Statistical properties of the electrophoretic collision of a long DNA molecule with a small obstacle

We present experimental results for the collision of a single λ-DNA molecule with isolated cylindrical nanoposts whose radii range from 350 nm to 1.37 μm. The experimental apparatus was fabricated in oxidized silicon using a plasma-thinning method. The probability density for the dimensionless holdup time is described by a gamma distribution, which accurately represents the behavior of the probability density for X collisions and U/J collisions for short-lived and long-lived collisions, respectively. The shape parameter of the gamma distribution reflects the nature of the short-lived collisions, whereas the scaling parameter captures the role of the finite size of the post on the U/J collisions. When rendered in an appropriate dimensionless form, the existing models for the role of electric field gradients extend to all post sizes, indicating that 350 nm is still well above the point-sized limit. Our experiments provide insights into a regime that is very challenging for numerical simulations but highly relevant for separation processes.     

New opportunities for the enhanced NAA services through the research reactor coalitions and networks

Although the number of research reactors (RRs) is steadily decreasing, more than half of the operational RRs are still heavily underutilized, and in most cases, underfunded. The decreasing and rather old fleet of RRs needs to ensure the provision of useful services to the community, in some cases with adequate revenue generation for reliable, safe and secure facility management and operations. Enhancement of low and medium power research reactor (RR) utilization is often pursued by increasing the neutron activation analysis (NAA) activities. In this paper we will present the strategy and concrete actions how NAA as one of the most popular RR applications can contribute to the above goals in particular through (a) RR coalitions and networks, (b) implementation of automation in different stages of NAA, (c) QA/QC, including skills improvement of involved personnel, (d) dedicated proficiency tests performed by a number of targeted analytical laboratories. We also show that despite the IAEA’s efforts, some of the NAA laboratories still perform badly in proficiency tests, do not have formal QA/QC procedures implemented, have not implemented automation to process large number of samples or lack of clear marketing strategies. Some concrete actions are proposed and outlined to address these issues in the near future.     

Communication: Phase incremented echo train acquisition in NMR spectroscopy

We present an improved and general approach for implementing echo train acquisition (ETA) in magnetic resonance spectroscopy, particularly where the conventional approach of Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) acquisition would produce numerous artifacts. Generally, adding ETA to any N-dimensional experiment creates an N + 1 dimensional experiment, with an additional dimension associated with the echo count, n, or an evolution time that is an integer multiple of the spacing between echo maxima. Here we present a modified approach, called phase incremented echo train acquisition (PIETA), where the phase of the mixing pulse and every other refocusing pulse, φ(P), is incremented as a single variable, creating an additional phase dimension in what becomes an N + 2 dimensional experiment. A Fourier transform with respect to the PIETA phase, φ(P), converts the φ(P) dimension into a Δp dimension where desired signals can be easily separated from undesired coherence transfer pathway signals, thereby avoiding cumbersome or intractable phase cycling schemes where the receiver phase must follow a master equation. This simple modification eliminates numerous artifacts present in NMR experiments employing CPMG acquisition and allows "single-scan" measurements of transverse relaxation and J-couplings. Additionally, unlike CPMG, we show how PIETA can be appended to experiments with phase modulated signals after the mixing pulse.     

Dual-etalon frequency-comb cavity ringdown spectrometer

We have demonstrated a spectroscopic technique for simultaneously obtaining broad spectral bandwidth and high frequency resolution absorption measurements, with 5 μs temporal resolution, continuously for tens of microseconds in an apparatus with no active stabilization. The technique utilizes two passive air-gap etalons to imprint two frequency comb patterns onto a single pulsed light source. The air-gap etalons also serve as cavity ringdown cells increasing the sensitivity of the absorption spectroscopy by increasing the interrogation path length. Here, we demonstrate the operation of the spectrometer utilizing a ~0.15 cm(-1) bandwidth pulsed dye laser and two nearly identical 300 MHz free-spectral range confocal air-gap etalons each with a finesse of ~1 × 10(5), to investigate the (1,1,3) overtone of water and the R(7) transition of the O(2) b(1)Σ(g)(+)←X(3)Σ(g)(-) (2,0) band with high spectral resolution.     

Molecular packing in highly stable glasses of vapor-deposited tris-naphthylbenzene isomers

Physical vapor deposition of organic molecules can produce glasses with high kinetic stability and low enthalpy. Previous experiments utilizing wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) have shown that, relative to the ordinary glasses prepared by cooling the supercooled liquid, such glasses exhibit excess scattering characteristic of anisotropic packing. We have used vapor deposition to prepare glasses of four isomers of tris-naphthylbenzene (TNB), and measured both the WAXS patterns and the kinetic stability. While vapor-deposited glasses of all four TNB isomers exhibit high and nearly uniform kinetic stability, the level of excess scattering varies significantly. In addition, for α,α,β-TNB, glasses of essentially identical kinetic stability can have excess scattering levels that vary by a factor of two. These results indicate that anisotropic packing is not the source of kinetic stability in vapor-deposited glasses but rather a secondary feature that depends upon the chemical structure of the glass-forming molecules. We also show that the time required for these stable vapor-deposited glasses to transform into the supercooled liquid greatly exceeds the structural relaxation time τ(α) of the liquid and scales approximately as τ(α) (0.6). The kinetic stability of the vapor-deposited TNB glasses matches that expected for ordinary glasses that have been aged for 10(2) to 10(7) years.     

