Bomb-tritium input function calculated from the details of the nuclear atmospheric bomb tests released by the UNSCEAR [2000]

Improving the representation of the hydrological cycle in Atmospheric General Circulation Models (AGCMs) is one of the main challenges in modeling the Earth's climate system. One way to evaluate model performance is to simulate the transport of water isotopes. Among those available, tritium (HTO) is an extremely valuable tracer, because its content in the different reservoirs involved in the water cycle (stratosphere, troposphere, ocean) varies by order of magnitude. Previous work incorporated natural tritium into LMDZ-iso, a version of the LMDZ general circulation model enhanced by water isotope diagnostics. Here for the first time, the anthropogenic tritium injected by each of the atmospheric nuclear-bomb tests between 1945 and 1980 has been first estimated and further implemented in the model; it creates an opportunity to evaluate certain aspects of LDMZ over several decades by following the bomb-tritium transient signal through the hydrological cycle. Simulations of tritium in water vapor and precipitation for the period 1950-2008, with both natural and anthropogenic components, are presented in this study. LMDZ-iso satisfactorily reproduces the general shape of the temporal evolution of tritium. However, LMDZ-iso simulates too high a bomb-tritium peak followed by too strong a decrease of tritium in precipitation. The too diffusive vertical advection in AGCMs crucially affects the residence time of tritium in the stratosphere. This insight into model performance demonstrates that the implementation of tritium in an AGCM provides a new and valuable test of the modeled atmospheric transport, complementing water stable isotope modeling.

Perylene Diimide Molecular Glass: Investigations of Charge Transport

A new glass-forming organic semiconductor material was synthesized using a known electron transport material, perylene diimide, and attaching it to a molecular glass in order to allow the material to be solution processed. Devices were made using a simple metal-semiconductor-metal structure and electrodes were selected to produce Schottky diodes. Experiments were carried out to characterize this new molecular glass perylene diimide. The new material shows evidence of traps, hysteresis, and other behaviours that are explored in this thesis. The material shows some potential as an electron transport layer with possibilities of memory storage behaviour.

Electrochemical Investigations into Blended Electrolytes Containing Ionic Liquids and a Glyme Solvent for Li-O­2 batteries

The Li-O2 battery may theoretically possess practical gravimetric energy densities several times greater than the current state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries.1 This magnitude of development is a requisite for true realization of electric vehicles capable of competing with the traditional combustion engine. However, significant challenges must be addressed before practical application may be considered. These include low efficiencies, low rate capabilities and the parasitic decomposition reactions of electrolyte/electrode materials resulting in very poor rechargeability.2-4 Ionic liquids, ILs, typically display several properties, extremely low vapor pressure and high electrochemical and thermal stability, which make them particularly interesting for Li-O2 battery electrolytes. However, the typically sluggish transport properties generally inhibit rate performance and cells suffer similar inefficiencies during cycling.5,6

In addition to the design of new ILs with tailored properties, formulating blended electrolytes using molecular solvents with ILs has been considered to improve their performance.7,8 In this work, we will discuss the physical properties vs. the electrochemical performance of a range of formulated electrolytes based on tetraglyme, a benchmark Li-O2 battery electrolyte solvent, and several ILs. The selected ILs are based on the bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}imide anion and alkyl/ether functionalized cyclic alkylammonium cations, which exhibit very good stability and moderate viscosity.9 O2 electrochemistry will be investigated in these media using macro and microdisk voltammetry and O2 solubility/diffusivity is quantified as a function of the electrolyte formulation. Furthermore, galvanostatic cycling of selected electrolytes in Li-O2 cells will be discussed to probe their practical electrochemical performance. Finally, the physical characterization of the blended electrolytes will be reported in parallel to further determine structure (or formulation) vs. property relationships and to, therefore, assess the importance of certain electrolyte properties (viscosity, O2supply capability, donor number) on their performance.

This work was funded by the EPSRC (EP/L505262/1) and Innovate UK for the Practical Lithium-Air Batteries project (project number: 101577).

1. P. G. Bruce, S. A. Freunberger, L. J. Hardwick and J.-M. Tarascon, Nat. Mater., 11, 19 (2012).

2. S. A. Freunberger, Y. Chen, N. E. Drewett, L. J. Hardwick, F. Barde and P. G. Bruce, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 50, 8609 (2011).

