Decrease in optical density as a results of germination of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spores under high hydrostatic pressure

Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris is a spore-forming bacterium, causing spoilage of juices. The spores of these bacteria have the ability to survive in the typical conditions used for thermal pasteurization. Therefore, the use of other techniques such as high hydrostatic pressure is considered for their inactivation. The effect of hydrostatic pressure of 200–500 MPa, at temperatures 4–50 °C for 15 min, on the dynamics of germination of A. acidoterrestris spores in apple juice and pH 4 buffer was studied. To estimate the share of germinated spores, the method of determining the optical density at a wavelength of 660 nm (OD₆₆₀) was used. Parameters of hydrostatic pressure treatment used in this work affected the dynamics of germination of A. acidoterrestris spores in apple juice, and the temperature had the greatest effect. The results indicate that nutrients present in apple juice can promote the germination of A. acidoterrestris spores.     

Simultaneous grayscale and subharmonic ultrasound imaging on a modified commercial scanner

Objective

To demonstrate the feasibility of simultaneous dual fundamental grayscale and subharmonic imaging on a modified commercial scanner.

Motivation

The ability to generate signals at half the insonation frequency is exclusive to ultrasound contrast agents (UCA). Thus, subharmonic imaging (SHI; transmitting at f₀ and receiving at f₀/2) provides improved visualization of UCA within the vasculature via suppression of the surrounding tissue echoes. While this capability has proven useful in a variety of clinical applications, the SHI suppression of surrounding tissue landmarks (which are needed for sonographic navigation) also limits it use as a primary imaging modality. In this paper we present results using a commercial ultrasound scanner modified to allow imaging in both grayscale (f₀ = 4.0 MHz) and SHI (f₀ = 2.5 MHz, f₀/2 = 1.25 MHz) modes in real time.

Methods

A Logiq 9 ultrasound scanner (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI) with a 4C curvilinear probe was modified to provide this capability. Four commercially available UCA (Definity, Lantheus Medical Imaging, North Billerica, MA; Optison, GE Healthcare, Princeton, NJ; SonoVue, Bracco Imaging, Milan, Italy; and Sonazoid, GE Healthcare, Oslo, Norway) were all investigated in vitro over an acoustic output range of 3.34 MPa. In vivo the subharmonic response of Sonazoid was investigated in the portal veins of four canines (open abdominal cavity) and four patients with suspected portal hypertension.

Results

In vitro, the four UCA showed an average maximum subharmonic amplitude of 44.1 ± 5.4 dB above the noise floor with a maximum subharmonic amplitude of 48.6 ± 1.6 dB provided by Sonazoid. The average in vivo maximum signal above the noise floor from Sonazoid was 20.8 ± 2.3 dB in canines and 33.9 ± 5.2 dB in humans. Subharmonic amplitude as a function of acoustic output in both groups matched the S-curve behavior of the agent observed in vitro. The dual grayscale imaging provided easier sonographic navigation, while the degree of tissue suppression in SHI mode varied greatly on a case by case basis.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate the feasibility of dual grayscale and SHI on a modified commercial scanner. The ability to simultaneously visualize both imaging modes in real time should improve the applicability of SHI as a future primary clinical imaging modality.     

Nondestructive Quantification of Foliar Chlorophyll in an Apple Orchard by Visible/Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares

Chlorophylls respond rapidly to the current physiological status of a tree and reflect nutrient availability. Visible/near-infrared spectroscopy was attempted to determine foliar chlorophyll content in an apple orchard. Backward interval partial least squares and genetic algorithms were sequentially applied to select an optimized spectral interval and an optimized combination of spectral regions selected from informative regions in model calibration. Backward interval partial least squares was used to remove the noninformative regions, which significantly reduced the number of variables. The subsequent application of genetic algorithms-partial least squares to this reduced domain could lead to an efficient and refined model. The performance of the final model was back-evaluated according to root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and the correlation coefficient (R _c ) in the calibration set, and was then tested by root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and the correlation coefficient (R _p ) in the prediction set. The optimal backward interval partial least squares-genetic algorithms model was obtained with 5 partial least squares factors with 3 spectral regions and 71 variables selected. The measurement results of the final model were achieved as follows: RMSEC = 0.26, R _c  = 0.91 in the calibration set; and RMSEP = 0.22, R _p  = 0.91 in the prediction set. This experiment showed that visible/near-infrared spectroscopy and backward interval partial least squares-genetic algorithms are useful tools for nondestructively assessing foliar chlorophyll content and may have potential application for field assessments in decision-making and operational fertilizer management programs for apple orchards.     

