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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Absolute Quantification Of Gene Expression In Individual Bacterial Cells Using Two-Photon Fluctuation Microscopy, Matthew L. Ferguson, Dominique Le Coq, Matthieu Jules, Stéphane Aymerich, Nathalie Declerck, Catherine A. Royer Dec 2011

Absolute Quantification Of Gene Expression In Individual Bacterial Cells Using Two-Photon Fluctuation Microscopy, Matthew L. Ferguson, Dominique Le Coq, Matthieu Jules, Stéphane Aymerich, Nathalie Declerck, Catherine A. Royer

Matthew L. Ferguson

Quantification of promoter activity or protein expression in gene regulatory networks is generally achieved via measurement of fluorescent protein (FP) intensity, which is related to the true FP concentration by an unknown scaling factor, thereby limiting analysis and interpretation. Here, using approaches originally developed for eukaryotic cells, we show that two-photon (2p) fluorescence fluctuation microscopy, specifically scanning number and brightness (sN&B) analysis, can be applied to determine the absolute concentrations of diffusing FPs in live bacterial cells. First, we demonstrate the validity of the approach, despite the small size of the bacteria, using the central pixels and spatial averaging. We …


Bi-Stability, Hysteresis, And Memory Of Voltage-Gated Lysenin Channels, Daniel Fologea, Eric Krueger, Yuriy I. Mazur, Christine Stith, Yui Okuyama, Ralph Henry, Greg J. Salamo Dec 2011

Bi-Stability, Hysteresis, And Memory Of Voltage-Gated Lysenin Channels, Daniel Fologea, Eric Krueger, Yuriy I. Mazur, Christine Stith, Yui Okuyama, Ralph Henry, Greg J. Salamo

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lysenin, a 297 amino acid pore-forming protein extracted from the coelomic fluid of the earthworm E. foetida, inserts constitutively open large conductance channels in natural and artificial lipid membranes containing sphingomyelin. The inserted channels show voltage regulation and slowly close at positive applied voltages. We report on the consequences of slow voltage-induced gating of lysenin channels inserted into a planar Bilayer Lipid Membrane (BLM), and demonstrate that these pore-forming proteins constitute memory elements that manifest gating bi-stability in response to variable external voltages. The hysteresis in macroscopic currents dynamically changes when the time scale of the voltage variation is …


Meteorological Conditions At Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: Implications For Rock Production And Transport, Ralph D. Lorenz, Brian K. Jackson, Jason W. Barnes, Joseph N. Spitale, Jani Radebaugh, Kevin H. Baines Dec 2011

Meteorological Conditions At Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: Implications For Rock Production And Transport, Ralph D. Lorenz, Brian K. Jackson, Jason W. Barnes, Joseph N. Spitale, Jani Radebaugh, Kevin H. Baines

Brian Jackson

Three decades of weather records at meteorological stations near Death Valley National Park are analyzed in an attempt to gauge the frequency of conditions that might form and erase the famous trails of wind-blown rocks in the mud of Racetrack Playa. Trail formation requires the playa to be wet, followed by strong winds and/or freezing conditions. Weather records are compared with a limited set of meteorological data that were acquired in situ at the playa over three winters and that indicate freezing on 50, 29, and 15 nights during the winters of 2007/08–09/10, respectively, as well as with the hydrological …


A Large-Scale Synthesis And Characterization Of Quaternary CuinXGa1−XS2 Chalcopyrite Nanoparticles Via Microwave Batch Reactions, Chivin Sun, Richard D. Westover, Gary Long, Cyril Bajracharya, Jerry D. Harris, Alex Punnoose, Rene G. Rodriguez, Joshua J. Pak Nov 2011

A Large-Scale Synthesis And Characterization Of Quaternary CuinXGa1−XS2 Chalcopyrite Nanoparticles Via Microwave Batch Reactions, Chivin Sun, Richard D. Westover, Gary Long, Cyril Bajracharya, Jerry D. Harris, Alex Punnoose, Rene G. Rodriguez, Joshua J. Pak

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Various quaternary CuInxGa1−xS2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) chalcopyrite nanoparticles have been prepared from molecular single-source precursors via microwave decomposition. We were able to control the nanoparticle size, phase, stoichiometry, and solubility. Depending on the choice of surface modifiers used, we were able to tune the solubility of the resulting nanoparticles. This method has been used to generate up to 5 g of nanoparticles and up to 150 g from multiple batch reactions with excellent reproducibility. Data from UV-Vis, photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction, TEM, DSC/TGA-MS, and ICP-OES analyses have shown high reproducibility in nanoparticle size, …


Self-Assembly On (111)-Oriented Iii-V Surfaces, Paul J. Simmonds, Minjoo Larry Lee Sep 2011

Self-Assembly On (111)-Oriented Iii-V Surfaces, Paul J. Simmonds, Minjoo Larry Lee

Paul J. Simmonds

We demonstrate the self-assembly of tensile strained GaP into three-dimensional dots on GaAs(111)A. Size and areal density of the dislocation-free GaPdots are readily tunable with both substrate temperature and deposition thickness. GaP dot growth obeys island scaling theory, allowing us to predict dot size distributions a priori.