3. B. D. McCloskey, A. Speidel, R. Scheffler, D. C. Miller, V. Viswanathan, J. S. Hummelshøj, J. K. Nørskov and A. C. Luntz, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 3, 997 (2012).

4. D. G. Kwabi, T. P. Batcho, C. V. Amanchukwu, N. Ortiz-Vitoriano, P. Hammond, C. V. Thompson and Y. Shao-Horn, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 5, 2850 (2014).

5. Z. H. Cui, W. G. Fan and X. X. Guo, J. Power Sources, 235, 251 (2013).

6. F. Soavi, S. Monaco and M. Mastragostino, J. Power Sources, 224, 115 (2013).

7. L. Cecchetto, M. Salomon, B. Scrosati and F. Croce, J. Power Sources, 213, 233 (2012).

8. A. Khan and C. Zhao, Electrochem. Commun., 49, 1 (2014).

9. Z. J. Chen, T. Xue and J.-M. Lee, RSC Adv., 2, 10564 (2012).

Docking of HIV-1 Vpr to the nuclear envelope is mediated by the interaction with the nucleoporin hCG1

The HIV-1 genome contains several genes coding for auxiliary proteins, including the small Vpr protein. Vpr affects the integrity of the nuclear envelope and participates in the nuclear translocation of the preintegration complex containing the viral DNA. Here, we show by photobleaching experiments performed on living cells expressing a Vpr-green fluorescent protein fusion that the protein shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm, but a significant fraction is concentrated at the nuclear envelope, supporting the hypothesis that Vpr interacts with components of the nuclear pore complex. An interaction between HIV-1 Vpr and the human nucleoporin CG1 (hCG1) was revealed in the yeast two-hybrid system, and then confirmed both in vitro and in transfected cells. This interaction does not involve the FG repeat domain of hCG1 but rather the N-terminal region of the protein. Using a nuclear import assay based on digitonin-permeabilized cells, we demonstrate that hCG1 participates in the docking of Vpr at the nuclear envelope. This association of Vpr with a component of the nuclear pore complex may contribute to the disruption of the nuclear envelope and to the nuclear import of the viral DNA.

Structure and lipid interactions of membrane-associated glycosyltransferases : Cationic patches and anionic lipids regulate biomembrane binding of both GT-A and GT-B enzymes

This thesis concerns work on structure and membrane interactions of enzymes involved in lipid synthesis, biomembrane and cell wall regulation and cell defense processes. These proteins, known as glycosyltransferases (GTs), are involved in the transfer of sugar moieties from nucleotide sugars to lipids or chitin polymers. Glycosyltransferases from three types of organisms have been investigated; one is responsible for vital lipid synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana (atDGD2) and adjusts the lipid content in biomembranes if the plant experiences stressful growth conditions. This enzyme shares many structural features with another GT found in gram-negative bacteria (WaaG). WaaG is however continuously active and involved in synthesis of the protective lipopolysaccharide layer in the cell walls of Escherichia coli. The third type of enzymes investigated here are chitin synthases (ChS) coupled to filamentous growth in the oomycete Saprolegnia monoica. I have investigated two ChS-derived MIT domains that may be involved in membrane interactions within the endosomal pathway. From analysis of the three-dimensional structure and the amino-acid sequence, some important regions of these very large proteins were selected for in vitro studies. By the use of an array of biophysical methods (e.g. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Fluorescence and Circular Dichroism spectroscopy) and directed sequence analyses it was possible to shed light on some important details regarding the structure and membrane-interacting properties of the GTs. The importance of basic amino-acid residues and hydrophobic anchoring segments, both generally and for the abovementioned proteins specifically, is discussed. Also, the topology and amino-acid sequence of GT-B enzymes of the GT4 family are analyzed with emphasis on their biomembrane association modes. The results presented herein regarding the structural and lipid-interacting properties of GTs aid in the general understanding of glycosyltransferase activity. Since GTs are involved in a high number of biochemical processes in vivo it is of outmost importance to understand the underlying processes responsible for their activity, structure and interaction events. The results are likely to be useful for many applications and future experimental design within life sciences and biomedicine.

