Sauna,sweat and science II – do we sweat what we drink?

ABSTRACT

Inspired by a previous ‘Sauna, sweat and science’ study [Zech et al. Isot Environ Health Stud. 2015;51(3):439–447] and out of curiosity and enthusiasm for stable isotope and sauna research we aimed at answering the question ‘do we sweat (isotopically) what we drink’? We, therefore, pulse-labelled five test persons in a sauna experiment with beverages that were ²H-enriched at about +25,600?‰. Sweat samples were collected during six sauna rounds and the hydrogen isotope composition δ²H_sweat was determined using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Before pulse labelling, δ²H_sweat – reflecting by approximation body water – ranged from –32 to –22?‰. This is ～35?‰ enriched compared to usual mid-European drinking water and can be explained with hydrogen-bearing food as well as with the respiratory loss of ²H-depleted vapour. The absence of a clearly detectable ²H pulse in sweat after pulse labelling and δ²H_sweat results of ≤+250?‰ due to a fast ²H equilibration with body water are moreover a clearly negative answer to our research question also in a short-term consideration. Given that the recovery of the tracer based on an isotope mass balance calculation is clearly below 100?%, we finally answer the question ‘where did the rest of the tracer go?’     

The impact parameter dependence of the Pb + Pb K − MO spectrum

Molecular orbital X-rays are emitted during ion-atom collisions. The theoretical treatment, numerical results for the Pb + Pb system and a comparison with background radiation like NNB, SEB and γ-decay of Coulomb excited nuclei are presented.     

Detailed nuclear structure studies far from stability

State-of-the-art spectroscopy of nuclei far from stability has achieved an extraordinary level of sophistication and detail in the last ten years. In principle, if a state can be populated, it can be characterized by its energy, spin, parity, and major decay paths. Sometimes its lifetime can be measured. In practice, one is confronted with enormous complexity. To convert raw spectroscopic data into nuclear structure data involves a complex process of disentangling gamma rays and conversion electrons into decay schemes. Specifically, coincidence techniques, especially coincidence intensities, play a crucial role in this process. Recent examples and methods from work done at UNISOR are presented.     

Characterizing unusual metal substrates for gap‐mode tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy

In this article, the electromagnetic (EM) field in gap‐mode tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is investigated theoretically and experimentally for a range of commonly used and unusual metal and nonmetal substrates. By approaching a metal tip to a substrate, both form a coupled system that confines the EM field created at the tip apex. The influence of the substrate onto the EM field enhancement is observed in a top‐illumination gap‐mode TERS setup for different metal substrates. These include Au, the most commonly used substrate, and also a wide range of rarely or previously unused TERS substrates (Cu, Ag, Al, Pd, Pt, Ni, Ti, Mo, W, stainless steel, Al₂O₃, SiO₂). Self‐assembled monolayers of thiols and brilliant cresyl blue thin film samples are investigated experimentally on nine metal substrates, all showing considerable TERS enhancement. With finite difference time domain and finite element simulations used, the article provides a good estimate of the EM field enhancement for a wide range of substrates for users to estimate how well a substrate of choice will perform in a gap‐mode TERS experiment. The reduction in EM field strength |E²| compared with Au is less than an order of magnitude for many metals (Calculations: Cu 92%, Ag 81%, Ni 53%). This article experimentally shows that a wide variety of conductive substrates can be used, when one is willing to trade a fraction of the EM field enhancement. TERS was seen on all metal substrates including stainless steel, yet quantification was not always possible. These qualitative results were complemented with intensities from calculations. The wider variety of substrates will increase the applicability of TERS and evolve it one step further towards use in standard analytics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron-electron interaction in the magnetoresistance of graphene

We investigate the magnetotransport in large area graphene Hall bars epitaxially grown on silicon carbide. In the intermediate field regime between weak localization and Landau quantization, the observed temperature-dependent parabolic magnetoresistivity is a manifestation of the electron-electron interaction. We can consistently describe the data with a model for diffusive (magneto)transport that also includes magnetic-field-dependent effects originating from ballistic time scales. We find an excellent agreement between the experimentally observed temperature dependence of magnetoresistivity and the theory of electron-electron interaction in the diffusive regime. We can further assign a temperature-driven crossover to the reduction of the multiplet modes contributing to electron-electron interaction from 7 to 3 due to intervalley scattering. In addition, we find a temperature-independent ballistic contribution to the magnetoresistivity in classically strong magnetic fields.     

