Precision waveguide system for measurement of complex permittivity of liquids at frequencies from 60 to 90 GHz

We describe a variable path length waveguide setup developed to accurately measure the complex dielectric permittivity of liquids. This is achieved by measuring the complex scattering parameter of the liquid in a waveguide section with a vector network analyzer in combination with an E-band frequency converter. The automated measurement procedure allows fast acquisition at closely spaced intervals over the entire measurement bandwidth: 60-90 GHz. The presented technique is an absolute method and as such is not prone to calibration errors. The technique is suited to investigate low-loss as well as high-loss liquids in contrast to similar setups described previously. We present measurements for a high-loss liquid (water), an intermediate-loss sample (ethanol), and for nearly loss-less n-octane. Due to the available phase information, the present data have an improved accuracy in comparison with literature data.     

Dynamical Studies of Zeolitic Protons and Adsorbates by Picosecond Infrared Spectroscopy

The application of (picosecond) nonlinear infrared spectroscopy to investigate zeolite catalysts and adsorbates is reviewed. In these time-resolved experiments, one specific vibration in the zeolite system (i.e., a zeolite or adsorbate vibration) is selectively excited with an ultrashort (tunable) mid-infrared pulse. The effect of this excitation and the subsequent energy relaxation can be monitored real time, providing information on the structure of the bare zeolite and adsorption complexes. More importantly, with this technique the picosecond energy flow at the catalytic site and the dynamics of the catalyst-adsorbate interaction can be investigated: Short-lived transient species (e.g., reaction intermediates) are observed and the picosecond relaxation rates and pathways at the catalytic site render insights into the dynamics of the interaction between the zeolite catalyst and its adsorbates at a molecular level. This illustrates the potential of time-resolved infrared spectroscopy in the investigations of catalytic systems.     

The wetting behavior of alkanes on water

This paper presents recent experimental and theoretical results concerning the wetting behavior of n-alkanes on water as a function of thermodynamic conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, etc.). The transition from lenses to a macroscopically thick film, that takes place when the temperature is increased, occurs for n-alkanes on water in a manner very different from that encountered in other fluid systems. For n-pentane on water, ellipsometric measurements reveal that the growth of the pentane layer to a macroscopically thick film occurs in a continuous manner, for a temperature (≈53°C) corresponding to a change in the sign of the Hamaker constant. A theoretical approach based on the Cahn–Landau theory, which takes into account long-range (van der Waals) forces, enables us to explain the mechanism of this continuous wetting transition. This transition is preceded (at a lower temperature) by a discontinuous transition from a thin film (of adsorbed molecules) to a thick (but not macroscopically thick) film. The latter transition was not visible for pentane on water (it should occur below the freezing temperature for water), but we expect to observe it for longer alkanes (e.g., hexane) on water. Work is underway to examine the wetting behavior of oil/brine systems more representative of reservoir conditions.     

Monolithic porous polymer layer for the separation of peptides and proteins using thin-layer chromatography coupled with MALDI-TOF-MS

Plates for thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with an attached layer of porous polymer monolith have been prepared and used for the separation of small molecules, peptides, and proteins. The 50-200-mum. thin poly(butyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) layers were prepared in situ using UV-initiated polymerization. Precise control of the reaction conditions enables the preparation of monolithic layers with a well-defined porous structure that determines the chromatographic performance. Compared to conventional TLC and high-performance TLC using precoated layers based on silica, the small layer thickness and absence of any binder is expected to improve both retention characteristics and separation efficiency of the polymer-based monolithic thin-layer chromatographic plates. Spots of the separated compounds were first detected using typical UV imaging. Since the monolithic thin layers can be also prepared directly on the stainless steel MALDI carrier plate, the separation in TLC format can be coupled with MALDI-TOF-MS. Application of a conventional MALDI matrix facilitated desorption and ionization of peptides and proteins for molecular weight determination of the separated compounds.     

Loosening quantum confinement: observation of real conductivity caused by hole polarons in semiconductor nanocrystals smaller than the bohr radius

We report on the gradual evolution of the conductivity of spherical CdTe nanocrystals of increasing size from the regime of strong quantum confinement with truly discrete energy levels to the regime of weak confinement with closely spaced hole states. We use the high-frequency (terahertz) real and imaginary conductivities of optically injected carriers in the nanocrystals to report on the degree of quantum confinement. For the smaller CdTe nanocrystals (3 nm < radius < 5 nm), the complex terahertz conductivity is purely imaginary. For nanocrystals with radii exceeding 5 nm, we observe the onset of real conductivity, which is attributed to the increasingly smaller separation between the hole states. Remarkably, this onset occurs for a nanocrystal radius significantly smaller than the bulk exciton Bohr radius a(B) ～ 7 nm and cannot be explained by purely electronic transitions between hole states, as evidenced by tight-binding calculations. The real-valued conductivity observed in the larger nanocrystals can be explained by the emergence of mixed carrier-phonon, that is, polaron, states due to hole transitions that become resonant with, and couple strongly to, optical phonon modes for larger QDs. These polaron states possess larger oscillator strengths and broader absorption, and thereby give rise to enhanced real conductivity within the nanocrystals despite the confinement.     

