Effect of phases on the dynamic evolution of a Lambda system with spontaneously generated coherence

The dynamic evolution of a A system coupled by two strong coherent fields is investigated by taking spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) into account. By numericaly simulation, it is shown that the relative phase of the two coherent fields affects significantly the time scale to the coherent population trapping state. In addition, an analytical expression to the evolution rate which is consistent with the numerical results is given. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Alignment of nanoparticles formed on the surface of 6H-SiC crystals irradiated by two collinear femtosecond laser beams

Nanoripples with periods of 150 and 80 nm are formed on the surface of 6H-SiC crystals irradiated by the p-polarized 800 nm and the s-polarized 400 nm femtosecond lasers, respectively. When both of the two collinear laser beams focus simultaneously on the sample surface, nanoparticles are formed on the whole ablation area, and they array in parallel lines. We propose and confirm that the second harmonics in the sample surface excited by the incident lasers plays an important role in the formation of nanostructures.

Occupational practices and problems of rural artisanal fisherfolks in Oyan Dam area of Ogun State

Artisanal Fish Societies constitutes one of the poorest societies in the developing world. Attempts to harness the potentials of the societies have often failed due to the enormity of the problem of poverty. This study was conducted in four major fishing villages namely; Abule titun, Apojola, Imama Odo and Ibaro in order to investigate the occupational practices and the problems of rural artisanal fisherfolks in Oyam's Dam, area of Ogun State. Eighty respondents were randomly selected among the artisanal fisher folks for interview using interview guide. The findings revealed that 43.8% of the fisherfolks are within active range of 31-40 years while 30% are within 21-30 years range. Also 31% had no formal education indicating a relatively high level of illiteracy among the fisherfolks while majority of the respondents practice fishing activities using paddle and canoe. It was similarly discovered from the study that the most pressing problems of the fisherfolks is the lack of basic social amenities like electricity, potable water, access roads, hospitals and markets. It is therefore recommended that basic social infrastructures be provided for the artisanal fishing communities in order to improve their social welfare, standard of living and the capacity to have a sustainable fishing occupation in the interest of food security and poverty alleviation

Botanical insecticides prescription for fish pest control and infestation free protein yield

The dry powders of four local species namely Piper guineense Schum and Thonn, Aframomum melegueta Schum, Zingiber officinale Rose; Capsicum annum Miller at three concentrations of 15g, 20g and 25g.kg were evaluated for their insecticidal effects against the larval of the dried fish weevil Demestes maculates Degeer. All the four species showed some effectiveness with P. guineense given a 100% mortality at the end of 72 hours at the three concentrations. The other species though gave less mortality were able to slow down the rate of development of the larvae to the adult size

Two-color two-photon excitation of indole using a femtosecond laser regenerative amplifier

The fluorescence emission from indole resulting from two-color two-photon (2C2P) excitation with 400 and 800 nm wavelengths is observed, using the second harmonic and fundamental wavelength of a 800 nm 40 fs pulsed Ti:Sapphire femtosecond (fs) regenerative amplifier operating at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. By delaying one fs laser pulse relative to the other, the cross correlation of fluorescence is observed, which indicates the generation of 2C2P fluorescence signal in the experiment. The strongest 2C2P fluorescence emission characterized by the peak of cross correlation curve suggests optimal temporal overlap of the two fs laser pulses. The 2C2P fluorescence signal is linearly dependent on the total excitation intensity. The fluorescence signals with 400 nm and 800 nm irradiation alone are also demonstrated and discussed in this paper. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of an integrated Raman sensor by selective surface metallization using a femtosecond laser oscillator

