Pressure effects on 2p5 3p - 2p5 3d transitions in neon

The collisional broadening and shift of four spectral lines of neon (747.2, 748.8, 753.5, 754.4 nm) arising from 2p⁵ 3p - 2p⁵ 3d transitions, emitted from a low-pressure glow discharge in pure neon and neon-helium mixtures have been measured using a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The values of pressure broadening and shift coefficients are determined and analyzed in terms of the impact theory.     

Combination of Raman, Infrared, and X-Ray Energy-Dispersion Spectroscopies and X-Ray Diffraction to Study a Fossilization Process

X-ray diffraction was combined with X-ray energy-dispersion, Fourier-transform infrared, and Raman spectroscopies to study the fossilization of a Cretaceous specimen of the plant Brachyphyllum castilhoi, a fossil from the Ipubi Formation, in the Araripe Sedimentary Basin, Northeastern Brazil. Among the possible fossilization processes, which could involve pyrite, silicon oxide, calcium oxide, or other minerals, we were able to single out pyritization as the central mechanism producing the fossil, more than 100 million years ago. In addition to expanding the knowledge of the Ipubi Formation, this study shows that, when combined with other experimental techniques, Raman spectroscopy is a valuable tool at the paleontologist’s disposal.     

Nanorings in planar confinement: the role of repulsive surfaces on the formation of lacuna smectics

ABSTRACT

We study the structure and liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of a model of confined non-convex circular soft-repulsive nanorings in a planar slit geometry using molecular-dynamics simulation. The separation distance between the structureless parallel soft-repulsive walls is made large enough to allow for the formation of a distinct bulk phase in the central region of the box which is in coexistence with the adsorbed fluid thus allowing the analysis of single-wall effects. As the density of the particles is increased, the fluid adsorbs (wets) onto the planar surfaces leading to the formation of well-defined smectic-A layers with a spacing proportional to the diameter of the rings. An analysis of the nematic order parameter at distances perpendicular to the surface reveals that the particles in each layer exhibit anti-nematic behaviour and planar (edge-on) anchoring relative to the short symmetry axis of the rings. This behaviour is in stark contrast to the behaviour observed in convex disc-like particles that have the tendency to form nematic (discotic) structures with homeotropic (face-on) anchoring. The smectic phases formed by nanorings in the bulk and under confinement are characterised by the formation of low-density layered liquid-crystalline states with large voids, referred to here as lacuna smectic phases. In contrast to what is typically found for confined liquid-crystalline systems involving convex particles, no apparent biaxiality is found for nanorings in planar confinement. We argue that formation of the low-density lacuna smectic layers with planar anchoring is a consequence of the non-convex shape of the circular rings that allow for interpenetration between the particles as observed for nanorings under bulk conditions [C. Avendaño, G. Jackson, E.A. Müller and F.A. Escobedo, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 9699 (2016); H.H. Wensink and C. Avendaño, Phys. Rev. E 94, 062704 (2016)].     

Simulation and design of a bandpass filter on metasubstrates

This work presents an analysis of the microstrip bandpass filter on metamaterial substrates. The filter is composed of two ring resonators with quarter-wavelength side-coupled sections. The filter input is provided, as well as the output port, using a quarter-wavelength side-coupled microstrip line section. Simulations by finite element method have been carried out to verify the effect of the metamaterial substrate properties on the filter performance, and to compare these results to those obtained considering isotropic substrate.     

NO Fluorescence Quantification by Chitosan CdSe Quantum Dots Nanocomposites

The quantification of nitric oxide (NO) based on the quenching of the fluorescence of a nanocomposites sensor constituted by cadmium/selenium quantum dots (CdSe) stabilized by chitosan (CS) and mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) is assessed. The optimization of the response of the CS-CdSe-MSA nanocomposites to NO was done by multivariate response surface experimental design methodologies. The highest fluorescence quenching was obtained at pH 5.5 and at room temperature. The NO quantification capability of CS-CdSe-MSA was evaluated using standard solutions and a NO donor reagent. A large linear working range from 5 to 200 μM and a limit of detection of 1.86 μM were obtained. Better quantification results were obtained using the NO donor reagent. Besides NO, the response of the fluorescence of CS-CdSe-MSA to the main reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and similar NO compounds was also assessed.     

Kaluza–Klein reduction of a quadratic curvature model

Palatini variational principle is implemented on a five dimensional quadratic curvature gravity model, rendering two sets of equations, which can be interpreted as the field equations and the stress-energy tensor. Unification of gravity with electromagnetism and the scalar dilaton field is achieved through the Kaluza–Klein dimensional reduction mechanism. The reduced curvature invariant, field equations and the stress-energy tensor are obtained in the actual four dimensional spacetime. The structure of the interactions among the constituent fields is exhibited in detail. It is shown that the Lorentz force density naturally emerges from the reduced field equations and the equations of the standard Kaluza–Klein theory are demonstrated to be intrinsically contained in this model.     

Frustrated structure of an anticlinic-like smectic-C phase

We present a polarising optical microscopy study of the low-temperature anticlinic-like tilted mesophase of the liquid-crystal compound octylphenyl-2-chloro-4-(p-cyano-benzoyloxy) (DB₈Cl). This mesophase has been described as a bilayer smectic structure in which the molecules within each layer are organised in an anticlinic way. The optical textures observed in samples with planar orientation show a double stripe pattern, with the lines aligned parallel to the rubbing direction, characteristic of a double periodic modulation of the refractive index of the material. The long-period modulation is temperature dependent and disappears for thin sample cells (< 5μm). The short-period modulation is nearly independent of the thickness of the cells. The experimental results are analysed in terms of a model which considers that there is a special distribution of the principal optical axis which may be in or out of the polariser-analyser plane. The observed periodic variation of the principal optical axis could not be interpreted in terms of the original structure proposed for this phase. DB₈Cl presents a structure formed by dimers that can be viewed as flexible bent-core-like molecules, showing similarities with phases found in banana-like systems, but exhibiting a much more complex structure.     

The rectum of Oxaea flavescens (Andrenidae) has a specialized structure among bees

The rectum of the bee Oxaea flavescens contains six hollow rectal papillae, in contrast to rectal pads found in others Hymenoptera. The rectal epithelium is formed by cubical cells with structural specializations for fluid transport, such as apical plasma membrane invaginations, endocytic vesicles, scalariform junctions, wide extracellular space and double-membrane vesicles. Globular-shaped cells form the rectal papillae with surface plasma membrane invaginations that vary from small depressions to very large sinuses. The cell-cell contact is narrow, exhibiting extensive regions with scalariform junction, while cytoplasmic free ribosome-like material is prominent. These ultrastructural features are discussed in relation to their role in excretion in this bee.     

Critical behavior of self-avoiding walks on fractals

Using a new graph counting technique suitable for self-similar fractals, exact 18th-order series expansions for SAWs on some Sierpinski carpets are generated. From them, the critical fugacityx _c and critical exponents _SAW and _SAW are obtained. The results show a linear dependence of the critical fugacity with the average number of bonds per site of the lattices studied. We find for some carpets with low lacunarity that _SAW<0.75, thus violating the relation _SAW(fractal) > _SAW (d) for SAWs on the fractals which are embedded in ad-dimensional Euclidean space.