Self-Charging of Quench Condensed Tritium Films

Self-charging of a solid tritium film (T₂) has been discovered by chance in a precision spectroscopy experiment on tritium decay as a shift of the endpoint energy by several eV. The effect was then investigated systematically as a function of film thickness and time by measuring the energy shift of monochromatic conversion electrons from ^{83 m} Kr evaporated onto T₂ films. The steady state is characterized by a practically constant, critical electric field strength E _c 62 MV/m (20 mV/monolayer) over the film, at which the residual positive charges attain sufficient mobility to penetrate the film towards the conducting substrate. This kind of breakthrough behaviour is analyzed in terms of a thermal hopping model, where a trapping potential of ₀175 k _BK is lowered in direction of the electric force by a factor of 3 in order to facilitate hopping at a film temperature of about 1.9 K.     

Sample preparation for the analysis of complex carbohydrates by multicapillary gel electrophoresis with light-emitting diode induced fluorescence detection

This paper evaluates various sample preparation methods for multicapillary gel electrophoresis based glycan analysis to support electrokinetic injection. First the removal of excess derivatization reagent is discussed. Although the Sephadex G10 filled multiscreen 96-well filter plate and Sephadex G10 filled pipet tips enabled increased analysis sensitivity, polyamide DPA-6S pipet tips worked particularly well. In this latter case an automated liquid handling system was used to increase purification throughput, necessary to feed the multicapillary electrophoresis unit. Problems associated with the high glucose content of such biological samples as normal human plasma were solved by applying ultrafiltration. Finally, a volatile buffer system was developed for exoglycosidase-based carbohydrate analysis.     

Exciton polarizability in semiconductor nanocrystals

The response of charge to externally applied electric fields is an important basic property of any material system, as well as one critical for many applications. Here, we examine the behaviour and dynamics of charges fully confined on the nanometre length scale. This is accomplished using CdSe nanocrystals of controlled radius (1-2.5 nm) as prototype quantum systems. Individual electron-hole pairs are created at room temperature within these structures by photoexcitation and are probed by terahertz (THz) electromagnetic pulses. The electronic response is found to be instantaneous even for THz frequencies, in contrast to the behaviour reported in related measurements for larger nanocrystals and nanocrystal assemblies. The measured polarizability of an electron-hole pair (exciton) amounts to approximately 10(4) A(3) and scales approximately as the fourth power of the nanocrystal radius. This size dependence and the instantaneous response reflect the presence of well-separated electronic energy levels induced in the system by strong quantum-confinement effects.     

Carbon dioxide as a contrast agent to guide vascular interventional procedures

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the value and limitations of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a contrast agent to guide vascular interventional procedures. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two adults underwent 26 vascular interventional procedures (21 arterial, five venous). We aimed to use only CO2 if possible because these patients had renal insufficiency (n = 21; mean creatinine level, 2.8 mg/dl) or were allergic to contrast material (n = 1). Arterial procedures performed included renal angioplasty or stent (n = 6), iliac angioplasty or stent (n = 5), infrainguinal angioplasty (n = 5), arterial bypass graft angioplasty (n = 3), and thrombolysis (n = 2). Venous procedures included transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt recanalization (n = 3), angioplasty of the venous anastomosis of a thigh dialysis graft (n = 1), and angioplasty of the inferior vena cava (n = 1). RESULTS: Twenty-five of the 26 procedures were successfully performed. Of the 26 procedures, eight required no iodinated contrast material and 11 required less than or equal to 20 ml of contrast material. CO2 proved to be inadequate for the remaining seven procedures. Iliac artery angioplasty or stent placement required an average of 9 ml of iodinated contrast material; infrainguinal angioplasty required an average of 22 ml of iodinated contrast material. CONCLUSION: CO2 can be successfully used as a contrast agent in a variety of vascular interventional procedures. Such procedures can usually be performed in the iliac and infrainguinal arteries using minimal supplemental iodinated contrast material. However, CO2 failed to provide satisfactory guidance in half of the intraabdominal procedures in our study.     

Centroid virtual coordinates – A novel near-shortest path routing paradigm

Geographic routing has received increasing attention in the context of Wireless Sensor Networks since it frees the network from the energy-demanding task of building and maintaining a structure. It requires however each node to know its position, which may be a prohibitive assumption for many applications. To this end, some prior work has focused on inferring a node’s location from a set of location-aware anchor nodes.In this work, we free ourselves from positioning techniques and anchor nodes altogether, and introduce and analyze the concept of virtual coordinates. These coordinates are chosen randomly when a node is switched on, and are updated each time the node relays a packet. As this process goes on, the virtual coordinates of the nodes converge to a near-optimal state. When using a greedy geographic approach on top of these coordinates, we show that the number of hops to reach the destination exceeds the shortest path by a few percent only. Moreover, our approach guarantees delivery even when nodes appear/disappear in the network, and under realistic transmission models.We analytically prove the correctness of our protocol. Moreover, extensive simulations are used to show that our position-free solution outperforms existing geographic protocols – such as Greedy-Face-Greedy (GFG) or Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing (GPSR) – in terms of energy-efficiency, path length and robustness.