A promising approach for improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines is to employ a working fluid with a high specific heat ratio such as the noble gas argon. Moreover, all harmful emissions are eliminated when the intake charge is composed of oxygen, nonreactive argon, and hydrogen fuel. Previous research demonstrated indicated thermal efficiencies greater than 45% at 5.5 compression ratio in engines operating with hydrogen, oxygen, and argon. However, knock limits spark advance and increasing the efficiency further. Conditions under which knock occurs in such engines differs from typical gasoline fueled engines. In-cylinder temperatures using hydrogen-oxygen-argon are higher due to the high specific heat ratio and pressures are lower because of the low compression ratio. Better understanding of knock under these conditions can lead to operating strategies that inhibit knock and allow operation closer to the knock limit. In this work we compare knock with a hydrogen, oxygen, and argon mixture to that of air-gasoline mixtures in a variable compression ratio cooperative fuels research (CFR) engine. The focus is on stability of knocking phenomena, as well as, amplitude and frequency of the resulting pressure waves.

The existence of lipid microdomains and their role in cell membrane organization are currently topics of great interest and controversy. The cell membrane is composed of a lipid bilayer with embedded proteins that can flow along the two-dimensional surface defined by the membrane. Microdomains, known as lipid rafts, are believed to play a central role in organizing this fluid system, enabling the cell membrane to carry out essential cellular processes, including protein recruitment and signal transduction. Lipid rafts are also implicated in cell invasion by pathogens, as in the case of the HIV. Therefore, understanding the role of lipid rafts in cell membrane organization not only has broad scientific implications, but also has practical implications for medical therapies. One of the major limitations on lipid organization research has been the inability to directly analyze lipid composition without introducing artifacts and at the relevant length-scales of tens to hundreds of nanometers. Fluorescence microscopy is widely used due to its sensitivity and specificity to the labeled species, but only the labeled components can be observed, fluorophores can alter the behavior of the lipids they label, and the length scales relevant to imaging cell membrane domains are between that probed by fluorescence resonance …

The effect of various HF-based etching processes on the laser damage resistance of scratched fused silica surfaces has been investigated. Conventionally polished and subsequently scratched fused silica plates were treated by submerging in various HF-based etchants (HF or NH{sub 4}F:HF at various ratios and concentrations) under different process conditions (e.g., agitation frequencies, etch times, rinse conditions, and environmental cleanliness). Subsequently, the laser damage resistance (at 351 or 355 nm) of the treated surface was measured. The laser damage resistance was found to be strongly process dependent and scaled inversely with scratch width. The etching process was optimized to remove or prevent the presence of identified precursors (chemical impurities, fracture surfaces, and silica-based redeposit) known to lead to laser damage initiation. The redeposit precursor was reduced (and hence the damage threshold was increased) by: (1) increasing the SiF{sub 6}{sup 2-} solubility through reduction in the NH4F concentration and impurity cation impurities, and (2) improving the mass transport of reaction product (SiF{sub 6}{sup 2-}) (using high frequency ultrasonic agitation and excessive spray rinsing) away from the etched surface. A 2D finite element crack-etching and rinsing mass transport model (incorporating diffusion and advection) was used to predict reaction product concentration. The predictions are …

Nonlinear effects are known to occur in Compton scattering light sources, when the laser normalized 4-potential, A = e{radical}-A{sub {mu}}A{sup {mu}}/m{sub 0}c approaches unity. In this letter, it is shown that nonlinear spectral features can appear at arbitrarily low values of A, if the fractional bandwidth of the laser pulse, {Delta}{phi}{sup -1}, is sufficiently small to satisfy A{sup 2} {Delta}{phi} {approx_equal} 1. A three dimensional analysis, based on a local plane-wave, slow-varying envelope approximation, enables the study of these effects for realistic interactions between an electron beam and a laser pulse, and their influence on high-precision Compton scattering light sources.

The threat associated with the potential use of radiological, nuclear, chemical and biological materials in terrorist acts has resulted in new fields of forensic science requiring the application of state-of-the-science analytical techniques. Since the anthrax letter attacks in the United States in the fall of 2001, there has been increased interest in physical and chemical characterization of bacterial spores. While molecular methods are powerful tools for identifying genetic differences, other methods may be able to differentiate genetically identical samples based on physical and chemical properties, as well as provide complimentary information, such as methods of production and approximate date of production. Microanalysis has the potential to contribute significantly to microbial forensics. Bacillus spores are highly structured, consisting of a core, cortex, coat, and in some species, an exosporium. This structure provides a template for constraining elemental abundance differences at the nanometer scale. The primary controls on the distribution of major elements in spores are likely structural and physiological. For example, P and Ca are known to be abundant in the spore core because that is where P-rich nucleic acids and Cadipicolinic acid are located, respectively. Trace elements are known to bind to the spore coat but the controls on these …

We apply ultrafast single shot interferometry to determine the pressure and density of argon shocked from up to 7.8 GPa static initial pressure in a diamond anvil cell. This method enables the observation of thermodynamic states distinct from those observed in either single shock or isothermal compression experiments, and the observation of ultrafast dynamics in shocked materials. We also present a straightforward method for interpreting ultrafast shock wave data which determines the index of refraction at the shock front, and the particle and shock velocities for shock waves in transparent materials. Based on these methods, we observe shocked thermodynamic states between the room temperature isotherm of argon and the shock adiabat of cryogenic argon at final shock pressures up to 28 GPa.

We investigate tunable plasmon resonant cavity arrays in paired parallel nanowire waveguides. Resonances are observed when the waveguide length is an odd multiple of quarter plasmon wavelengths, consistent with boundary conditions of node and antinode at the ends. Two nanowire waveguides satisfy the dispersion relation of a planar metal-dielectric-metal waveguide of equivalent width equal to the square field average weighted gap. Confinement factors over 103 are possible due to plasmon focusing in the inter-wire space.

Article on the role of the hospice medical director as observed in interdisciplinary team case reviews.