Observation of a half step magnetization in the {Cu3}-type triangular spin ring

We report pulsed field magnetization and ESR experiments on a {Cu3} nanomagnet, where antiferromagnetically coupled Cu(2+) (S = 1/2) ions form a slightly distorted triangle. The remarkable feature is the observation of a half step magnetization, hysteresis loops, and an asymmetric magnetization between a positive and a negative field in a fast sweeping external field. This is attributed to an adiabatic change of magnetization. The energy levels determined by ESR unveil that the different mixing nature of a spin chirality of a total S = 1/2 Kramers doublet by virtue of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions is decisive for inducing half step magnetization.     

Microwave-Accelerated Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MAMEF): Application to Ultra Fast and Sensitive Clinical Assays

In this rapid communication we describe an exciting platform technology that promises to fundamentally address two underlying constraints of modern assays and immunoassays, namely sensitivity and rapidity. By combining the use of Metal-enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) with low power microwave heating (Mw), we can significantly increase the sensitivity of surface assays as well as >95% kinetically complete the assay within a few seconds. This technology is subsequently likely to find significant importance in certain clinical assays, such as in the clinical assessment of myoglobin, where both the assay rapidity and sensitivity are paramount for the assessment and treatment of acute myocardial infarction.     

Applications of cavity ring-down spectroscopy to high precision isotope ratio measurement of 13C/12C in carbon dioxide

Recent measurements of carbon isotopes in carbon dioxide using near-infrared, diode-laser-based cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) are presented. The CRDS system achieved good precision, often better than 0.2 per thousand, for 4% CO2 concentrations, and also achieved 0.15-0.25 per thousand precision in a 78 min measurement time with cryotrap-based pre-concentration of ambient CO2 concentrations (360 ppmv). These results were obtained with a CRDS system possessing a data rate of 40 ring-downs per second and a loss measurement of 4.0 x 10(-11) cm(-1) Hz(-1/2). Subsequently, the measurement time has been reduced to under 10 min. This standard of performance would enable a variety of high concentration (3-10%) isotopic measurements, such as medical human breath analysis or animal breath experiments. The extension of this ring-down to the 2 microm region would enable isotopic analysis at ambient concentrations, which, combined with the small size, robust design, and potential for frequent measurements at a remote site, make CRDS technology attractive for remote atmospheric measurement applications.     

Changes in Silk Feedstock Rheology during Cocoon Construction: The Role of Calcium and Potassium Ions

Variation in silk feedstocks is a barrier both to our understanding of natural spinning and biomimetic endeavors. To address this, compositional changes are investigated in feedstock specimens from the domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori). It is found that the feedstock viscosity decreased systematically by over two orders of magnitude during cocoon construction. Potential factors such as protein concentration, molecular weight, pH, or the presence of trehalose are excluded, whereas a clear correlation appear between viscosity and the relative concentrations of Ca²⁺ and K⁺ ions. It is expected that Ca²⁺ ions would favor “salt bridges” between acidic (Asp and Glu) amino acids, leading to an increased viscosity, whereas K⁺ ions would compete for these sites, thereby reducing viscosity. Thus, these findings suggest a simple, systematic yet sophisticated control of feedstock viscosity in the silkworm, which in turn can be applied to future industrial silk production.     

A mechanism for mitigation of blade–vortex interaction using leading edge blowing flow control

The interaction of a vortical unsteady flow with structures is often encountered in engineering applications. Such flow structure interactions (FSI) can be responsible for generating significant loads and can have many detrimental structural and acoustic side effects, such as structural fatigue, radiated noise and even catastrophic results. Amongst the different types of FSI, the parallel blade–vortex interaction (BVI) is the most common, often encountered in helicopters and propulsors. In this work, we report on the implementation of leading edge blowing (LEB) active flow control for successfully minimizing the parallel BVI. Our results show reduction of the airfoil vibrations up to 38% based on the root-mean-square of the vibration velocity amplitude. This technique is based on displacing an incident vortex using a jet issued from the leading edge of a sharp airfoil effectively increasing the stand-off distance of the vortex from the body. The effectiveness of the method was experimentally analyzed using time-resolved digital particle image velocimetry (TRDPIV) recorded at an 800 Hz rate, which is sufficient to resolve the spatio-temporal dynamics of the flow field and it was combined with simultaneous accelerometer measurements of the airfoil, which was free to oscillate in a direction perpendicular to the freestream. Analysis of the flow field spectra and a Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) of the TRDPIV data of the temporally resolved planar flow fields indicate that the LEB effectively modified the flow field surrounding the airfoil and increased the convecting vortices stand-off distance for over half of the airfoil chord length. It is shown that LEB also causes a redistribution of the flow field spectral energy over a larger range of frequencies.     

Bayesian approach to network modularity

We present an efficient, principled, and interpretable technique for inferring module assignments and for identifying the optimal number of modules in a given network. We show how several existing methods for finding modules can be described as variant, special, or limiting cases of our work, and how the method overcomes the resolution limit problem, accurately recovering the true number of modules. Our approach is based on Bayesian methods for model selection which have been used with success for almost a century, implemented using a variational technique developed only in the past decade. We apply the technique to synthetic and real networks and outline how the method naturally allows selection among competing models.     

A general test of the Copernican principle

To date, there has been no general way of determining if the Copernican principle--that we live at a typical position in the Universe--is in fact a valid assumption, significantly weakening the foundations of cosmology as a scientific endeavor. Here we present an observational test for the Copernican assumption which can be automatically implemented while we search for dark energy in the coming decade. Our test is entirely independent of any model for dark energy or theory of gravity and thereby represents a model-independent test of the Copernican principle.     

Virtual crystal approximation study of nitridosilicates and oxonitridoaluminosilicates

We present a density functional theory study of a variety of nitridosilicate and oxonitridoaluminosilicate systems. For the nitridosilicates, we have shown that the DFT-calculated equilibrium structures of BaYb-Si₄N₇, SrYb-Si₄N₇ and EuYb-Si₄N₇ are in good agreement with experiment. We then used the virtual crystal approximation (VCA) to study the effects of oxygen-doping on the nitrogen sites. We then added Si/Al disorder into our system, in order to model the properties of BaYb-SiAlON for pressures up to 50 GPa, in order to investigate recent experimental findings. We have found that this system is stable over the whole pressure range, and that the compression mechanism is pure bond length shortening.