Investigations on selected chalcogenide glasses towards the realization of photonic devices

Among various optical sensing schemes, infrared spectroscopy is a powerful tool for detecting and determining the composition of complex organic samples since vibrational finger prints of all biomolecules and organic species are located in this window. This spectroscopic technique is simple, reliable, fast, non-destructive, cost-effective while having low sensitivity. Use of metallic nanoparticles in association with a good IR transparent sensing substrate, is one of the promising solutions to enhance the sensitivity. Chalcogenide glasses are promising substrate material because of their extended optical transmission window starting from the visible to the far infrared range up to 20 μm, high refractive index usually between 2 and 3 and high optical nonlinearity, which make them good candidates as IR sensors and optical ultrafast nonlinear devices. These glasses are favorable sensor materials for the infrared spectral range because of their high IR transparency to allow for low optical loss at wavelengths corresponding to the characteristic optical absorption bands of organic molecules, high refractive index for tight confinement of optical energy within the resonator structure, processibility into thin film form, chemical compatibility for adhesion of silver nano particles and thin films and resistance to the chemical environment to be sensed. Molecules adsorbed to silver island structures shows enhanced IR absorption spectra and the extent of enhancement is determined by many factors such as the size, density and morphology of silver structures, optical and dielectric properties of the substrate material etc.

Investigations on the structural, optical and magnetic properties of nanostructured cerium oxide in pure and doped forms and its polymer nanocomposites

In recent years, nanoscience and nanotechnology has emerged as one of the most important and exciting frontier areas of research interest in almost all fields of science and technology. This technology provides the path of many breakthrough changes in the near future in many areas of advanced technological applications. Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary area of research and development. The advent of nanotechnology in the modern times and the beginning of its systematic study can be thought of to have begun with a lecture by the famous physicist Richard Feynman. In 1960 he presented a visionary and prophetic lecture at the meeting of the American Physical Society entitled “there is plenty of room at the bottom” where he speculated on the possibility and potential of nanosized materials. Synthesis of nanomaterials and nanostructures are the essential aspects of nanotechnology. Studies on new physical properties and applications of nanomaterials are possible only when materials are made available with desired size, morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition. Cerium oxide (ceria) is one of the important functional materials with high mechanical strength, thermal stability, excellent optical properties, appreciable oxygen ion conductivity and oxygen storage capacity. Ceria finds a variety of applications in mechanical polishing of microelectronic devices, as catalysts for three-way automatic exhaust systems and as additives in ceramics and phosphors. The doped ceria usually has enhanced catalytic and electrical properties, which depend on a series of factors such as the particle size, the structural characteristics, morphology etc. Ceria based solid solutions have been widely identified as promising electrolytes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). The success of many promising device technologies depends on the suitable powder synthesis techniques. The challenge for introducing new nanopowder synthesis techniques is to preserve high material quality while attaining the desired composition. The method adopted should give reproducible powder properties, high yield and must be time and energy effective. The use of a variety of new materials in many technological applications has been realized through the use of thin films of these materials. Thus the development of any new material will have good application potential if it can be deposited in thin film form with the same properties. The advantageous properties of thin films include the possibility of tailoring the properties according to film thickness, small mass of the materials involved and high surface to volume ratio. The synthesis of polymer nanocomposites is an integral aspect of polymer nanotechnology. By inserting the nanometric inorganic compounds, the properties of polymers can be improved and this has a lot of applications depending upon the inorganic filler material present in the polymer.

Investigations on the Radiation Characteristics of Broadband Strip Loaded Slotted Microstrip Antennas

With the recent progress and rapid increase in mobile terminals, the design of antennas for small mobile terminals is acquiring great importance. In view of this situation, several design concepts are already been addressed by the scientists and engineers. Compactness and efficiency are the major criteria for mobile terminal antennas. The challenging task of the microwave scientists and engineers is to device compact printed radiating systems having broadband behavior, together with good efficiency. Printed antenna technology has received popularity among antenna scientists after the introduction of microstrip antenna in 1970s. The successors in this kind such as printed monopoles and planar inverted F are also equally important. Scientists and Engineers are trying to explore this technology as a viable coast effective solution for forthcoming microwave revolution. The transmission line perspectives of antennas are very interesting. The concept behind any electromagnetic radiator is simple. Any electromagnetic system with a discontinuity is radiating electromagnetic energy. The size, shape and the orientation of the discontinuities controls the radiation characteristics of the system such as radiation pattern, gain, polarization etc. It can be either resonant or non resonant structure.

