ParaHydrogen Polarized Ethyl-[1-13C]pyruvate in Water,a Key Substrate for Fostering the PHIP-SAH Approach to Metabolic Imaging

An efficient synthesis of vinyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate has been reported, from which ¹³C hyperpolarized (HP) ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate has been obtained by means of ParaHydrogen Induced Polarization (PHIP). Due to the intrinsic lability of pyruvate, which leads quickly to degradation of the reaction mixture even under mild reaction conditions, the vinyl-ester has been synthesized through the intermediacy of a more stable ketal derivative. ¹³C and ¹H hyperpolarizations of ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate, hydrogenated using ParaHydrogen, have been compared to those observed on the more widely used allyl-derivative. It has been demonstrated that the spin order transfer from ParaHydrogen protons to ¹³C, is more efficient on the ethyl than on the allyl-esterdue to the larger J-couplings involved. The main requirements needed for the biological application of this HP product have been met, i. e. an aqueous solution of the product at high concentration (40 mM) with a good ¹³C polarization level (4.8 %) has been obtained. The in vitro metabolic transformation of the HP ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate, catalyzed by an esterase, has been observed. This substrate appears to be a good candidate for in vivo metabolic investigations using PHIP hyperpolarized probes.     

Three reasons for freak wave generation in the non-uniform current

Three reasons for freak wave generation due to interaction of wave with spatially non-uniform current are considered in the paper. They are as follows: wave energy amplification due to wave-current interaction; wave height amplification around caustic due to refraction wave in non-uniform current; non-linear wave interaction in shallow water due to their intersection described by the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation. These mechanisms can generate a large wave amplification producing a dangerous natural phenomenon.     

A High Power Conversion Efficiency L-Band Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifier

By using two sections of erbium doped fiber and a fiber optical reflector, a novel, highly efficient L bandamplifier is demonstrated with significantly power-conversion-efficiency enhancement and the gain increasing of as much as 13 dB.     

Electron–hole complexes in self-assembled quantum dots in strong magnetic fields

We present results of calculations and experiments on electron–hole complexes in InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots in high magnetic field (B). Due to hidden symmetries, the chemical potential of an N-exciton system at special B fields becomes insensitive to the exciton number as well as the magnetic field. This results in plateau regions of high intensity in measured magneto-PL spectrum. Theoretical calculations using exact diagonalization techniques successfully explain the measured magneto-photoluminescence spectrum with B fields up to 28 T.     

Two-photon interference spectra at the sum-frequency generation of a bichromatic field interacting with a three-level atom

We have calculated the spectral functions for a number of induced excitations near the sum-frequency generation of a bichromatic field interacting with a three-level atom in the cascade configuration. Although the two-photon spontaneous emission is electric dipole forbidden, there are induced peaks whose subnatural line widths and spectral heights depend on the intensities of the bichromatic field. At low intensities of both laser fields, the maximum heights of the induced peaks take positive, zero, and negative values, indicating that the physical processes of absorption (attenuation), dark resonance (nonabsorbing state), and stimulated emission (amplification) are likely to occur at the sum-frequency generation of the two laser fields, respectively. The derived results are graphically presented and discussed. PACS 32.80.-t; 42.50.Hz     

Use of a range scaling method to determine alanine/water stopping power ratios

A phantom composed of alanine dosimeter material has been constructed and depth–dose measurements made in a 10 MeV electron beam. The results have demonstrated the feasibility of using relative depth–dose measurements to determine stopping power ratios in materials of dosimetric interest. Experimental stopping power ratios for alanine dosimeter material and water agreed with the data of ICRU Report 37 within the uncertainty of the experiment (±1.2% at a 95% confidence level).     

Global variations in peak bone mass as studied by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

In 1994, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) initiated a 5-year Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) to determine geographical and racial differences in peak bone mineral density (BMD) in men and women aged 15-49 years. The study demonstrates that there are distinct global differences in BMD at the hip and spine in both men and women approximating to one population standard deviation between populations with the highest and lowest BMD. These differences persist following adjustments for age, sex and body size. Such information is valuable in understanding the reasons for global differences in fracture rate and predicting future trends in fracture incidence. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Magnetic structures in Ni80Fe20/Ru multilayers

Using polarized neutron reflectivity (PNR) measurements together with associated simulation, magnetic structures of two Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ (1 1 1)/Ru (0 0 0 1) multilayer samples with Ru thickness of 9 and 21 Å were investigated under various external magnetic fields at room temperature. The results reveal the existence of layer thickness, interface roughness, magnetic moment, interlayer coupling angle and non-collinear coupling. The former three are independent of Ru thickness; while the latter two are strongly dependent of Ru thickness.     

Fourier transform spectroscopy of CH3OH: rotation-torsion-vibration structure for the CH3-rocking and OH-bending modes

High-resolution Fourier transform spectra of CH₃OH have been investigated in the infrared region from 930 to 1450 cm⁻¹ in order to map the torsion-rotation energy manifolds associated with the ν₇ in-plane CH₃ rock, the ν₁₁ out-of-plane CH₃ rock, and the ν₆ OH bend. Upper-state term values have been determined from the assigned spectral subbands, and have been fitted to power-series expansions to obtain substate origins and effective B-values for the three modes. The substate origins have been grouped into related families according to systematic trends observed in the torsion-vibration energy map, but there are substantial differences from the traditional torsional patterns. There appears to be significant torsion-mediated spectral mixing, and a variety of “forbidden” torsional combination subbands with |Δυ_t|>1 have been observed, where υ_t denotes the torsional quantum number (equivalent to υ₁₂). For example, coupling of the (υ₆,υ_t)=(1,0) OH bend to nearby torsionally excited (υ₇,υ_t)=(1,1) CH₃-rock and (υ₈,υ_t)=(1,1) CO-stretch states introduces (υ₆,υ_t)=(1,0)←(0,1) subbands into the spectrum and makes the ν₇+ν₁₂−ν₁₂ torsional hot band stronger than the ν₇ fundamental. The results suggest a picture of strong coupling among the OH-bending, CH₃-rocking, and CO-stretching modes that significantly modifies the traditional energy structure and raises interesting and provocative questions about the torsion-vibration identity of a number of the observed states.