Spectral and kinetic characteristics of CdI<Subscript>2</Subscript> and CdI<Subscript>2</Subscript>:Pb scintillators

We have studied the effect of lead dopant on the optical absorption, photoluminescence, and x-ray luminescence spectra, and the scintillation characteristics of CdI₂ at room temperature. The crystals for the study were grown by the Stockbarger-Bridgman method. Activation of CdI₂ from the melt by the compound PbI₂ leads to the appearance in the absorption spectra in the near-edge region of an activator band at 395–405 nm, which is interpreted as an A band connected with electronic transitions from the ¹S₀ state to the ³P₁ levels in the Pb²⁺ ion. For x-ray excitation, CdI₂:Pb²⁺ crystals with optimal dopant concentration (∼1.0 mol%) are characterized by a light yield with maximum in the 570–580 nm region that is an order of magnitude higher than for CdI₂ crystals in the 490–500 nm band. For α excitation, the radioluminescence kinetics for cadmium iodide is characterized by a very short (∼0.3 nsec) rise time and fast decay of luminescence, with τ₁ ≈ 4 nsec and τ₂ = 10–76 nsec. Depending on the conditions under which the crystals were obtained, the fast component fraction is 95%–99%. The crystal is characterized by a similar scintillation pulse in the case of excitation by x-ray pulses. The radioluminescence pulse shape for CdI₂:Pb in the decay stage is predominantly exponential, with luminescence decay time constants τ₁ ≈ 10 nsec and τ₂ = 200–250 nsec. This system is characterized by low afterglow, at the level for the Bi₄G₃O₁₂ scintillator. We have demonstrated the feasibility of using CdI₂:Pb as a scintillator for detecting α particles. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 6, pp. 825–830, November–December, 2008.     

Ultrastructural analysis of midgut cells from Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae resistant to Bacillus sphaericus

The larvicidal action of the entomopathogen Bacillus sphaericus towards Culex quinquefasciatus is due to the binary (Bin) toxin present in crystals, which are produced during bacterial sporulation. The Bin toxin needs to recognize and bind specifically to a single class of receptors, named Cqm1, which are 60-kDa α-glucosidases attached to the apical membrane of midgut cells by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor. C. quinquefasciatus resistance to B. sphaericus has been often associated with the absence of the α-glucosidase Cqm1 in larvae midgut microvilli. In this work, we aimed to investigate, at the ultrastructural level, the midgut cells from C. quinquefasciatus larvae whose resistance relies on the lack of the Cqm1 receptor. The morphological analysis showed that midgut columnar cells from the resistant larvae are characterized by a pronounced production of lipid inclusions, throughout the 4th instar. At the end of this stage, resistant larvae had an increased size and number of these inclusions in the midgut cells, while only a small number were observed in the cells from susceptible larvae. The morphological differences in the midgut cells of resistant larvae found in this work suggested that the lack of the Cqm1 receptor, which also has a physiological role as being an α-glucosidase, can be related to changes in the cell metabolism. The ultrastructural effects of Bin toxin on midgut epithelial cells from susceptible and resistant larvae were also investigated. The cytopathological alterations observed in susceptible larvae treated with a lethal concentration of toxin included breakdown of the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial swelling, microvillar disruption and vacuolization. Some effects were observed in cells from resistant larvae, although those alterations did not lead to larval death, indicating that the receptor Cqm1 is essential to mediate the larvicidal action of the toxin.This is the first ultrastructural study to show differences in the cell morphology of resistant larvae and further investigation is needed to understand the impact of the lack of expression of midgut enzymes on the physiology of resistant insects.     

Investigation on shape variation of Au nanocrystals

A variety of shapes, such as rod, tripod, -shape and cube, of Au nanocrystals were synthesized by employing different reaction conditions. The nanocrystals and their shape variation were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and UV–vis spectrophotometry. The evolution of shape was accomplished by controlling the parameters used in their synthesis, the concentration of reducing agent and surface capping agent. The effect of synthetic parameters on shape was explored, to determine suitable conditions for producing each shape of nanocrystals. Nanocrystals with different shapes have different plasmon bands in the visible region of the spectrum, which is a valuable property for sensor applications.     