Element‐specific microtomographic imaging of Drosophila brain stained with high‐Z probes

An application of X‐ray microtomography to the Drosophila adult brain stained with colloidal gold and a platinum compound is described. The transparency of biological tissue to hard X‐rays enables tomographic visualization of the three‐dimensional structure of tissue entrails. Each high‐Z element was visualized as a three‐dimensional structure from the difference absorption coefficient image at the corresponding L_III absorption edge. The cortex of the optic lobe was selectively visualized by the specific adsorption of colloidal gold. The entire structure revealed by the platinum impregnation allowed the anatomical assignment of the gold‐stained structures. Selective staining and specific visualization of biological tissues at micrometer resolution should elucidate the three‐dimensional cellular organization essential for the understanding and application of biological microstructures.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>1</Subscript>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript> correlation analysis of complex foods

The potential of nuclear magnetic resonance two-dimensionalT ₁-T ₂ correlation spectroscopy for quality control in food science is explored for three types of food, namely, egg (white and yolk), cellular tissue (fruit and vegetable) and hydrocolloids (creams and baked products). The complications of cross-relaxation and diffusive exchange are highlighted and various tools for peak assignment are discussed.     

Electron/pion identification in the CBM TRD applying a ω<Stack><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis></Superscript></Stack> goodness-of-fit criterion

The problem of electron/pion identification in the CBM experiment based on the measurements of energy losses and transition radiation in the TRD detector is discussed. Earlier we analyzed a possibility to solve such a problem using an artificial neural network (ANN) [1]. Here we consider an approach based on a nonparametric ω _n ^k goodness-of-fit criterion, and comparison with the ANN method is also performed. We show that both methods provide a comparable level of pion suppression and electron identification, the ω _n ^k test is more simple for practical applications, the ANN method provides the needed level of pions suppression only if “clever” variables are used. We demonstrate that application of the ω _n ^k -criterion to the J/Ψ reconstruction provides a high level of pion background suppression and significantly improves a signal-to-background ratio. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Transverse-momentum distribution of J/Ψ's in Pb-Pb collisions and gluon rescattering

We study anomalous J/Ψ suppression and p _t broadening in the model of prompt gluons. The anomalous suppression can be successfully described in this model. The transverse-momentum dependence of J/Ψ suppression in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is calculated from initial-state gluon rescattering with both nucleons and prompt gluons produced in nucleon-nucleon collisions in the early phase of the reaction. It seems impossible to describe simultaneously anomalous suppression and p _t broadening in Pb-Pb collisions within the model of prompt gluons with reasonable values of the parameters. Received: 27 September 2001 / Accepted: 12 November 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: zhuangpf@mail.singhua.edu.cn Communicated by A. Molinari     

Radiative decays of charged leptons in arbitrary order

In radiative decays of charged leptons induced by non-degenerate neutrino masses and consequent lepton flavour-mixing, the dominant suppression factor at the 1-loop level is (Σ m _a ² )/m _W ² ,m _a being the mass of theath neutrino. We show that this suppression factor is presentin all orders in a class of models including the standard model.     