Spin And Exchange Coupling For Ti Embedded In A Surface Dipolar Network, Pushpa Raghani, Jesus Cruz, Barbara Jones Aug 2011

Spin And Exchange Coupling For Ti Embedded In A Surface Dipolar Network, Pushpa Raghani, Jesus Cruz, Barbara Jones

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have studied the spin and exchange coupling of Ti atoms deposited on a Cu2N/Cu(100) surface using density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation +U. In agreement with experiments, we find that Ti has the highest binding on top of Cu atoms. We also find that the spin of individual Ti atoms deposited on the Cu2N/Cu(100) surface increases as Ti coverage on the surface is decreased. For U=0, the spin of a Ti atom starts at S=0 at high coverages and increases to S=1/2 as the coverage is decreased, which agrees very well with results obtained from STM experiments. At …


Molecular Beam Epitaxy Approach To The Graphitization Of Gaas(100) Surfaces, Paul J. Simmonds, John Simon, Jerry M. Woodall, Minjoo Larry Lee May 2011

Molecular Beam Epitaxy Approach To The Graphitization Of Gaas(100) Surfaces, Paul J. Simmonds, John Simon, Jerry M. Woodall, Minjoo Larry Lee

Paul J. Simmonds

The authors present a method for obtaining graphitized carbon on GaAs(100) surfaces. Carbon-doped GaAs is grown by molecular beam epitaxy before controlled thermal etching within the growth chamber. An AlAs layer beneath the carbon-doped GaAs acts as a thermal etch stop. As the GaAs is etched away, the carbondopant atoms remain on the surface due to their low vapor pressure. The total number of carbon atoms available is precisely controllable by the doping density and thickness of the carbon-doped GaAs layer. Characteristic phonon modes in Raman spectra from the thermally etchedsurfaces show that the residual surfacecarbon atoms form sp2 …


Molecular Beam Epitaxy Of Metamorphic InYGa1−YP Solar Cells On Mixed Anion GaasXP1−X/Gaas Graded Buffers, Stephanie Tomasulo, John Simon, Paul J. Simmonds, Jonathan Biagiotti, Minjoo L. Lee May 2011

Molecular Beam Epitaxy Of Metamorphic InYGa1−YP Solar Cells On Mixed Anion GaasXP1−X/Gaas Graded Buffers, Stephanie Tomasulo, John Simon, Paul J. Simmonds, Jonathan Biagiotti, Minjoo L. Lee

Paul J. Simmonds

The authors have grown metamorphic InyGa1−yP on optimized GaAsxP1−x/GaAs graded buffers via solid source molecular beam epitaxy(MBE) for multijunction solar cell applications. In this work, the authors show that a previously developed kinetic growth model can be used to predict the composition of mixed anion GaAsxP1−x alloys on GaAs as a function of substrate temperature and group-V flux. The advantages of using a high growth temperature of 700 °C are then described, including the minimized dependence of composition on small temperature variations, a linear dependence of film composition on …


Simultaneous Measurement Of Normal And Friction Forces Using A Cantilever-Based Optical Interfacial Force Microscope, Byung I. Kim, Jeremy R. Bonander, Jared A. Rasmussen May 2011

Simultaneous Measurement Of Normal And Friction Forces Using A Cantilever-Based Optical Interfacial Force Microscope, Byung I. Kim, Jeremy R. Bonander, Jared A. Rasmussen

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We measured normal and friction forces simultaneously using a recently developed cantilever-based optical interfacial force microscope (COIFM) technique for studies of interfacial structures and mechanical properties of nanoscale materials. We derived how the forces can be incorporated into the detection signal using the classical Euler equation for beams. A lateral modulation with the amplitude of one nanometers was applied to create the friction forces between tip and sample. We demonstrated its capability by measuring normal and friction forces of interfacial water at the molecular scale over all distance ranges.