Nonadiabatic dynamics of two strongly coupled nanomechanical resonator modes

The Landau-Zener transition is a fundamental concept for dynamical quantum systems and has been studied in numerous fields of physics. Here, we present a classical mechanical model system exhibiting analogous behavior using two inversely tunable, strongly coupled modes of the same nanomechanical beam resonator. In the adiabatic limit, the anticrossing between the two modes is observed and the coupling strength extracted. Sweeping an initialized mode across the coupling region allows mapping of the progression from diabatic to adiabatic transitions as a function of the sweep rate.     

Constructing nonresidues in finite fields and the extended Riemann hypothesis

We present a new deterministic algorithm for the problem of constructing th power nonresidues in finite fields , where is prime and is a prime divisor of . We prove under the assumption of the Extended Riemann Hypothesis (ERH), that for fixed and , our algorithm runs in polynomial time. Unlike other deterministic algorithms for this problem, this polynomial-time bound holds even if is exponentially large. More generally, assuming the ERH, in time we can construct a set of elements that generates the multiplicative group . An extended abstract of this paper appeared in Proc. 23rd Ann. ACM Symp. on Theory of Computing, 1991.

     

Raman spectroscopy of isolated carbyne chains confined in carbon nanotubes: Progress and prospects

Carbyne is an infinitely long linear chain of carbon atoms with sp¹ hybridization and the truly one-dimensional allotrope of carbon. While obtaining freestanding carbyne is still an open challenge, the study of confined carbyne, linear chains of carbon encapsulated in carbon nanotubes, provides a pathway to explore carbyne and its remarkable properties in a well-defined environment. In this review, we discuss the basics and recent advances in studying single confined carbyne chains by Raman spectroscopy, which is their primary spectroscopic characterization method. We highlight where single carbyne chain studies are needed to advance our understanding of confined carbyne as a material system and provide an overview of the open questions that need to be addressed and of those aspects currently under debate.     

Stereophotogrammetric 3D shape measurement by holographic methods using structured speckle illumination combined with interferometry

We present a unique combination of the numerical three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the shape of an object with interferometric deformation measurements. Two cameras record several holograms of an object that is illuminated by structured illumination. This illumination is realized by speckle patterns. To improve the image quality, an inplace speckle reduction technique is combined with the structured illumination to reduce the effect of disturbing subjective speckles which appear in the reconstructed images. Stereophotogrammetric methods are applied to extract the 3D surface information of the object out of the reconstructed images. Since the recording is done by holography and because stereophotogrammetry enables a pointwise correlation between the two views, it is possible to combine other holographic techniques with the reconstructed 3D shape. This is demonstrated by an interferometric deformation measurement of an object cooling down. The resulting interferometric fringes are mapped onto the reconstructed 3D surface. Hence, the proposed method enables automatic and dense matching of interferometric fringe-maps recorded by spatially separated holograms onto the surface of the object, which has not yet been realized by existing techniques.     

Transport in graphene nanostructures

Graphene nanostructures are promising candidates for future nanoelectronics and solid-state quantum information technology. In this review we provide an overview of a number of electron transport experiments on etched graphene nanostructures. We briefly revisit the electronic properties and the transport characteristics of bulk, i.e., two-dimensional graphene. The fabrication techniques for making graphene nanostructures such as nanoribbons, single electron transistors and quantum dots, mainly based on a dry etching ??paper-cutting?? technique are discussed in detail. The limitations of the current fabrication technology are discussed when we outline the quantum transport properties of the nanostructured devices. In particular we focus here on transport through graphene nanoribbons and constrictions, single electron transistors as well as on graphene quantum dots including double quantum dots. These quasi-one-dimensional (nanoribbons) and quasi-zero-dimensional (quantum dots) graphene nanostructures show a clear route of how to overcome the gapless nature of graphene allowing the confinement of individual carriers and their control by lateral graphene gates and charge detectors. In particular, we emphasize that graphene quantum dots and double quantum dots are very promising systems for spin-based solid state quantum computation, since they are believed to have exceptionally long spin coherence times due to weak spin-orbit coupling and weak hyperfine interaction in graphene.