Comparison of hybrid three-dimensional modeling with measurements on the continental shelf

During the CALOPS 2007 experiment, off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, three-dimensional (3D) multipath was observed using a bottom mounted horizontal line array during source tows along the 200 m isobath [Kevin D. Heaney and James J. Murray, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 125(4), 1394-1402 (2008)]. In this paper a hybrid modeling approach is presented to model the 3D sound on the Florida shelf, nearly shaped like the canonical wedge. The hybrid approach combines vertical acoustic normal modes with the parabolic equation solution (in range/cross-range). The approach is shown to satisfy the 3D Cartesian-coordinate wave equation in the limit of adiabatic mode propagation. In the adiabatic mode parabolic equation (AMPE) approach modal phase speeds vs position are used as the input to the parabolic equation computation with dimensions of easting (km) and northing (km). Vertical adiabatic modes and horizontal rays are also computed to illustrate the 3D multipath arrival. The AMPE field is computed for all the modes for each element of the horizontal array. Beamforming vs source range is then conducted and excellent agreement with data is achieved.     

Spectral Stability of Ideal-Gas Shock Layers

Extending recent results in the isentropic case, we use a combination of asymptotic ODE estimates and numerical Evans-function computations to examine the spectral stability of shock-wave solutions of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations with ideal gas equation of state. Our main results are that, in appropriately rescaled coordinates, the Evans function associated with the linearized operator about the wave (i) converges in the large-amplitude limit to the Evans function for a limiting shock profile of the same equations, for which internal energy vanishes at one end state; and (ii) has no unstable (positive real part) zeros outside a uniform ball |λ| ≦ Λ. Thus, the rescaled eigenvalue ODE for the set of all shock waves, augmented with the (nonphysical) limiting case, form a compact family of boundary-value problems that can be conveniently investigated numerically. An extensive numerical Evans-function study yields one-dimensional spectral stability, independent of amplitude, for gas constant γ in [1.2, 3] and ratio ν/μ of heat conduction to viscosity coefficient within [0.2, 5] (γ ≈ 1.4, ν/μ ≈ 1.47 for air). Other values may be treated similarly but were not considered. The method of analysis extends also to the multi-dimensional case, a direction that we shall pursue in a future work.     

Nonlinear Stability of Time-Periodic Viscous Shocks

In order to understand the nonlinear stability of many types of time-periodic travelling waves on unbounded domains, one must overcome two main difficulties: the presence of embedded neutral eigenvalues and the time-dependence of the associated linear operator. This problem is studied in the context of time-periodic Lax shocks in systems of viscous conservation laws. Using spatial dynamics and a decomposition into separate Floquet eigenmodes, it is shown that the linear evolution for the time-dependent operator can be represented using a contour integral similar to that of the standard time-independent case. By decomposing the resulting Green’s distribution, the leading order behavior associated with the embedded eigenvalues is extracted. Sharp pointwise bounds are then obtained, which are used to prove that time-periodic Lax shocks are linearly and nonlinearly stable under the necessary conditions of spectral stability and minimal multiplicity of the translational eigenvalues. The latter conditions hold, for example, for small-oscillation time-periodic waves that emerge through a supercritical Hopf bifurcation from a family of time-independent Lax shocks of possibly large amplitude.     

N‐Acetyl‐l‐phenyl­alanine

The structure of the title compound, C₁₁H₁₃NO₃, is characterized by a two‐dimensional infinite network of intermolecular N—H?O and O—H?O hydrogen bonds.     

Microstructure in a Cubic to Orthorhombic Transition

Microstructures for a cubic to orthorhombic transition are constructed using a geometrically nonlinear, thermoelastic theory of martensitic transformations. Such microstructures are of interest because they provide low energy paths along which a specimen can transform. The particular microstructures considered are the twinned martensite, austenite–martensite, wedge, triangle, and diamond. More specifically, all possible twins are found along with the corresponding twinning elements and magnitude of the twin shear. Further, two kinds of austenite–martensite microstructures are studied: those with a single variant of martensite and those with twinned martensite. The regions in the space of transformation stretches in which each of these microstructures exist are determined, and the shape strains and habit plane normals are found as well. In addition, special microstructures, the wedge, triangle, and diamond, are constructed with both the austenite-single variant and austenite-twinned martensite microstructures. These special microstructures are of interest because they provide a mechanism through which the transformation may proceed more easily, and they are possible only in alloys with particular transformation stretches. Numerically computed level curves in the space of the stretches are presented on which the special microstructures are possible. These results may be useful in providing guidelines for alloy design.