Demonstration of image-zooming capability for diffractive axicons

Diffractive axicons are optical components producing achromatic nondiffracting beams. They thus produce a focal line rather than a focal point for classical lenses. This gives the interesting property of a long focal depth. We show that this property can be used to design a simple imaging system with a linear variable zoom by using and translating a diffractive axicon as the only optical component.     

Limits on an energy dependence of the speed of light from a flare of the active galaxy PKS 2155-304

In the past few decades, several models have predicted an energy dependence of the speed of light in the context of quantum gravity. For cosmological sources such as active galaxies, this minuscule effect can add up to measurable photon-energy dependent time lags. In this Letter a search for such time lags during the High Energy Stereoscopic System observations of the exceptional very high energy flare of the active galaxy PKS 2155-304 on 28 July 2006 is presented. Since no significant time lag is found, lower limits on the energy scale of speed of light modifications are derived.     

Total Fragmentation Cross Section of 158A GeV Lead Projectiles in Cu Target

Total fragmentation cross section for the reaction 158A Pb ions ＋ Cu target is measured using the most sensitive track detector CR-39. Measured values are compared with calculations. Exposures of target-detector stack with 158A P5 projectiles are made at CERN-SPS beam facility. Results of calibration of CR-39 detector in a charge region （63 ≤ Z ≤ 83） are also reported, which can be used for high energy particle identification using CR-39 and in determination of partial charge changing cross sections. The charge resolution δz achieved by this technique is about 0.2e. A systematic dependence of total fragmentation cross section on target properties is revealed and the corresponding results are presented.     

Spectroscopic analysis of a laser-induced NaCl–water plasma. The influence of self-absorption

A spectroscopic study of the plasma plume created by a laser beam on the surface of NaCl aqueous solution is presented. Optical emission spectra are recorded and temporally analyzed; electron number density is determined from the Stark broadening of the NI nitrogen line, and temperature is obtained from relative intensity of OI oxygen lines. The intensity of an atomic line from sodium was used to quantitate its molar percentage in the Oceanic and Mediterranean sea, and calibration curves have been constructed for concentrations ranging up to 1.5%.     

Optimized FIB silicon samples suitable for lattice parameters measurements by convergent beam electron diffraction

The aim of this paper is to check the effect of artefacts introduced by focused ion beam (FIB) milling on the strain measurement by convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED). We show that on optimized silicon FIB samples, the strain measurement can be performed with a sensitivity of about 2.5 × 10⁻⁴ which is very close to the theoretical one and we conclude that FIB preparation can be suitable for such measurements in microelectronic devices.

To achieve this, we first used CBED and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) which provide a procedure permitting an exact knowledge of the sample geometry, i.e. the thickness of both amorphous and crystalline layers. This procedure was used in order to measure the FIB-amorphized sidewall layer. It was found that if the FIB preparation is optimized one can reduce this amorphous layer down to around 7 nm on each side. Secondly different preparation techniques (cleavage, Tripod™ and FIB) permit to check if the surface damaged layer introduced by FIB influences the strain state of the sample. Finally, it was found that the damaged layer does not introduce measurable strain in pure silicon but reduces appreciably the quality of the CBED patterns.     

Effect of thermal treatment on high-frequency magneto-impedance in ferromagnetic/Cu/ferromagnetic trilayers

Ferromagnetic/Cu/ferromagnetic trilayers (FM/Cu/FM) have been produced by sputtering (FM = CoFeSiB or FeSiB, thickness 80–500 nm). The Cu layer, longer than the two FM layers, is connected to a strip line attached to a network analyzer (frequency interval 30 kHz–6 GHz). The variation of the characteristic impedance of the line with a static magnetic defines the giant magneto-impedance (GMI) ratio. Trilayers have been annealed in furnace, with and without a magnetic field (aimed to induce a magnetic anisotropy). The effect on GMI of the FM material composition, thickness and annealing has been studied. In general, transverse annealing improves the GMI response of the device, whereas longitudinal annealing on CoFeSiB-based trilayers does not improve the GMI response, but reduces the field value at which peak GMI effect is observed.     

Green Synthesis of CeO2 Nanoparticles from the Abelmoschus esculentus Extract: Evaluation of Antioxidant,Anticancer, Antibacterial,and Wound-Healing Activities

Metal oxide nanoparticles synthesized by the biological method represent the most recent research in nanotechnology. This study reports the rapid and ecofriendly approach for the synthesis of CeO₂ nanoparticles mediated using the Abelmoschus esculentus extract. The medicinal plant extract acts as both a reducing and stabilizing agent. The characterization of CeO₂ NPs was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The in vitro cytotoxicity of green synthesized CeO₂ was assessed against cervical cancerous cells (HeLa). The exposure of CeO₂ to HeLa cells at 10–125 µg/mL caused a loss in cellular viability against cervical cancerous cells in a dose-dependent manner. The antibacterial activity of the CeO₂ was assessed against S. aureus and K. pneumonia. A significant improvement in wound-healing progression was observed when cerium oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into the chitosan hydrogel membrane as a wound dressing.     

Utility of Silver-nanoparticles for Nano-fluorimetric Determination of Vancomycin Hydrochloride in Pharmaceutical Formulation and Biological Fluids: Greenness Assessment

Journal of Fluorescence - Vancomycin hydrochloride (VANH) is a glycopeptide antibiotic commonly employed in the prophylaxis and therapy of various gram-positive bacterial life-threatening...     

Comments on Salem polynomials

Archiv der Mathematik - We strengthen a sufficient condition, due to R.S. Vieira, for a (reciprocal) polynomial $$R(x)=(x-\alpha _{1})(x-\alpha _{1}^{-1})\cdots (x-\alpha _{s})(x-\alpha...