Magnetism Of Zno Nanoparticles: Dependence On Crystallite Size And Surfactant Coating, Aaron P. Thurber, Geoffrey L. Beausoleil Ii, Gordon A. Alanko, Joshua Anghel, Michael S. Jones, Lydia M. Johnson, Jianhui Zhang, Charles B. Hanna, Dmitri A. Tenne, Alex Punnoose Mar 2011

Magnetism Of Zno Nanoparticles: Dependence On Crystallite Size And Surfactant Coating, Aaron P. Thurber, Geoffrey L. Beausoleil Ii, Gordon A. Alanko, Joshua Anghel, Michael S. Jones, Lydia M. Johnson, Jianhui Zhang, Charles B. Hanna, Dmitri A. Tenne, Alex Punnoose

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many recent reports on magnetism in otherwise nonmagnetic oxides have demonstrated that nanoparticle size, surfactant coating, or doping with magnetic ions produces room-temperature ferromagnetism. Specifically, ZnO has been argued to be a room-temperature ferromagnet through all three of these methods in various experimental studies. For this reason, we have prepared a series of 1% Fe doped ZnO nanoparticle samples using a single forced hydrolysis co-precipitation synthesis method from the same precursors, while varying size (6 – 15 nm) and surface coating concentration to study the combined effects of these two parameters. Size was controlled by modifying the water concentration. Surfactant …


Graphitized Carbon On Gaas(100) Substrates, J. Simon, P. J. Simmonds, J. M. Woodall, M. L. Lee Feb 2011

Graphitized Carbon On Gaas(100) Substrates, J. Simon, P. J. Simmonds, J. M. Woodall, M. L. Lee

Paul J. Simmonds

We report on the formation of graphitized carbon on GaAs(100) surfaces by molecular beam epitaxy. We grew highly carbon-doped GaAs on AlAs, which was then thermally etched in situ leaving behind carbon atoms on the surface. After thermal etching, Raman spectra revealed characteristic phonon modes for sp2-bonded carbon, consistent with the formation of graphitic crystallites. We estimate that the graphitic crystallites are 1.5–3 nm in size and demonstrate that crystallite domain size can be increased through the use of higher etch temperatures.


Unfortunate Outcomes Of A “Funny” Physics Problem: Some Eye-Opening Youtube Comments, Josip Slisko, Dewey I. Dykstra Jr. Feb 2011

Unfortunate Outcomes Of A “Funny” Physics Problem: Some Eye-Opening Youtube Comments, Josip Slisko, Dewey I. Dykstra Jr.

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The impressions we make as instructors of physics can affect student learning and public perception of physics teachers, physics as an academic subject, and physics as a profession. There are many sources from which we can collect evidence of these impressions. Among these sources are online public forums such as those at the Internet site known as YouTube. Whether we are proud of these impressions we make or not, we should consider how constructive these impressions are for our students' physics learning and their impact on the public perception of physics and the community of physicists.


Ice Rafts Not Sails: Floating The Rocks At Racetrack Playa, Ralph D. Lorenz, Brian K. Jackson, Jason W. Barnes, Joe Spitale, John M. Keller Jan 2011

Ice Rafts Not Sails: Floating The Rocks At Racetrack Playa, Ralph D. Lorenz, Brian K. Jackson, Jason W. Barnes, Joe Spitale, John M. Keller

Brian Jackson

We suggest that the existence of many of the rock-carved trails at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park is predominantly due to the effect of arbitrarily weak winds on rocks that are floated off the soft bed by small rafts of ice, as also occurs in arctic tidal beaches to form boulder barricades. These ice cakes need not have a particularly large surface area if the ice is adequately thick—the ice cakes allow the rocks to move by buoyantly reducing the reaction and friction forces at the bed, not by increasing the wind drag. The parameter space of ice …


Metamorphic Gaasp Buffers For Growth Of Wide-Bandgap Ingap Solar Cells, J. Simon, S. Tomasulo, P. J. Simmonds, M. Romero, M. L. Lee Jan 2011

Metamorphic Gaasp Buffers For Growth Of Wide-Bandgap Ingap Solar Cells, J. Simon, S. Tomasulo, P. J. Simmonds, M. Romero, M. L. Lee

Paul J. Simmonds

GaAsxP1−x graded buffers were grown via solid source molecular beam epitaxy(MBE) to enable the fabrication of wide-bandgap InyGa1−yP solar cells. Tensile-strained GaAsxP1−x buffers grown on GaAs using unoptimized conditions exhibited asymmetric strain relaxation along with formation of faceted trenches, 100–300 nm deep, running parallel to the [011] direction. We engineered a 6 μm thick grading structure to minimize the faceted trench density and achieve symmetric strain relaxation while maintaining a threading dislocation density of ≤106 cm−2. In comparison, compressively-strained graded GaAsxP1−x buffers on …