysistoxin-2, azaspiracid-1 and azaspiracid-2 were stable over the whole duration at all conditions, while concentrations of azaspiracid-3 changed significantly in both materials at some storage temperatures. Figure Aliquots of freeze-dried and wet mussel tissue reference materials containing the various shellfish toxins examined in the study     

On the change of dislocation structure during the postdeformation of cold worked molybdenum single crystals at elevated temperature

Molybdenum single crystals predeformed at low temperature (T₁ ≦ 293 K) exhibit during tensile reloading at T₂ = 493 K pronounced work softening accompanied by stress serrations and localized slip. It is shown that the initial state for the development of coarse slip bands is the formation of narrow obstacle-free slip channels. The change from the homogeneous dislocation structure to the cell structure proceeds in a heterogeneous and discontinuous manner.     

Surface preparation of AB semiconductors (Cd3As2, Zn3As2, Cd3P2, Zn3P2) under ultra-high vacuum conditions

The UHV surface preparation of AB materials (crystals and thin films) has been monitored with XPS and AES. Clean and stoichiometric surfaces of AB crystals were prepared by means of low energy ion bombardment and subsequent low temperature annealing. Stoichiometric Cd₃As₂ and Zn₃P₂ thin films with very low amounts of C and O were deposited by the evaporation of bulk material in the UHV. The quality of prepared AB crystal and thin film surfaces was sufficient to carry out density of states investigations (UPS, RELS) with success.     

Influence of processing time on nanoparticle generation during picosecond-pulsed fundamental and second harmonic laser ablation of metals in tetrahydrofuran

The influence of fundamental and second harmonic wavelength on ablation efficiency and nanoparticle properties is studied during picosecond laser ablation of silver, zinc, and magnesium in polymer-doped tetrahydrofuran. Laser ablation in stationary liquid involves simultaneously the fabrication of nanoparticles by ablation of the target material and fragmentation of dispersed nanoparticles by post irradiation. The ratio in which the laser pulse energy contributes to these processes depends on laser wavelength and colloidal properties. For plasmon absorbers (silver), using the second harmonic wavelength leads to a decrease of the nanoparticle productivity over process time along with exponential decrease in particle diameter, while using the fundamental wavelength results in a constant ablation rate and linear decrease in particle diameter. For colloids made of materials without plasmon absorption (zinc, magnesium), laser scattering is the colloidal property that limits nanoparticle productivity by Mie-scattering of dispersed nanoparticle clusters.     

双色光量子比特

单个光子可以被置于两种不同颜色的叠加态,这种双色光子的实现将在量子信息处理中发挥重要作用。
光子是光的量子形态,它的发现是量子物理的关键一环。如今在诸如量子计算、安全通信以及精密测量等量子技术中,光子是最重要的基石之一。这些应用通常依赖对光子偏振或空间模式的量子控制。但令人诧异的是,光的颜色(频率)这一最显见的特性却很难在量子水平上加以控制。     

Efficient and accurate modeling of electron photoemission in nanostructures with TDDFT

We derive and extend the time-dependent surface-flux method introduced in [L. Tao, A. Scrinzi, New J. Phys. 14, 013021 (2012)] within a time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) formalism and use it to calculate photoelectron spectra and angular distributions of atoms and molecules when excited by laser pulses. We present other, existing computational TDDFT methods that are suitable for the calculation of electron emission in compact spatial regions, and compare their results. We illustrate the performance of the new method by simulating strong-field ionization of C₆₀ fullerene and discuss final state effects in the orbital reconstruction of planar organic molecules.     

Low-energy termination of graphene edges via the formation of narrow nanotubes

We demonstrate that free graphene sheet edges can curl back on themselves, reconstructing as nanotubes. This results in lower formation energies than any other nonfunctionalized edge structure reported to date in the literature. We determine the critical tube size and formation barrier and compare with density functional simulations of other edge terminations including a new reconstructed Klein edge. Simulated high resolution electron microscopy images show why such rolled edges may be difficult to detect. Rolled zigzag edges serve as metallic conduction channels, separated from the neighboring bulk graphene by a chain of insulating sp(3)-carbon atoms, and introduce van Hove singularities into the graphene density of states.