| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Murari, A., et al.
(author)
-
A control oriented strategy of disruption prediction to avoid the configuration collapse of tokamak reactors
- 2024
-
In: Nature Communications. - 2041-1723 .- 2041-1723. ; 15:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The objective of thermonuclear fusion consists of producing electricity from the coalescence of light nuclei in high temperature plasmas. The most promising route to fusion envisages the confinement of such plasmas with magnetic fields, whose most studied configuration is the tokamak. Disruptions are catastrophic collapses affecting all tokamak devices and one of the main potential showstoppers on the route to a commercial reactor. In this work we report how, deploying innovative analysis methods on thousands of JET experiments covering the isotopic compositions from hydrogen to full tritium and including the major D-T campaign, the nature of the various forms of collapse is investigated in all phases of the discharges. An original approach to proximity detection has been developed, which allows determining both the probability of and the time interval remaining before an incoming disruption, with adaptive, from scratch, real time compatible techniques. The results indicate that physics based prediction and control tools can be developed, to deploy realistic strategies of disruption avoidance and prevention, meeting the requirements of the next generation of devices.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Verra, L., et al.
(author)
-
Controlled Growth of the Self-Modulation of a Relativistic Proton Bunch in Plasma
- 2022
-
In: Physical Review Accelerators and Beams. - : American Physical Society. - 2469-9888. ; 25:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A long, narrow, relativistic charged particle bunch propagating in plasma is subject to the self -modulation (SM) instability. We show that SM of a proton bunch can be seeded by the wakefields driven by a preceding electron bunch. SM timing reproducibility and control are at the level of a small fraction of the modulation period. With this seeding method, we independently control the amplitude of the seed wakefields with the charge of the electron bunch and the growth rate of SM with the charge of the proton bunch. Seeding leads to larger growth of the wakefields than in the instability case.
|
|
| 8. |
- De Rosa, G., et al.
(author)
-
Velocity-resolved Reverberation Mapping of Five Bright Seyfert 1 Galaxies
- 2018
-
In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 866:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first results from a reverberation-mapping campaign undertaken during the first half of 2012, with additional data on one active galactic nucleus (AGN) (NGC 3227) from a 2014 campaign. Our main goals are (1) to determine the black hole masses from continuum-H beta reverberation signatures, and (2) to look for velocity-dependent time delays that might be indicators of the gross kinematics of the broad-line region. We successfully measure H beta time delays and black hole masses for five AGNs, four of which have previous reverberation mass measurements. The values measured here are in agreement with earlier estimates, though there is some intrinsic scatter beyond the formal measurement errors. We observe velocity-dependent H beta lags in each case, and find that the patterns have changed in the intervening five years for three AGNs that were also observed in 2007.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
- Yakushev, A., et al.
(author)
-
On the adsorption and reactivity of element 114, flerovium
- 2022
-
In: Frontiers in Chemistry. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-2646. ; 10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Flerovium (Fl, element 114) is the heaviest element chemically studied so far. To date, its interaction with gold was investigated in two gas-solid chromatography experiments, which reported two different types of interaction, however, each based on the level of a few registered atoms only. Whereas noble-gas-like properties were suggested from the first experiment, the second one pointed at a volatile-metal-like character. Here, we present further experimental data on adsorption studies of Fl on silicon oxide and gold surfaces, accounting for the inhomogeneous nature of the surface, as it was used in the experiment and analyzed as part of the reported studies. We confirm that Fl is highly volatile and the least reactive member of group 14. Our experimental observations suggest that Fl exhibits lower reactivity towards Au than the volatile metal Hg, but higher reactivity than the noble gas Rn.
|
|
| 12. |
- Hayes, A. B., et al.
(author)
-
Coulomb excitation of a Am-242 isomeric target: E2 and E3 strengths, rotational alignment, and collective enhancement
- 2010
-
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 82:4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A 98% pure Am-242m ( K = 5(-), t(1/2) = 141 years) isomeric target was Coulomb excited with a 170.5-MeV Ar-40 beam. The selectivity of Coulomb excitation, coupled with the sensitivity of Gammasphere plus CHICO, was sufficient to identify 46 new states up to spin 18h in at least four rotational bands; 11 of these new states lie in the isomer band, 13 in a previously unknown yrast K-pi = 6(-) rotational band, and 13 in a band tentatively identified as the predicted yrast K-pi = 5(+) band. The rotational bands based on the K-pi = 5- isomer and the 6(-) bandhead were populated by Coulomb excitation with unexpectedly equal cross sections. The gamma-ray yields are reproduced by Coulomb excitation calculations using a two-particle plus rotor model (PRM), implying nearly complete Delta K = 1 mixing of the two almost-degenerate rotational bands, but recovering the Alaga rule for the unperturbed states. The degeneracy of the 5(-) and 6(-) bands allows for precise determination of the mixing interaction strength V, which approaches the strong-mixing limit; this agrees with the 50% attenuation of the Coriolis matrix element assumed in the model calculations. The fractional admixture of the I-K(pi) = 6(6)(-) state in the nominal 6(5)(-) isomer band state is measured within the PRM as 45.6(-1.1)(+0.3)%. The E2 and M1 strengths coupling the 5(-) and 6(-) bands are enhanced significantly by the mixing, while E1 and E2 couplings to other low-K bands are not measurably enhanced. The yields of the 5(+) band are reproduced by an E3 strength of approximate to 15 W.u., competitive with the interband E2 strength. Alignments of the identified two-particle Nilsson states in Am-242 are compared with the single-particle alignments in Am-241.
