Adsorption of water on clean gold by measurement of work function changes

The interaction of water vapor with clean bulk gold surfaces was studied by means of measurement of work function changes. A work function decrease of as much as one volt occurred on exposure of gold to water vapor. Both physical adsorption and chemisorption contributions to this work function decrease could be distinguished. Water was found to chemisorb on the gold with an activation energy of 3 to 9 kcal/mole and had a desorption energy of about 25 kcal/mole.     

Atom-optical elements on micro chips

We describe the realization of atom-optical elements as magnetic waveguide potentials, beam splitters and gravitational traps on a microchip. The microchip was produced by electroplating gold conductors on an aluminium-oxide substrate. The conductors are 30–150 μm wide and allow for the generation of waveguides at large distances to the chip surface, where surface effects are negligible. We show that these elements can be integrated on a single chip to achieve complex atom-optical circuits.     

A role of melanin-concentrating hormone producing neurons in the central regulation of paradoxical sleep

Background

Peptidergic neurons containing the melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) and the hypocretins (or orexins) are intermingled in the zona incerta, perifornical nucleus and lateral hypothalamic area. Both types of neurons have been implicated in the integrated regulation of energy homeostasis and body weight. Hypocretin neurons have also been involved in sleep-wake regulation and narcolepsy. We therefore sought to determine whether hypocretin and MCH neurons express Fos in association with enhanced paradoxical sleep (PS or REM sleep) during the rebound following PS deprivation. Next, we compared the effect of MCH and NaCl intracerebroventricular (ICV) administrations on sleep stage quantities to further determine whether MCH neurons play an active role in PS regulation.

Results

Here we show that the MCH but not the hypocretin neurons are strongly active during PS, evidenced through combined hypocretin, MCH, and Fos immunostainings in three groups of rats (PS Control, PS Deprived and PS Recovery rats). Further, we show that ICV administration of MCH induces a dose-dependant increase in PS (up to 200%) and slow wave sleep (up to 70%) quantities.

Conclusion

These results indicate that MCH is a powerful hypnogenic factor. MCH neurons might play a key role in the state of PS via their widespread projections in the central nervous system.

     

Optically induced lensing effect on a Bose-Einstein condensate expanding in a moving lattice

We report the experimental observation of a lensing effect on a Bose-Einstein condensate expanding in a moving 1D optical lattice. The effect of the periodic potential can be described by an effective mass dependent on the condensate quasimomentum. By changing the velocity of the atoms in the frame of the optical lattice, we induce a focusing of the condensate along the lattice direction. The experimental results are compared with the numerical predictions of an effective 1D theoretical model. In addition, a precise band spectroscopy of the system is carried out by looking at the real-space propagation of the atomic wave packet in the optical lattice.     

Collective excitations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a 1D optical lattice

We study low-lying collective modes of an elongated 87Rb condensate produced in a 3D magnetic harmonic trap with the addition of a 1D periodic potential which is provided by a laser standing wave along the axial direction. While the transverse breathing mode remains unperturbed, quadrupole and dipole oscillations along the optical lattice are strongly modified. Precise measurements of the collective mode frequencies at different heights of the optical barriers provide a stringent test of the theoretical model recently introduced [M. Kr?mer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 180404 (2002)]].     

Steady-state delayed flourescence signals in ronchi ruling experiments: theory of coherence effects

Effects of coherence in triplet exciton transport are analyzed in the context of measurements of steady-sdtate delayed fluorescence signals from molecular crystals excited through Ronchi rulings.     

Confronto di maggiorazioni funzionali

Summary In this work we continue the study of functional inequality already started in [BA1];we study some properties of this condition, especially the connections between functional inequalities with respect to different functional classes and the connections between couples of functions verifying a condition of functional inequality.     

Asymptotic Properties of the Inelastic Kac Model

We discuss the asymptotic behavior of certain models of dissipative systems obtained from a suitable modification of Kac caricature of a Maxwellian gas. It is shown that global equilibria different from concentration are possible if the energy is not finite. These equilibria are distributed like stable laws, and attract initial densities which belong to the normal domain of attraction. If the initial density is assumed of finite energy, with higher moments bounded, it is shown that the solution converges for large-time to a profile with power law tails. These tails are heavily dependent of the collision rule.