Reversibility of 1D Cellular Automata with Periodic Boundary over Finite Fields $\pmb{ {\mathbb{Z}}}_{p}$

The reversibility problem for linear cellular automata with null boundary defined by a rule matrix in the form of a pentadiagonal matrix was studied recently over the binary field ℤ₂ (del Rey and Rodriguez Sánchez in Appl. Math. Comput., 2011, doi:). In this paper, we study one-dimensional linear cellular automata with periodic boundary conditions over any finite field ℤ _p . For any given p≥2, we show that the reversibility problem can be reduced to solving a recurrence relation depending on the number of cells and the coefficients of the local rules defining the one-dimensional linear cellular automata. More specifically, for any given values (from any fixed field ℤ _p ) of the coefficients of the local rules, we outline a computer algorithm determining the recurrence relation which can be solved by testing reversibility of the cellular automaton for some finite number of cells. As an example, we give the full criteria for the reversibility of the one-dimensional linear cellular automata over the fields ℤ₂ and ℤ₃.     

First measurement of J/ψ anisotropy by PHENIX experiment at RHIC

Understanding the J/ψ suppression and possible recombination mechanisms at RHIC is one of the outstanding challenges for theorists and experimentalists. Recent results provided by PHENIX showed a stronger suppression at forward rapidity, while at mid-rapidity the suppression is similar to lower energy collision experiments. A large sample of Au + Au collisions at $ \sqrt {s_{NN} } $ \sqrt {s_{NN} } = 200 GeV was collected in 2007 with the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. Using this sample, J/ψs were identified in the di-electron decay channel. In order to probe the charm coalescence as an additional J/ψ production mechanism at RHIC, we studied the first determination of its v ₂ elliptic flow parameter at mid-rapidity.     

Design of spectral-spatial outer volume suppression RF pulses for tissue specific metabolic characterization with hyperpolarized C pyruvate

[1-¹³C] pyruvate pre-polarized via DNP has been used in animal models to probe changes in metabolic enzyme activities in vivo. To more accurately assess the metabolic state and its change from disease progression or therapy in a specific region or tissue in vivo, it may be desirable to separate the downstream ¹³C metabolite signals resulting from the metabolic activity within the tissue of interest and those brought into the tissue by perfusion. In this study, a spectral-spatial saturation pulse that selectively saturates the signal from the metabolic products [1-¹³C] lactate and [1-¹³C] alanine was designed and implemented as outer volume suppression for localized MRSI acquisition. Preliminary in vivo results showed that the suppression pulse did not prevent the pre-polarized pyruvate from being delivered throughout the animal while it saturated the metabolites within the targeted saturation region.     

Quantitative Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectrum of the Cortical Sarcoma and the Adjacent Normal Tissue

The difference in time-resolved fluorescence spectrum between the cortical sarcoma and the adjacent normal tissue was studied in both experimental and theoretical ways. The Clinical data were obtained in vivo using a time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer employing a single fiber-optic probe for excitation and detection. Tissue was modeled as s-180 sarcoma tumor surrounded with normal muscle and was mediated by the Palladium-porphyrin photosensitizer (Pd-TCPP). The emitted fluorescence was considered as arising from the tumor tissue or the normal muscle, due to the presence of the photosensitizer. A computational code which could simulating time-resolved fluorescence emission was presented and applied to comparing fluorescence decay of photosensitizer in different stages of tumor growth. In this code the different stages of the tumor was modeled through changing the time τ, the delay of the fluorescence photon emission and z _max, the thickness of the tumor. It was found in the in vivo experiment that the fluorescence from tumor tissue decayed more quickly than from the adjacent normal muscle. For the ten rats in the first experiment day, the mean decay constant of tumor T _s and normal tissue T _n were 554 and 526 μs, respectively. And T _s increased with the tumor growth, from 554 μs in the first day to 634 μs in the eighth day while T _s kept steady. It was believed that the more adequate oxygen supplied by the normal tissue can more effectively quench the fluorescence and in the normal tissue the photosensitizer lifetime is smaller. As a result the simulated time-resolved fluorescence spectrum of normal tissue showed more quickly decay. And the thickness of the tumor can also delay the fluorescence decay. Both the experimental and simulated results indicated that the germination of the tumor would increase the decay constant of the time-resolved fluorescence spectrum. So decay constant of the tumor tissue spectrum should be larger than that of adjacent normal tissue for the reason of hypoxia and overgrouth. This fact could be of use in the tumor diagnoses.     

Can the RHIC <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">ψ</Emphasis> puzzle(s) be settled at LHC?