|
|
| 13. |
|
|
| 14. |
- Bauermeister, S, et al.
(author)
-
The Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) Data Portal
- 2020
-
In: European journal of epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1573-7284 .- 0393-2990. ; 35:6, s. 601-611
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Dementias Platform UK Data Portal is a data repository facilitating access to data for 3 370 929 individuals in 42 cohorts. The Data Portal is an end-to-end data management solution providing a secure, fully auditable, remote access environment for the analysis of cohort data. All projects utilising the data are by default collaborations with the cohort research teams generating the data. The Data Portal uses UK Secure eResearch Platform infrastructure to provide three core utilities: data discovery, access, and analysis. These are delivered using a 7 layered architecture comprising: data ingestion, data curation, platform interoperability, data discovery, access brokerage, data analysis and knowledge preservation. Automated, streamlined, and standardised procedures reduce the administrative burden for all stakeholders, particularly for requests involving multiple independent datasets, where a single request may be forwarded to multiple data controllers. Researchers are provided with their own secure ‘lab’ using VMware which is accessed using two factor authentication. Over the last 2 years, 160 project proposals involving 579 individual cohort data access requests were received. These were received from 268 applicants spanning 72 institutions (56 academic, 13 commercial, 3 government) in 16 countries with 84 requests involving multiple cohorts. Projects are varied including multi-modal, machine learning, and Mendelian randomisation analyses. Data access is usually free at point of use although a small number of cohorts require a data access fee.
|
|
| 15. |
|
|
| 16. |
- Albert, F., et al.
(author)
-
Betatron x-ray radiation from laser-plasma accelerators driven by femtosecond and picosecond laser systems
- 2018
-
In: Physics of Plasmas. - : AIP Publishing. - 1089-7674 .- 1070-664X. ; 25:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A comparative experimental study of betatron x-ray radiation from laser wakefield acceleration in the blowout and self-modulated regimes is presented. Our experiments use picosecond duration laser pulses up to 150 J (self-modulated regime) and 60 fs duration laser pulses up to 10 J (blowout regime), for plasmas with electronic densities on the order of 1019cm-3. In the self-modulated regime, where betatron radiation has been very little studied compared to the blowout regime, electrons accelerated in the wake of the laser pulse are subject to both the longitudinal plasma and transverse laser electrical fields. As a result, their motion within the wake is relatively complex; consequently, the experimental and theoretical properties of the x-ray source based on self-modulation differ from the blowout regime of laser wakefield acceleration. In our experimental configuration, electrons accelerated up to about 250 MeV and betatron x-ray spectra with critical energies of about 10-20 keV and photon fluxes between 108and 1010photons/eV Sr are reported. Our experiments open the prospect of using betatron x-ray radiation for applications, and the source is competitive with current x-ray backlighting methods on multi-kilojoule laser systems.
|
|
| 17. |
- Gallagher, R. L., et al.
(author)
-
Neuroimaging of tissue microstructure as a marker of neurodegeneration in the AT(N) framework: defining abnormal neurodegeneration and improving prediction of clinical status
- 2023
-
In: Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. - 1758-9193. ; 15:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundAlzheimer's disease involves accumulating amyloid (A) and tau (T) pathology, and progressive neurodegeneration (N), leading to the development of the AD clinical syndrome. While several markers of N have been proposed, efforts to define normal vs. abnormal neurodegeneration based on neuroimaging have been limited. Sensitive markers that may account for or predict cognitive dysfunction for individuals in early disease stages are critical.MethodsParticipants (n = 296) defined on A and T status and spanning the AD-clinical continuum underwent multi-shell diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to generate Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) metrics, which were tested as markers of N. To better define N, we developed age- and sex-adjusted robust z-score values to quantify normal and AD-associated (abnormal) neurodegeneration in both cortical gray matter and subcortical white matter regions of interest. We used general logistic regression with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) analysis to test whether NODDI metrics improved diagnostic accuracy compared to models that only relied on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) A and T status (alone and in combination).ResultsUsing internal robust norms, we found that NODDI metrics correlate with worsening cognitive status and that NODDI captures early, AD neurodegenerative pathology in the gray matter of cognitively unimpaired, but A/T biomarker-positive, individuals. NODDI metrics utilized together with A and T status improved diagnostic prediction accuracy of AD clinical status, compared with models using CSF A and T status alone.ConclusionUsing a robust norms approach, we show that abnormal AD-related neurodegeneration can be detected among cognitively unimpaired individuals. Metrics derived from diffusion-weighted imaging are potential sensitive markers of N and could be considered for trial enrichment and as outcomes in clinical trials. However, given the small sample sizes, the exploratory nature of the work must be acknowledged.