Conservation genetics of North Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles: analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA

[EN] Complex population structure has been described for the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), revealing lower levels of population genetic structure in nuclear compared to mitochondrial DNA assays. This may result from mating during spatially overlapping breeding migrations, or male-biased dispersal as previously found for the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). To further investigate these multiple possibilities, we carried out a comparative analysis from twelve newly developed microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial DNA control region (~804 bp) in adult females of the Cape Verde Islands (n=158), and Georgia, USA (n=17).

Efectos de la microestructura sobre la transmisión de neutrones en materiales de interés nuclear.

Cuando un haz policromático de neutrones pasa a través de un material, los neutrones de distintas longitudes de onda son atenuados en formas muy diferentes. Como resultado, el espectro de energía del haz de neutrones cambia cuando una muestra es colocada frente el haz. Un análisis detallado del cociente de intensidad entre los haces de transmitido e incidente puede proporcionar una gran cantidad de información acerca de la estructura cristalina y microestructura de la muestra, definidas a través de la sección eficaz total del material. Para neutrones térmicos y sub-térmicos, el ordenamiento y movimiento de los átomos a escala microscópica define en forma precisa la dependencia de esta magnitud con la energía del neutrón incidente. Así, la variación con la energía de la sección eficaz total de los sólidos debido a la estructura de los átomos para distancias entre 0,1 y 100 Å se encuentra bien establecida, y es explotada en el estudio de estructuras cristalinas y de los movimientos vibracionales y rotacionales. Como contrapartida, el efecto de la estructura mesoscópica de los materiales, esto es para dimensiones entre 0,1 y 100 µm, sobre la sección eficaz total ha sido mucho menos estudiado, a pesar de provocar cambios profundos en esta magnitud. En esta Tesis estudiamos y formalizamos la dependencia de la sección eficaz total con características microestructurales tales como la porosidad, y la distribución de tamaños y orientaciones de los granos que componen los materiales, y desarrollamos modelos teóricos a partir de las características microestructurales de muestras de interés nuclear con diferente microestructura. Estos modelos permiten describir la contribuci ón de la componente elástica coherente de la seción eficaz total sobre los espectros de transmisión de neutrones e introducen parámetros como la cantidad de cristales que conforman el material, su estructura cristalina, parámetros de red, mosaicidad, estructura de poros u orientación preferencial de granos, para describir la sección total de materiales monocristalinos o policristalinos. En todos los casos, los modelos desarrollados fueron implementados en una biblioteca basada en el lenguaje computacional MATLAB y fueron comparados con secciones eficaces totales obtenidas en experimentos de transmisión de neutrones realizados en el Departamento de Física de Neutrones del Centro Atómico Bariloche y en ISIS Facility, Reino Unido. Los novedosos modelos microestructurales propuestos describen fielmente los experimentos desarrollados sobre muestras con distinta microestructura, lo que permite el empleo de los mismos en un código de refinamiento sobre los datos experimentales. Aquí, desarrollamos herramientas computacionales que ajustan por cuadrados mínimos no lineales los modelos paramétricos representativos de cada microestructura, sobre la sección eficaz total o la transmisión experimental, para determinar parámetros microestructurales de la muestra a partir de experimentos de transmisión de neutrones con resolución en longitud de onda. Los resultados son de particular relevancia para la interpretación y el análisis cuantitativo de las imágenes realizadas por la técnica de radiografía neutrónica con resolución en energía, que ha recibido un gran impulso en años recientes.

Air Pollution and High Density Lipoprotein Structure and Function

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Structure morphologique et populations stellaires d’un échantillon de galaxies spirales

Afin de caractériser la structure morphologique et les populations stellaires d’un échantillon de treize galaxies spirales, j’ai analysé des images WISE et GALEX, et j’ai construit des diagrammes magnitude-magnitude et couleur-magnitude pixel à pixel. Les diagrammes présentent des groupes de pixels qui correspondent spatialement aux composantes structurales des galaxies. Les diagrammes ainsi que les profils radiaux de brillance de surface indiquent que les variations de la densité surfacique de masse de la vieille population stellaire jouent un rôle important dans la différenciation des structures. On estime l’âge des jeunes complexes stellaires et l’extinction dans ces galaxies en les comparant à des modèles de populations stellaires simples nées de sursauts de formation stellaire instantanée. L’étude de ces propriétés est possible grâce à la combinaison des données ultraviolettes et infrarouge et à la grande sensibilité de la couleur ultraviolette à la variation de l’âge. On observe un gradient d’extinction dont la pente est liée à la présence d’une barre ou d’une activité nucléaire : en effet, l’extinction décroît avec la distance galactocentrique et la pente est plus petite pour les galaxies ayant une barre ou une activité nucléaire. On observe également un gradient d’âge où les régions externes sont moins évoluées que celles du centre sauf pour les galaxies de type tardif.

