Non-destructive bulk analysis of the Buggenum sword by neutron resonance capture analysis and neutron diffraction

Two neutron based techniques, neutron resonance capture analysis (NRCA) and time-of-flight neutron-diffraction (TOF-ND) have been used to determine the elemental composition and structure of a precious and very well preserved all-metal sword from the Bronze Age. This Buggenum sword was on loan from the National Museum of Antiquities (NMA) in Leiden (NL). NRCA and TOF-ND experiments have been carried out at a number of more or less identical positions of the sword. The tin-bronze ratio and the relative amounts of some minor elements (Sb, As, Ag, In) have been determined. The results of neutron diffraction measurements showed considerable tin-segregation, and clear indications of hardening on the edges of the blade. In addition, radiographs using Bremsstrahlung revealed the construction of the hilt–blade connection. The work was carried out at the EC Joint Research Centre IRMM in Geel (B) and at the ISIS facility of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK).     

Degenerate band edges in optical fiber with multiple grating: efficient coupling to slow light

Degenerate band edges (DBEs) of a photonic bandgap have the form (ω-ω(D)) ∝k(2m) for integers m>1, with ω(D) the frequency at the band edge. We show theoretically that DBEs lead to efficient coupling into slow-light modes without a transition region, and that the field strength in the slow mode can far exceed that in the incoming medium. A method is proposed to create a DBE of arbitrary order m by coupling m optical modes with multiple superimposed gratings. The enhanced coupling near a DBE occurs because of the presence of one or more evanescent modes, which are absent at conventional quadratic band edges. We furthermore show that the coupling can be increased or suppressed by varying the number of excited evanescent waves.     

Synthesis of macrocyclic peptide nucleic acid derivatives via intramolecular chemical ligation

Macrocyclic peptide nucleic acids can be obtained by direct or indirect intramolecular cyclisation of N-terminal cysteine functionalised PNA-thioesters     

Low pH acts as inhibitor of membrane damage induced by human islet amyloid polypeptide

Human islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) is the major component of the amyloid deposits found in the pancreatic islets of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. After synthesis, IAPP is stored in the β-cell granules of the pancreas at a pH of approximately 5.5 and released into the extracellular compartment at a pH of 7.4. To gain insight into the possible consequences of pH differences for properties and membrane interaction of IAPP, we here compared the aggregational and conformational behavior of IAPP as well as IAPP-membrane interactions at pH 5.5 and pH 7.4. Our data reveal that a low pH decreases the rate of fibril formation both in solution and in the presence of membranes. We observed by CD spectroscopy that these differences in kinetics are directly linked to changes in the conformational behavior of the peptide. Mechanistically, the processes that occur at pH 5.5 and pH 7.4 appear to be similar. At both pH values, we found that the kinetic profile of IAPP fibril growth matches the kinetic profile of IAPP-induced membrane damage, and that both are characterized by a lag phase and a sigmoidal transition. Furthermore, monolayer studies as well as solid-state NMR experiments indicate that the differences in kinetics and conformational behavior as function of pH are not due to a different mode of membrane insertion. Our study suggests that a low pH prevents aggregation and membrane damage of IAPP in the secretory granules, most likely by affecting the ionization properties of the peptide.     

The fate of optical excitations in small hydrated ZnS clusters: a theoretical study into the effect of hydration on the excitation and localisation of electrons in Zn4S4 and Zn6S6

In this paper we explore the effect of water on the excited state properties of ZnS nanostructures by means of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. Using these TD-DFT calculations we show that the effect of water on the optical absorption spectra is primarily a small blue-shift and that a secondary effect is that spectroscopic features that correspond to dark excitations for the anhydrous nanostructures gain intensity and new absorption peaks are predicted to appear. The effect of adsorbed water on the localisation of excited states is to produce small shifts in the values of the excited stabilisation energies but, more importantly, it results in the formation of extra minima when compared with the case for anhydrous ZnS. Finally, the effect of water on photoluminescence (PL) energies is predicted to be small but the appearance of extra minima induced by the presence of adsorbed water is expected to lead to a splitting/broadening of the PL signal.     

Gauging a quantum heat bath with dissipative Landau-Zener transitions

We calculate the exact Landau-Zener transition probabilities for a qubit with an arbitrary linear coupling to a bath at zero temperature. The final quantum state exhibits a peculiar entanglement between the qubit and the bath. In the special case of diagonal coupling, the bath does not influence the transition probability, whatever the speed of the Landau-Zener sweep. It is proposed to use Landau-Zener transitions to determine both the reorganization energy and the integrated spectral density of the bath. Possible applications include circuit QED and molecular nanomagnets.     

Modeling of integrated extended cavity InP/InGaAsP semiconductor modelocked ring lasers

In this paper a model and simulation results of integrated semiconductor passively modelocked ring lasers are presented. The model includes nonlinear effects such as two-photon absorption and a non-linear refractive index, a logarithmic gain-carrier relation, and concentration dependent radiative and non-radiative carrier recombination rates. The optical bandwidth of the system is controlled by a digital filter. The model has been used to simulate two geometries of ring modelocked lasers. The first is a symmetric design, where the two counter propagating pulses in the cavity experience the same amplification and absorption. The second is an asymmetric design where the differences for the two directions of pulse propagation are maximised. Simulation results show that a symmetrical cavity shows a several times wider window for its operating parameters for stable modelocking.     

A new monoclinic crystal phase of [Bu4N][Ni(dmit)2]

The crystal structure of the title compound, tetrabutylammonium bis(2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolato)nickelate(III), [N(C₄H₉)₄][Ni(C₃S₅)₂], is the fourth known phase of this polymorphous compound. It is monoclinic space group P2₁/c, with a = 20.040(2) Å, b = 13.1151(17) Å, c = 12.1093(15) Å, = 105.456(15)°, and V = 3067.5(6) ų with Z = 4, for D _calc = 1.503 g cm^–3. The [Ni(dmit)₂] anion packing arrangement consists of arrays of side-on touching anions and these arrays are connected via head-to-tail close S S contacts.