Exposure to virtual nature: the impact of different immersion levels on skin conductance level,heart rate,and perceived relaxation

Virtual Reality - It is generally accepted that natural environments reduce stress and improve mood. Since access to natural environments is sometimes limited, virtual natural environments,...     

Panchromatic Chromophore Mixtures in an AlPO4‐5 Molecular Sieve: Spatial Separation Effects and Energy Transfer Cascades

Dye‐loaded AlPO₄‐5 single crystals were prepared by microwave‐assisted hydrothermal synthesis from a batch, containing a mixture of three chromophores (Coumarin 40, Rhodamine BE50, and Oxazine 1) differing in their absorption range, molecular dimensions, and solubilities. Confocal fluorescence images reveal a spatial separation effect of the dye molecules, where the slimmer, more‐soluble dye molecule (Coumarin 40) is uniformly distributed in the body of the single crystal, and the bulky and/or less‐soluble ones (Rhodamine BE50, Oxazine 1) are situated in distinct domains. Visible spectra show good panchromatic absorption of visible light. Fluorescence lifetime measurements indicate the presence of an energy transfer cascade of the entirely fixed dye molecules from Coumarin 40 to Oxazine 1. The transfer mechanism is predominantly radiative.     

Simulation of the submerged energy nozzle-mold water model system using laser-optical and computational fluid dynamics methods

The present work describes quantitative digital particle image velocimetry measurements of a full-scale water model of a thin slab mold. Different casting speeds and two submerged entry nozzles with one and two outlet ports have been investigated. The flow pattern of the single-port nozzle shows a counterclockwise-rotating double vortex that is nearly steady-state but leads to high stationary surface waves. The flow jets out of the two-port nozzle oscillate and produce a transient flow pattern with low wave amplitudes. The amplitudes for the one-port nozzle show a linear variation with the volumetric flow rate. The experimental results lead to a good interpretation of the flow phenomena and are used to validate steady-state numerical simulations with the commercial program, CFX, on the basis of the Reynolds equations. To describe anisotropic turbulence effects, the Reynolds stress model (RSM) is used for the flat single-port nozzle and the standard k-ɛ model for the mold flow. The calculated mean velocities and wave amplitudes, predicted from pressure distribution at the water surface, are generally in the consensus of the experimental data. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Continuous-wave lasing of single-mode metamorphic quantum dot lasers for the 1.5-μm spectral region

Lasers based on InAs/InGaAs quantum dots grown on metamorphic (In,Ga,Al)As layers deposited by MBE on GaAs substrates exhibited emission near 1.5 μm with a differential quantum efficiency of about 50%. The narrow-stripe lasers operate in a single transverse mode and withstand continuous current density above 20 kA cm^?2 without significant degradation. A maximum continuous-wave output power of 220 mW is obtained. Neither current nor beam filamentation was observed up to the highest pumping levels.