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Highly charged ions (HCI) have a few tightly bound electrons and many interesting properties for probing fundamental physics and developing new frequency standards [1,2]. Many optical transitions of HCI are located in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and conventional light sources do not allow to study these transistions with highest precision. For this reason, we are developing an XUV frequency comb by transfering the coherence and stability of a near infrared frequency comb to the XUV by means of high-harmonic generation (HHG) [3–4]. Reaching intensity levels necessary for HHG 1013W/cm2), while operating at high repetition rates (100 MHz) for large comb line spacing, is challenging. Therefore, the laser pulses are first amplified in a rod-type fiber to 70 W and compressed to sub-200 fs in a grating and prism compressor. Afterwards, pulses are resonantly overlapped in an astigmatism-compensated femtosecond enhancement cavity, which is locked to the frequency comb. To achieve high stability and low-noise performance, the cavity is built on a rigid titanium structure with vibrational decoupling from the vacuum pumps. High-harmonics will then be generated in a target gas in the tight focus of the cavity and coupled out of the cavity by minus-first order diffraction from a small-period grating etched into a high-reflective cavity mirror [5]. Mirror degradation due to contamination and hydrocarbon aggregation is prevented by operating the whole cavity under ultra-high vacuum conditions. A differential pumping scheme will enable high target gas pressures in the laser focus without impairing the pressure elsewhere in the chamber [6].

Angle-resolved light scattering measurements of human metaphase chromosomes were compared to the results of numerical light scattering simulations with geometrical models based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of the same chromosomes. The simulations were conducted using the discrete dipole approximation method (DDA), which solves Maxwell's equations for induced dipoles, positioned in a discrete lattice. A remarkable agreement between the light scattering simulations and measurements of all 6 studied chromosomes was found. Additionally, the influence of small changes in the orientation of a complex scatterer geometry on its angle-resolved scattering pattern is shown. A method is presented to approximate such variations in the scatterer's orientation by a linear shift of the angular scattering pattern. This method provides an initial guess on the scatterers orientation, reducing the amount of simulations needed considerably. It was validated on simulations of a cuboid and successfully applied in the evaluation of the chromosome measurements.

Highly charged ions (HCI) offer many advantages over neutral and singly charged ions for probing fundamental physics., Recently they have been proposed as candidates for novel frequency standards. The project presented here aims at studying HCI with high precision in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) region, where many of their transitions are located. To this end, an XUV light source is being developed, using a stabilized frequency comb to generate high-order harmonics inside the focus of an enhancement cavity. This optical resonator resides in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber and is designed to have a very tight focus. The generated XUV light will be guided to a cryogenic linear Paul trap, where trapped HCI are sympathetically cooled by Be+ ions. Individual comb lines can then be used to drive narrow transitions in HCI, enabling XUV spectroscopy with unprecedented accuracy.

Angular resolved scattering light measurements on chromosomes are compared to Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) simulations using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) based geometrical models. This could present a novel, marker-free method for human chromosome karyotyping.

Single cell nuclei were investigated using two-dimensional angularly and spectrally resolved scattering microscopy. We show that even for a qualitative comparison of experimental and theoretical data, the standard Mie model of a homogeneous sphere proves to be insufficient. Hence, an accelerated finite-difference time-domain method using a graphics processor unit and domain decomposition was implemented to analyze the experimental scattering patterns. The measured cell nuclei were modeled as single spheres with randomly distributed spherical inclusions of different size and refractive index representing the nucleoli and clumps of chromatin. Taking into account the nuclear heterogeneity of a large number of inclusions yields a qualitative agreement between experimental and theoretical spectra and illustrates the impact of the nuclear micro- and nanostructure on the scattering patterns.

Spectrally and angular resolved light scattering from yeast cells was studied with a scattering microscope and a goniometer. Different cell models were investigated with help of analytical solutions of Maxwell's equations. It was found that extraction of precise morphological and optical cellular properties from the measured scattering patterns and phase functions requires more sophisticated cell models than standard Mie theory.

Intershell, resonant electronic recombination is studied experimentally in an electron-beam ion trap for O-like ${\mathrm{Si}}^{6+}$ to He-like ${\mathrm{Si}}^{12+}$ ions at plasma temperatures in the megakelvin range similar to those found in the solar radiative zone and is compared to extended multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock and relativistic configuration-interaction predictions. For this low-$Z$ ion, the higher-order electronic recombination processes are comparable in strength to the first-order one. The ratio of trielectronic to dielectric recombination for B-like species agrees well with predictions, whereas for C-like ions the measured value is only half as large. This difference is explained by the influence of metastable states populated in the recombining plasma.

▪ Abstract In this review, we use the wing veins of dipteran insects as potential models for understanding the evolution of development. We briefly discuss previous work in this field and examine the genetic complexity of wing formation, discussing the genes involved in wing formation and their roles in Drosophila wing development and vein formation. Furthermore, patterns of wing vein formation, addition, and reduction are discussed as they occur throughout the Diptera. Using the phyletic phenocopy paradigm, we draw attention to many wing vein morphologies that phenocopy various wing mutants in Drosophila melanogaster. The systematic issues of the nature of characters, homology, and the role of modern developmental approaches to evolutionary studies, which has recently become important, can be addressed from the perspective of the wing. We argue that further developmental evolutionary studies, and the interpretation of data therefrom, must be conducted within the context of a well-supported phylogeny of the organisms under study.

We introduce a simple model for an engine based on the Nernst effect. In the presence of a magnetic field, a vertical heat current can drive a horizontal particle current against a chemical potential. For a microscopic model invoking classical particle trajectories subject to the Lorentz force, we prove a universal bound 3-2*sqrt(2) simeq 0.172 for the ratio between maximum efficiency and Carnot efficiency. This bound, as the slightly lower one 1/6 for efficiency at maximum power, can indeed be saturated for large magnetic field and small fugacity irrespective of the aspect ratio., 5+6 pages, 2 figures

While it is possible to perform molecular systematic studies without the Poly-merase Chain reaction (PCR; [1]), there is no doubt that PCR is responsible for the tremendous explosion of the field, both in terms of the number of sequences generated and the number of taxa which have been sampled. This technique, which at its most basic can be accomplished with three water baths, a pair of hands and the necessary reagents, has made it possible to quickly and easily search entire genomes for particular sequences. Researchers using PCR have extracted genetic information from ancient samples (reviewed in [2]; see also “Enjoy 577 Ancient DNA references (or even more)” http://www.comic.sbg.ac.at/staff/jan/ancient/references.htm) and as minimal a starting material as a single cell [3]. Its effect has been felt in all fields of biology ranging from medicine and forensic science to ecology and evolutionary biology.