|
|
| 18. |
|
|
| 19. |
- Moody, A. A., et al.
(author)
-
Groundwater-derived U and Ba exports from a coastal acid sulfate soil (CASS) catchment following rain events
- 2022
-
In: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0272-7714. ; 270
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Coastal acid sulfate soil (CASS) catchments are regions of enhanced weathering due to sulfur mineral oxidation following drainage of anoxic wetland soils. Heavy rainfall flushes CASS soils, releasing dissolved metals to nearby estuaries and the coastal ocean. The importance of CASS environments on the release of uranium (U) and barium (Ba) to the coastal ocean is not well understood. Here, we discuss daily observations of dissolved Ba and U in an extensively drained CASS system in Australia under contrasting hydrological conditions. Radon-traced groundwater discharge following rain events released trace metals to surface waters. Groundwater fluxes of Ba and U were on average 10% and 30% of the total surface fluxes in the Tuckean Swamp, respectively. The average local surface water fluxes from the Tuckean Swamp were 1692 and 1.6 μmol/m2/yr from the catchment. On a global scale, dissolved Ba and U derived from CASS systems may be equivalent to 1.0% and 2.5% of rivers, respectively, even though CASS cover only ∼0.1% of the global continental area. While CASS may not be a major contributor of dissolved Ba and U to the global ocean, fluxes on a square meter basis indicate that CASS may be highly important to regional U and Ba budgets.
|
|
| 20. |
|
|
| 21. |
- Francis, E., et al.
(author)
-
Effect of Nb and Fe on damage evolution in a Zr-alloy during proton and neutron irradiation
- 2019
-
In: Acta Materialia. - : PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 1359-6454 .- 1873-2453. ; 165, s. 603-614
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Detailed analysis was carried out on proton and a neutron irradiated Nb-containing Zr-alloy to study the evolution of dislocation loop size and densities as well as the formation and evolution of irradiation induced precipitation/clustering. The results obtained here have been contrasted against previously published work on a Nb-free Zr-alloy [1, 21 to investigate the mechanistic reason for the improved resistance to irradiation-induced growth of Nb-containing Zr alloys. The combined use of bright field scanning transmission electron microscopy, ultra-high-resolution energy dispersive spectroscopy and atom probe tomography analysis provides evidence of evenly distributed radiation-induced Nb dusters that have formed during the early stage of proton irradiation and Fe-rich nano-rods near Fe-containing second phase particles. The former seems to have a profound effect on loop and subsequent loop formation, keeping loop size small but number density high while loops seem to initially form at similar dose levels compared to a Nb-free alloy but loop line density does not increase during further irradiation. It is hypothesized that the formation of the Nb nano-precipitates/clusters significantly hinders mobility and growth of loops, resulting in a small size, high number density and limited ability of loops to arrange along basal traces compared to Nb-free Zr-alloys. It is suggested that it is the limited loop arrangement that slows down loop formation and the root cause for the high resistance of Nb-containing Zr-alloys to irradiation-induced growth.
|
|
| 22. |
- Moody, Edmund R. R., et al.