Development and testing of a CW-EPR apparatus for imaging of short-lifetime nitroxyl radicals in mouse head

This article describes a method for reducing the acquisition time in three-dimensional (3D) continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR) imaging. To visualize nitroxyl spin probes, which have a short lifetime in living organisms, the acquisition time for a data set of spectral projections should be shorter than the lifetime of the spin probes. To decrease the total time required for data acquisition, the duration of magnetic field scanning was reduced to 0.5 s. Moreover, the number of projections was decreased by using the concept of a uniform distribution. To demonstrate this faster data acquisition, two kinds of nitroxyl radicals with different decay rates were measured in mice. 3D EPR imaging of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-d₁₇-1-¹⁵N-1-oxyl in mouse head was successfully carried out. 3D EPR imaging of nitroxyl spin probes with a half-life of a few minutes was achieved for the first time in live animals.     

UA(1) anomaly and $ \eta^{{\prime}}_{}$ -mass from an infrared singular quark-gluon vertex

The U _A(1) problem of QCD is inevitably tied to the infrared behaviour of quarks and gluons with its most visible effect being the -mass. A dimensional argument of Kogut and Susskind showed that the mixing of the pseudoscalar flavour-singlet mesons with gluons can provide a screening of the Goldstone pole in this channel if the full quark-quark interaction is strongly infrared singular as ∼ 1/k ⁴ . We investigate this idea using previously obtained results for the Landau gauge ghost and gluon propagator, together with recent determinations for the singular behaviour of the quark-gluon vertex. We find that, even with an infrared vanishing gluon propagator, the singular structure of the quark-gluon vertex for certain kinematics is apposite for yielding a non-zero screening mass.     

光纤型宽带可调连续波差频产生中红外激光器转换效率的研究

以掺镱光纤激光器为抽运源、掺铒光纤激光器后接掺铒光纤放大器为信号源,利用周期极化掺镁铌酸锂晶体,研究了全光纤化差频产生中红外激光器的转换效率特性。结果表明,抽运光和信号光偏振态影响差频产生过程的转换效率,利用偏振控制器,可将抽运光和信号光偏振方向调节到与晶体光轴方向平行,以获得高的转换效率。抽运光和信号光的光束质量既影响差频产生过程的转换效率,又决定晶体纵向位置的容限,当聚焦系统由自聚焦透镜和焦距100mm平凸透镜组成时,相对转换效率达0.717mW-2,晶体纵向位置容限为44mm。此外,差频光在3126.36~3529.6nm范围内调谐时,转换效率基本保持不变。     

晶体NiX2(X=Cl,Br,I)的光谱和电子顺磁共振谱研究

在强场耦合图像中,采用双自旋-轨道耦合(SO)参量模型建立了过渡族3d2(3d8)离子的三角对称下全组态光谱能级和电子顺磁共振(EPR)公式.与经典的晶体场理论(仅考虑中心金属离子的自旋-轨道耦合作用)相比较,该公式还包括了配体离子的自旋-轨道耦合作用的贡献,这一模型在应用于计算共价性较强的晶体光谱和电子顺磁共振谱可得到合理的结果.作为验证,用完全对角化方法研究了品体NiX2(X=Cl,Br,I)的光谱和电子顺磁共振谱,结果表明,理论与实验很好地符合.建立的全组态谱能级和电子顺磁共振公式为更精确地计算光谱和电子顺磁共振谱提供了一条可行方法.     

基于耦合场量子受激拉曼散射的太赫兹波辐射

使用两块长度各为65 mm的MgO:LiNbO3和无掺杂LiNbO3晶体,以1064nm的Q开关Nd:YAG激光器作为抽运光源,在12 mJ/pulse的抽运光能量下得到频率范围为0.34～2.90 THz的电磁辐射.分析表明,激光入射使LiNbO3晶体中具有电磁特性的横光学声子可以和入射光子形成耦合场量子.作为一种电磁特性的元激发,LINbO3晶体的耦合场量子的辐射场频率覆盖部分太赫兹频段范围,并可通过耦合场量子受激拉曼散射过程辐射THz波.根据耦合场量子辐射理论,通过分析晶体的耦合场量子色散特性曲线,可以确定该晶体能否辐射THz波及其带宽范围.     

数字投影三维数字成像的并行DSP实现

提出一种基于数字白光投影的三维数字成像嵌入式DSP处理系统.该系统根据时序变频条纹投影原理,利用TMS320DM642定点DSP和FPGA硬件电路以及多线程软件技术实现了条纹编码、编码图像采集和条纹分析的流水线处理过程.为了提高相位解调算法的速度,使用软件流水对其进行了优化.对于512×512像素图像,五步相移时的条纹图处理速度可达到39.7 fps,能满足快速条纹图处理的要求.测量实验表明,该系统可以实现快速、准确的三维轮廓测量.