We demonstrate that a Raman sensor integrated with a micro-heater, a microfluidic chamber, and a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate can be fabricated in a glass chip by femtosecond laser micromachining. The micro-heater and the SERS substrate are fabricated by selective metallization on the glass surface using a femtosecond laser oscillator, whereas the microfluidic chamber embedded in the glass sample is fabricated by femtosecond laser ablation using a femtosecond laser amplifier. We believed that this new strategy for fabricating multifunctional integrated microchips has great potential application for lab-on-a-chips. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Análise da região 5 não traduzida (5 utr) em sequências anotadas como trans-sialidase no genoma de Trypanosoma cruzi

A transsialidase é uma glicoproteína de membrana pertencente a uma família de genes de cópia múltipla, envolvida no processo de invasão celular do Trypanosoma cruzi no hospedeiro vertebrado. Esta dissertação foi concebida com um amplo componente analítico que dependia de dados publicamente disponíveis, ou seja, as sequências oriundas do projeto genoma de T. cruzi e cDNAs de trans-sialidase depositadas no Genbank-dbEST. Este componente analítico necessitou ser complementado e ampliado com a obtenção experimental de novas sequências, a partir da metodologia baseada na transcrição reversa acoplada a PCR. Os fragmentos obtidos de cepas de T. cruzi Dm28c (T. cruzi I), Y (T. cruzi II), CL-Brener (T. cruzi II, cepa híbrida), INPA4167 (zimodema III), 3663 (zimodema III) e Colombiana (zimodema III) foram clonados, sequenciados e analisados composicionalmente. Essas sequências foram editadas e alinhadas usando-se o software CLUSTAL X. Em uma seção específica do Genbank, denominada dbEST, buscamos os cDNAs homólogos a trans-sialidase. Esta busca por similaridade foi realizada individualmente com os números de acesso referentes às seqüências supracitadas contra o dbEST utilizando o BLAST a fim de obtermos informações funcionais e evolutivas. Em seguida, desenvolvemos metodologias experimentais que nos permitiu avaliar segmentos da 5 UTR, tais como os sítios de trans-splicing adicionais ou múltiplos em TS e seus respectivos sinais (região rica em polipirimidina), variação composicional e tamanho da região das sequências entre diferentes linhagens de T. cruzi. O resultado dessa averiguação também nos mostrou a quantidade de cDNAs relacionados com a transsialidase no dbEST bem como a relação desses cDNAs com o mini-exon. As cepas do zimodema III apresentaram tamanho médio dos fragmentos de 312 bases, enquanto T. cruzi I e T. cruzi II apresentaram, respectivamente 209 e 218. Trans splicing adicional ou duplicações gênicas com mutações no sítio primário de trans splicing não parece ser um fenômeno exclusivo de algum grupo populacional, embora seja mais evidente em T. cruzi zimodema III.

Some observations on the absence of bacteria from acid waters in northwest England

This brief report concentrates on the effect of low pH on the initial stages of decomposition and the conditioning of incoming particulate carbon or detritus by microbes, particularly certain genera of filamentous bacteria. Although many previous reports have concentrated on bacterial decomposition processes, little attention has been given to the composition of the bacterial community and the role of its component parts, particularly in nutrient-poor waters which are provided with sources of organic carbon and reducing power in the form of poor quality detritus.