One observes strong suppression effects for hard probes, e.g. the production of J/ψ or high-p _T particles, in nucleus–nucleus (AA) collisions at RHIC. Surprisingly, the magnitude of the suppression is quite similar to that at SPS. In order to establish whether these features arise due to the presence of a thermalized system of quarks and gluons formed in the course of the collision, one should investigate the impact of suppression mechanisms which do not explicitly involve such a state. We calculate shadowing for gluons in the Glauber–Gribov theory and propose a model invoking a rapidity-dependent absorptive mechanism motivated by energy-momentum conservation effects. Furthermore, final-state suppression due to interaction with comoving matter (hadronic or pre-hadronic) has been shown to describe the data at SPS. We extend this model by including the backward reaction channel, i.e. recombination of open charm, which is estimated directly from pp data at RHIC. Strong suppression of charmonium both in pA and AA collisions at LHC is predicted. This is in stark contrast with the predictions of models assuming QGP formation and thermalization of heavy quarks.     

H-mode in tokamaks attributed to absence of trapped ions in poloidally rotating plasma

It is proposed that the suppression of transport in the H-mode in tokamaks is caused by the absence of trapped ions in the transport barrier. If the poloidal Mach number M=v _θ B/(v _TiB_θ) is large there are exponentially few trapped ions. This criterion agrees with experimental observations of H-mode plasmas. The recently observed transport suppression by reversed shear also points to the dominant role of trapped particles in turbulent transport. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 6, 427–430 (25 March 1996) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Suppression of charge ordering and thermal hysteresis of electronic transport and magnetisation in La0.5Ca0.5Mn1−xNixO3

A series of polycrystalline La_0.5Ca_0.5Mn_1?xNi_xO₃ (x = 0.00, 0.025, 0.050, 0.075, 0.100 and 0.125) was synthesised using solid state reaction. Measurements in a cooling and warming cycle between 300 and 80 K were carried out to study the Ni-doping effects on the electrical resistivity, thermopower and magnetisation of single-phase La_0.5Ca_0.5Mn_1?xNi_xO₃. Partial substitution of Ni for Mn leads to the suppression of charge ordering state, the evidence of which is shown by the dramatic decrease in electrical resistivity and thermal hysteresis width in electrical resistivity, thermopower and magnetisation. However, the magnitude of both electrical resistivity and thermopower increases with increasing Ni content. This can be attributed to an increase in the Mn⁴⁺ concentration, which favours the antiferromagnetic state and leads to a gradual disappearance of ferromagnetic double exchange interaction. Besides, the metal–nonmetal transition temperature decreases with increasing Ni content until x = 0.075, which might arise from increased electron–phonon coupling due to less ordered spins at temperatures above ferromagnetic transition. For samples with x greater than 0.075, no metal–nonmetal transition is observed due to the suppression of double exchange mechanism.     

Diffusion-weighted MRI: influence of intravoxel fat signal and breast density on breast tumor conspicuity and apparent diffusion coefficient measurements

Promising recent investigations have shown that breast malignancies exhibit restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and may be distinguished from normal tissue and benign lesions in the breast based on differences in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. In this study, we assessed the influence of intravoxel fat signal on breast diffusion measures by comparing ADC values obtained using a diffusion-weighted single shot fast spin-echo sequence with and without fat suppression. The influence of breast density on ADC measures was also evaluated. ADC values were calculated for both tumor and normal fibroglandular tissue in a group of 21 women with diagnosed breast cancer. There were systematic underestimations of ADC for both tumor and normal breast tissue due to intravoxel contribution from fat signal on non–fat-suppressed DWI. This ADC underestimation was more pronounced for normal tissue values (mean difference=40%) than for tumors (mean difference=27%, P<.001) and was worse in women with low breast tissue density vs. those with extremely dense breasts (P<.05 for both tumor and normal tissue). Tumor conspicuity measured by contrast-to-noise ratio was significantly higher on ADC maps created with fat suppression and was not significantly associated with breast density. In summary, robust fat suppression is important for accurate breast ADC measures and optimal lesion conspicuity on DWI.     