(author)
-
An estimate of the deepest branches of the tree of life from ancient vertically evolving genes
- 2022
-
In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Core gene phylogenies provide a window into early evolution, but different gene sets and analytical methods have yielded substantially different views of the tree of life. Trees inferred from a small set of universal core genes have typically supported a long branch separating the archaeal and bacterial domains. By contrast, recent analyses of a broader set of non-ribosomal genes have suggested that Archaea may be less divergent from Bacteria, and that estimates of inter-domain distance are inflated due to accelerated evolution of ribosomal proteins along the inter-domain branch. Resolving this debate is key to determining the diversity of the archaeal and bacterial domains, the shape of the tree of life, and our understanding of the early course of cellular evolution. Here, we investigate the evolutionary history of the marker genes key to the debate. We show that estimates of a reduced Archaea-Bacteria (AB) branch length result from inter-domain gene transfers and hidden paralogy in the expanded marker gene set. By contrast, analysis of a broad range of manually curated marker gene datasets from an evenly sampled set of 700 Archaea and Bacteria reveals that current methods likely underestimate the AB branch length due to substitutional saturation and poor model fit; that the best-performing phylogenetic markers tend to support longer inter-domain branch lengths; and that the AB branch lengths of ribosomal and non-ribosomal marker genes are statistically indistinguishable. Furthermore, our phylogeny inferred from the 27 highest-ranked marker genes recovers a clade of DPANN at the base of the Archaea and places the bacterial Candidate Phyla Radiation (CPR) within Bacteria as the sister group to the Chloroflexota.
|
|
| 23. |
- Moody, G., et al.
(author)
-
Coherent quantum dynamics of excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides
- 2016
-
In: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. - 9781628419818 ; 9746
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have garnered considerable interest in recent years owing to their layer thickness-dependent optoelectronic properties. In monolayer TMDs, the large carrier effective masses, strong quantum confinement, and reduced dielectric screening lead to pronounced exciton resonances with remarkably large binding energies and coupled spin and valley degrees of freedom (valley excitons). Coherent control of valley excitons for atomically thin optoelectronics and valleytronics requires understanding and quantifying sources of exciton decoherence. In this work, we reveal how exciton-exciton and exciton-phonon scattering influence the coherent quantum dynamics of valley excitons in monolayer TMDs, specifically tungsten diselenide (WSe2), using two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy. Excitation-density and temperature dependent measurements of the homogeneous linewidth (inversely proportional to the optical coherence time) reveal that exciton-exciton and exciton-phonon interactions are significantly stronger compared to quasi-2D quantum wells and 3D bulk materials. The residual homogeneous linewidth extrapolated to zero excitation density and temperature is 1:6 meV (equivalent to a coherence time of 0.4 ps), which is limited only by the population recombination lifetime in this sample. (c) (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only
|
|
| 24. |
- Moody, G., et al.
(author)
-
Intrinsic homogeneous linewidth and broadening mechanisms of excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides
- 2015
-
In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723 .- 2041-1723. ; 6, s. Art. no. 8315-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The band-edge optical response of transition metal dichalcogenides, an emerging class of atomically thin semiconductors, is dominated by tightly bound excitons localized at the corners of the Brillouin zone (valley excitons). A fundamental yet unknown property of valley excitons in these materials is the intrinsic homogeneous linewidth, which reflects irreversible quantum dissipation arising from system (exciton) and bath (vacuum and other quasiparticles) interactions and determines the timescale during which excitons can be coherently manipulated. Here we use optical two-dimensional Fourier transform spectroscopy to measure the exciton homogeneous linewidth in monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe 2). The homogeneous linewidth is found to be nearly two orders of magnitude narrower than the inhomogeneous width at low temperatures. We evaluate quantitatively the role of exciton-exciton and exciton-phonon interactions and population relaxation as linewidth broadening mechanisms. The key insights reported here - strong many-body effects and intrinsically rapid radiative recombination - are expected to be ubiquitous in atomically thin semiconductors.
|
|
| 25. |
- Moody, Sandra A., et al.
(author)
-
The direct effects of UV-B radiation on Betula pubescens litter decomposing at four European field sites
- 2001
-
In: Plant Ecology. - 1573-5052. ; 154:1-2, s. 27-36
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A co-ordinated series of field experiments were conducted to consider the effects of elevated UV-B radiation applied directly to decomposing plant litter. Betula pubescens was decomposed under ambient and elevated UV-B (simulating a 15% ozone depletion) using outdoor irradiation facilities at Adventdalen, Norway (78° N), Abisko, Sweden (68° N), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (52° N,) and Patras, Greece (38° N). There was no significant effect of treatment on mass loss for samples collected after 2, 12 and 14 months decomposition at Amsterdam, or after 4 months decomposition at Adventdalen. Significant reductions in the mass loss of litter decomposing under elevated UV-B compared to ambient were found at the other 2 sites. The only effect of treatment on litter chemistry during decomposition was a significant reduction in the N concentration of material at Abisko and a significant increase in C:N at Patras for litter decomposing under elevated UV-B. Significant differences were found in the structure of the fungal community decomposing litter in Sweden, the only site to be tested. These data, and the few published studies of the response of decomposition to UV-B incident on litter suggest that, in the ecosystems and climates that have been studied, such direct effects are typically confined to the initial stages of decomposition, and are rather small in magnitude.
|
|
