Supershell structure in alkali metal nanowires

Nanowires are formed by indenting and subsequently retracting two pieces of sodium metal. Their cross section gradually reduces upon retraction and the diameters can be obtained from the conductance. In previous work we have demonstrated that when one constructs a histogram of diameters from large numbers of indentation-retraction cycles such histograms show a periodic pattern of stable nanowire diameters due to shell structure in the conductance modes. Here, we report the observation of a modulation of this periodic pattern, in agreement with predictions of a supershell structure.     

Quantum mechanics: cleaning up metaphysical baggage

The dynamic electronic structure of atoms and molecules can be directly observed by means of the (e, 2e) reaction, which measures the distribution of energies and momenta of two electrons in coincidence after a knockout reaction initiated by an electron beam of known momentum incident on a molecular gas target. The molecular state for each event is identified by the electron separation energy. The recoil momentum for each event is known from the difference of measured initial and final momenta. It has been verified that values of this momentum are equal under suitable conditions to the momentum of the electron in the target immediately before knockout. Thus the spherically-averaged electron momentum distribution for each molecular orbital is measured. This is directly related to molecular orbitals calculated by the methods of quantum chemistry. Properties obtained by this method for different types of molecules are discussed.     

Brownian motion in a fluid in elongational flow

Brownian motion of a spherical particle in stationary elongational flow is studied. We derive the Langevin equation together with the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for the particle from nonequilibrium fluctuating hydrodynamics to linear order in the elongation-rate-dependent inverse penetration depths. We then analyze how the velocity autocorrelation function as well as the mean square displacement are modified by the elongational flow. We find that for times small compared to the inverse elongation rate the behavior is similar to that found in the absence of the elongational flow. Upon approaching times comparable to the inverse elongation rate the behavior changes and one passes into a time domain where it becomes fundamentally different. In particular, we discuss the modification of thet ^–3/2 long-time tail of the velocity autocorrelation function and comment on the resulting contribution to the mean square displacement. The possibility of defining a diffusion coefficient in both time domains is discussed.     

Pecularities of change transfer mechanism and dielectric properties of glasses Ag-Sb-S-I

Temperature dependence of electronic and ionic components of electric conductivity and dielectric permittivity of amorphic compounds Ag_0.25Sb_0.25S_0.5, (AgSbS₂)_0.95· (SbSI)_0.05 and (AgSbS₂)_0.9·(SbSI)_0.1 in the temperature range of 290–380 K have been investigated. The experimental data show that glasses investigated are solid electrolytes. Ionic conductivity as well as dielectric permittivity of the glasses Ag-Sb-S may be changed by introduction of SbSI.     

Speckle-based modulation transfer function measurements for comparative evaluation of CCD and CMOS detector arrays

Charge-coupled device (CCD) and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) matrices offer excellent features in imaging systems. For assessing the suitability of each technology according to the application, the complete characterization of the detector arrays becomes necessary. A system is optically characterized by the modulation transfer function (MTF). We have comparatively studied the results provided by the speckle method for detectors of two types: CCD and CMOS. To do so, we first analysed the precision in determining the MTF of the CCD using two apertures at the exit port of an integrating sphere: a single and a double-slit. For the single-slit, we propose a new procedure of fitting the experimental data which overcomes the drawbacks of the conventional procedure. Since it offered lower uncertainty and better reproducibility, the single-slit was used for the study with the CMOS detector. Significant differences were found between the MTF of the CCD and the CMOS detectors.     

Identification of a set of genes showing regionally enriched expression in the mouse brain

Background

We have recorded responses from single neurons in murine visual cortex to determine the effectiveness of the input from the two murine cone photoreceptor mechanisms and whether there is any unique selectivity for cone inputs at this higher region of the visual system that would support the possibility of colour vision in mice. Each eye was stimulated by diffuse light, either 370 (strong stimulus for the ultra-violet (UV) cone opsin) or 505 nm (exclusively stimulating the middle wavelength sensitive (M) cone opsin), obtained from light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the presence of a strong adapting light that suppressed the responses of rods.

Results

Single cells responded to these diffuse stimuli in all areas of striate cortex. Two types of responsive cells were encountered. One type (135/323 – 42%) had little to no spontaneous activity and responded at either the on and/or the off phase of the light stimulus with a few impulses often of relatively large amplitude. A second type (166/323 – 51%) had spontaneous activity and responded tonically to light stimuli with impulses often of small amplitude. Most of the cells responded similarly to both spectral stimuli. A few (18/323 – 6%) responded strongly or exclusively to one or the other spectral stimulus and rarely in a spectrally opponent manner.

Conclusion

Most cells in murine striate cortex receive excitatory inputs from both UV- and M-cones. A small fraction shows either strong selectivity for one or the other cone mechanism and occasionally cone opponent responses. Cells that could underlie chromatic contrast detection are present but extremely rare in murine striate cortex.     

Modelling non-equilibrium self-assembly from dissipation

Non-equilibrium self-assembly is ubiquitous in physico-chemical and biological systems, and manifests itself at different scales, ranging from the molecular to the cosmological. The formation of microtubules, gels, cells and living beings among many others takes place through self-assembly under nonequilibrium conditions. We propose a general thermodynamic non-equilibrium model to understand the formation of assembled structures such as gels and Liesegang patterns and at the same time able to describe the kinetics and the energetics of the structure formation process. The model is supported for a global mechanism to obtain self-assembled structures from building blocks via activation, deactivation, assembly, and disassembly processes. It is proposed that the resulting structures can be characterised by a structural parameter. Our model may contribute to a better understanding of non-equilibrium self-assembly processes and give deeper insight as to how to obtain a specific structural architecture to materials, such as hydrogels which are of great importance in the design of advanced devices and novel materials.     

连续波锁模Pr3+:YLF激光器

本文报导了采用氩离子激光器来泵浦Pr³⁺:YLF晶体,应用声光调制器实现了主动锁模;同时应用振动─高反射平面镜也实现了被动锁模,两种锁模均得到了ps光脉冲.据作者了解这是这种晶体材料的第一次锁模运转.