In vivo NMR T2 relaxation of experimental brain tumors in the cat: A multiparameter tissue characterization

Experimental gliomas (F98) were inoculated in cat brain for the systematic study of their in vivo T₂ relaxation time behavior. With a CPMG multi-echo imaging sequence, a train of 16 echoes was evaluated to obtain the transverse relaxation time and the magnetization M(0) at time t = 0. The magnetization decay curves were analyzed for biexponentiality. All tissues showed monoexponential T₂, only that of the ventricular fluid and part of the vital tumor tissue were biexponential. Based on these NMR relaxation parameters the tissues were characterized, their correct assignment being assured by comparison with histological slices. T₂ of normal grey and white matter was 74 ± 6 and 72 ± 6 msec, respectively. These two tissue types were distinguished through M(0) which for white matter was only 0.88 of the intensity of grey matter in full agreement with water content, determined from tissue specimens. At the time of maximal tumor growth and edema spread a tissue differentiation was possible in NMR relaxation parameter images. Separation of the three tissue groups of normal tissue, tumor and edema was based on T₂ with T_2(normal) < T_2(tumor) < T_2(edema). Using M(0) as a second parameter the differentiation was supported, in particular between white matter and tumor or edema. Animals were studied at 1–4 wk after tumor implantation to study tumor development. The magnetization M(0) of both tumor and peritumoral edema went through a maximum between the second and third week of tumor growth. T₂ of edema was maximal at the same time with 133 ± 4 msec, while the relaxation time of tumor continued to increase during the whole growth period, reaching values of 114 ± 12 msec at the fourth week. Thus, a complete characterization of pathological tissues with NMR relaxometry must include a detailed study of the developmental changes of these tissues to assure correct experimental conditions for the goal of optimal contrast between normal and pathological regions in the NMR images.     

Melting and Recrystallization of Nylon-6,10 Thin Films

The melting and recrystallization of nylon-6,10 thin films immersed in an aqueous solution of calcium chloride were investigated by DSC measurements. The crystal length, ζ, was determined as a function of the melting peak temperature, T _m . The end surface free energy of nylon-6,10 crystals used for the ζ–T _m conversion was derived thermodynamically. For films of 0.01 mm thickness, the original length of ζ (=7.6 structural units) at T _m decreased step by step with increasing immersion time by the length near the structural unit (2.24 nm) per step. However, the suppression of the recrystallization after melting of the original crystals formed during the first cooling by the adsorbed calcium ions did not occur completely, even for films immersed for 30～60 min at 50°C.     

Ion-size effects on the structure and superconductivity of La-214 compounds at doping

A structural transition to a low-temperature tetragonal (TLT) phase occurs below T_d2≈60 K in La_2−xBa_xCuO₄ only around x=0.125, accompanied by sharp suppression of superconductivity. In this study we investigated the effects of partial substitution of smaller divalent cations for Ba²⁺ ions (Ba²⁺ >Sr²⁺ >Ca²⁺) on these anomalous low-temperature properties. The suppression of superconductivity is strongly affected by the appearance of the TLT phase for this carrier concentration. We also show that the variations of T_d2 and T_c are quantitatively scaled by the averaged size of cations at the La site. This dependence can be interpreted as chemical effects acting effectively as applied pressure. We discuss how our observation is related to recent reports which claim that the TLT structure itself does not necessarily destroy the superconductivity.     

Far-infrared probe of energy gap in LaO1−xFxFeGe compound

We report on the electrical resistivity and far-infrared reflectance measurements of LaO_1?xF_xFeGe samples. Furthermore, we introduce a new method to probe the energy gap and determine its value. The onset transition temperature was 22.8 K for x = 0.13, and a clear anomaly was observed at 90 K in the ρ(T) curve for x = 0.11 with T_c = 20.6 K. We clearly observed the phonon-suppressed feature in reflectance spectra where F-doping caused a strong suppression of a peak at 200 cm^?1. The energy gap above T_c, 2Δ = 2.10 meV, was determined from the measured spectra based on the changes in reflectivity by F-doping.