Efectos de la microestructura sobre la transmisión de neutrones en materiales de interés nuclear.

Cuando un haz policromático de neutrones pasa a través de un material, los neutrones de distintas longitudes de onda son atenuados en formas muy diferentes. Como resultado, el espectro de energía del haz de neutrones cambia cuando una muestra es colocada frente el haz. Un análisis detallado del cociente de intensidad entre los haces de transmitido e incidente puede proporcionar una gran cantidad de información acerca de la estructura cristalina y microestructura de la muestra, definidas a través de la sección eficaz total del material. Para neutrones térmicos y sub-térmicos, el ordenamiento y movimiento de los átomos a escala microscópica define en forma precisa la dependencia de esta magnitud con la energía del neutrón incidente. Así, la variación con la energía de la sección eficaz total de los sólidos debido a la estructura de los átomos para distancias entre 0,1 y 100 Å se encuentra bien establecida, y es explotada en el estudio de estructuras cristalinas y de los movimientos vibracionales y rotacionales. Como contrapartida, el efecto de la estructura mesoscópica de los materiales, esto es para dimensiones entre 0,1 y 100 µm, sobre la sección eficaz total ha sido mucho menos estudiado, a pesar de provocar cambios profundos en esta magnitud. En esta Tesis estudiamos y formalizamos la dependencia de la sección eficaz total con características microestructurales tales como la porosidad, y la distribución de tamaños y orientaciones de los granos que componen los materiales, y desarrollamos modelos teóricos a partir de las características microestructurales de muestras de interés nuclear con diferente microestructura. Estos modelos permiten describir la contribuci ón de la componente elástica coherente de la seción eficaz total sobre los espectros de transmisión de neutrones e introducen parámetros como la cantidad de cristales que conforman el material, su estructura cristalina, parámetros de red, mosaicidad, estructura de poros u orientación preferencial de granos, para describir la sección total de materiales monocristalinos o policristalinos. En todos los casos, los modelos desarrollados fueron implementados en una biblioteca basada en el lenguaje computacional MATLAB y fueron comparados con secciones eficaces totales obtenidas en experimentos de transmisión de neutrones realizados en el Departamento de Física de Neutrones del Centro Atómico Bariloche y en ISIS Facility, Reino Unido. Los novedosos modelos microestructurales propuestos describen fielmente los experimentos desarrollados sobre muestras con distinta microestructura, lo que permite el empleo de los mismos en un código de refinamiento sobre los datos experimentales. Aquí, desarrollamos herramientas computacionales que ajustan por cuadrados mínimos no lineales los modelos paramétricos representativos de cada microestructura, sobre la sección eficaz total o la transmisión experimental, para determinar parámetros microestructurales de la muestra a partir de experimentos de transmisión de neutrones con resolución en longitud de onda. Los resultados son de particular relevancia para la interpretación y el análisis cuantitativo de las imágenes realizadas por la técnica de radiografía neutrónica con resolución en energía, que ha recibido un gran impulso en años recientes.

Yang–Mills solutions and dyons on cylinders over coset spaces with Sasakian structure

We present solutions of the Yang–Mills equation on cylinders R×G/HR×G/H over coset spaces of odd dimension 2m+12m+1 with Sasakian structure. The gauge potential is assumed to be SU(m)SU(m)-equivariant, parameterized by two real, scalar-valued functions. Yang–Mills theory with torsion in this setup reduces to the Newtonian mechanics of a point particle moving in R2R2 under the influence of an inverted potential. We analyze the critical points of this potential and present an analytic as well as several numerical finite-action solutions. Apart from the Yang–Mills solutions that constitute SU(m)SU(m)-equivariant instanton configurations, we construct periodic sphaleron solutions on S1×G/HS1×G/H and dyon solutions on iR×G/HiR×G/H.