Energy-filtered XPEEM with NanoESCA using synchrotron and laboratory X-ray sources: Principles and first demonstrated results

The importance of energy filtering in PEEM-based imaging methods has been shown in recent years with the availability of powerful instruments. A new instrument, the NanoESCA, combines a fully electrostatic PEEM column and an aberration corrected double hemispherical analyser as energy filter. This paper reports on recently demonstrated XPEEM results using the first commercially available NanoESCA instrument operated with both synchrotron soft X-rays and monochromatic laboratory Al Kα radiation. The implementation of elemental and bonding-state specific imaging is shown with both excitation sources. The presently achieved (but not yet ultimate) lateral resolutions on energy filtered core-level images are 150 nm with a large synchrotron spot and below 1 μm with a focused laboratory source. To date this is the unique example of laboratory XPEEM core-level imaging.     

Selective dissolution of TiO2 crystalline phases: Physicochemical characterization and photocatalytic activity

In this study, different commercially available TiO₂ powders (Degussa P25, pure anatase, and rutile) were submitted to selective dissolution treatments, with H₂O₂/NH₄OH and 10% HF, known to remove rutile and anatase from physical mixtures. The aim was to check whether a particular separation method designed to remove a specific crystalline phase influences the properties of the other phase from the mixture or not. More precisely, we have studied how the HF dissolution method designed to selectively remove the anatase affected the physicochemical and photocatalytic properties of rutile. In a similar way, the changes in the anatase properties were studied, after the H₂O₂/NH₄OH treatment, initially used to remove rutile from the mixture. All the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance (DR) ultraviolet–visible, and Raman spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of these powders was tested in the oxidation of p-chlorophenol from water. The selective treatment methods not only dissolved the target phase but also changed some physicochemical and the photocatalytic performances of the other TiO₂ crystalline phase in a considerable manner. These aspects should be taken into account in the studies regarding the synergistic effects of anatase and rutile, especially in reconstructed TiO₂ photocatalysts.     

Magnetic field induced orbital polarization in cubic YbInNi4: determining the quartet ground state using x-ray linear dichroism

We have been able to induce a linear dichroic signal in the Yb M(5) x-ray absorption white line of cubic YbInNi(4) by the application of a magnetic field. The nonzero integrated intensity of the magnetic field induced dichroic spectrum indicates a net noncubic 4f orbital polarization. A quantitative analysis of the temperature and field strength dependence establishes that the crystal-field ground state is a Γ(8) quartet. The results demonstrate the potential of magnetic field induced linear dichroism as a new powerful approach for the investigation of the degeneracy and orbital degrees of freedom of cubic heavy-fermion and Kondo systems.     

The contribution of high frequencies to human brain activity underlying horizontal localization of natural spatial sounds

Background  

In the field of auditory neuroscience, much research has focused on the neural processes underlying human sound localization. A recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) study investigated localization-related brain activity by measuring the N1m event-related response originating in the auditory cortex. It was found that the dynamic range of the right-hemispheric N1m response, defined as the mean difference in response magnitude between contralateral and ipsilateral stimulation, reflects cortical activity related to the discrimination of horizontal sound direction. Interestingly, the results also suggested that the presence of realistic spectral information within horizontally located spatial sounds resulted in a larger right-hemispheric N1m dynamic range. Spectral cues being predominant at high frequencies, the present study further investigated the issue by removing frequencies from the spatial stimuli with low-pass filtering. This resulted in a stepwise elimination of direction-specific spectral information. Interaural time and level differences were kept constant. The original, unfiltered stimuli were broadband noise signals presented from five frontal horizontal directions and binaurally recorded for eight human subjects with miniature microphones placed in each subject's ear canals. Stimuli were presented to the subjects during MEG registration and in a behavioral listening experiment.     

Spin structure of surface-supported single-molecule magnets from isomorphous replacement and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Surface-supported arrays of Fe(4)-type Single-Molecule Magnets retain a memory effect and are of current interest in the frame of molecule-based information storage and spintronics. To reveal the spin structure of [Fe(4)(L)(2)(dpm)(6)] (1) on Au, an isomorphous compound [Fe(3)Cr(L)(2)(dpm)(6)] was synthesized and structurally and magnetically characterized (H(3)L is tripodal ligand 11-(acetylthio)-2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)undecan-1-ol and Hdpm is dipivaloylmethane). The new complex contains a central Cr(3+) ion and has a S = 6 ground state as opposed to S = 5 in 1. Low-temperature X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism studies at Fe- and Cr-L(2,3) edges revealed that the antiparallel alignment between Fe and Cr spins is preserved on surfaces. Moreover, the different Fe-L(2,3) spectral features found in the homo- and heterometallic species disclose the opposing contribution of the central Fe(3+) ion in the former compound, proving that its ferrimagnetic spin structure is retained on surfaces.     

Théorèmes de point fixe pour les applications contractantes et anticontractantes

Sans résumé     

A conserved karyotype of Sternopygus macrurus (Sternopygidae, Gymnotiformes) in the Amazon region: differences from other hydrographic basins suggest cryptic speciation

We studied the karyotypes of 35 Sternopygus macrurus fishes of four localities from rivers of the Eastern Amazon basin. In these four places the karyotypes have 2n = 46 chromosomes, NF = 92, where 30 are metacentric (M) and 16 submetacentric (SM). The constitutive heterochromatin (CH) is found in the centromeric region of most chromosomes and in the pericentromeric region of pairs 5, 17 and 19. Pair 1 has a large and not common heterochromatic block in the short arm, useful as a marker for this species if not found in other Sternopygus taxa. The NOR is located in the distal region of the short arm of pair 1, showing a size heteromorphism in some specimens. The CMA₃ and DAPI fluorochrome bandings and the fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), using pantelomeric human probes techniques are described for the first time for this species. DAPI has banding coincident with the C-banded regions, which suggests that the CH is AT base-pair-rich. CMA₃ banding is coincident with the NOR, meaning that this region is GC base-pair-rich. The FISH showed that the probes hybridized only with the telomeric regions, without any sign of interstitial telomeric regions. The karyotype of the samples from different places in the Amazon basin is quite conserved, probably because of the gene flow among the populations. The karyotype differences among the Sternopygus macrurus from the Amazon basin and the São Francisco and Paraná rivers suggest that these taxa may be different species.