Secondary Organic Aerosol Composition Studies Using Mass Spectrometry

Trace volatile organic compounds emitted by biogenic and anthropogenic sources into the atmosphere can undergo extensive photooxidation to form species with lower volatility. By equilibrium partitioning or reactive uptake, these compounds can nucleate into new aerosol particles or deposit onto already-existing particles to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). SOA and other atmospheric particulate matter have measurable effects on global climate and public health, making understanding SOA formation a needed field of scientific inquiry. SOA formation can be done in a laboratory setting, using an environmental chamber; under these controlled conditions it is possible to generate SOA from a single parent compound and study the chemical composition of the gas and particle phases. By studying the SOA composition, it is possible to gain understanding of the chemical reactions that occur in the gas phase and particle phase, and identify potential heterogeneous processes that occur at the surface of SOA particles. In this thesis, mass spectrometric methods are used to identify qualitatively and qualitatively the chemical components of SOA derived from the photooxidation of important anthropogenic volatile organic compounds that are associated with gasoline and diesel fuels and industrial activity (C12 alkanes, toluene, and o-, m-, and p-cresols). The conditions under which SOA was generated in each system were varied to explore the effect of NO_x and inorganic seed composition on SOA chemical composition. The structure of the parent alkane was varied to investigate the effect on the functionalization and fragmentation of the resulting oxidation products. Relative humidity was varied in the alkane system as well to measure the effect of increased particle-phase water on condensed-phase reactions. In all systems, oligomeric species, resulting potentially from particle-phase and heterogeneous processes, were identified. Imines produced by reactions between (NH₄)₂SO₄ seed and carbonyl compounds were identified in all systems. Multigenerational photochemistry producing low- and extremely low-volatility organic compounds (LVOC and ELVOC) was reflected strongly in the particle-phase composition as well.

Optoelectronic quotient-selected modified signed-digit division

A novel optoelectronic quotient-selected modified signed-digit division technique is proposed. This division method generates one quotient digit per iteration involving only one shift operation, one quotient selection operation and one addition/subtraction operation. The quotient digit can be selected by observing three most significant digits of the partial remainder independent of the divisor. Two algorithms based on truth-table look-up and binary logic operations are derived. For optoelectronic implementation, an efficient shared content-addressable memory based architecture as well as compact logic array processor based architecture with an electron-trapping device is proposed. Performance evaluation of the proposed optoelectronic quotient-selected division shows that it is faster than the previously reported convergence division approach. Finally, proof-of-principle experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed technique. (C) 2001 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

A influência do corte com diferentes discos e velocidades na integridade dos espécimes e na resistência adesiva de uma cerâmica a um cimento resinoso dual em ensaio de microtração

Esta pesquisa estudou a influência de diferentes velocidades de corte e marcas de discos diamantados nos valores de resistência adesiva, durante a preparação dos espécimes a serem submetidos à microtração, e na integridade das amostras por meio do microscópio eletrônico de varredura (MEV). Vinte blocos da cerâmica à base de dissilicato de lítio (IPS e.max Press) foram unidos com cimento resinoso (Rely X ARC) a blocos de compósito (Z100), construídos incrementalmente. Foram seguidas as recomendações dos fabricantes no tratamento da superfície da cerâmica e aplicação do cimento resinoso. Após 24 horas em água destilada a 37C, os espécimes foram divididos em dois grupos de discos: marcas Buehler e Extec e subdivididos nas velocidades de 200rpm e 400rpm (B2; E2; B4 e E4, respectivamente). Cada espécime foi cortado em dois eixos perpendiculares para obtenção de palitos com área adesiva de 1,0mm. Para cada condição experimental, os palitos foram separados, aleatoriamente, 15 palitos para análise ao MEV e 30 palitos para serem submetidos à força de tração. As médias de resistência adesiva em MPa foram E4=20,312 ; B4= 24,2 11,3 ; B2= 25,2 9,0 e E2= 28,6 10,4. Na análise estatística, observou-se que os valores de resistência adesiva na velocidade de 200rpm foram significativamente maiores comparados a velocidade de 400rpm, independente do disco empregado. Ao MEV, observou-se melhor integridade dos palitos na velocidade de 200rpm com presença de trincas menos extensas nas bordas externas. Constatou-se também que o disco Extec na velocidade de 400rpm apresentou movimentos excêntricos ao corte e obteve-se maior número de perdas prematuras, uma diminuição significante na média da área total de união (p<0,05), além de diferença significativa nos valores de resistência comparada a velocidade de 200rpm. Concluiu-se que a utilização de diferentes velocidades e sua interação com o disco empregado interfere na integridade dos espécimes e nos valores de resistência adesiva, sendo mais acentuada ao se utilizar o disco da marca Extec.