High-resolution 3D MR spectroscopic imaging of the prostate at 3 T with the MLEV-PRESS sequence

A 3 T MLEV-point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) sequence employing optimized spectral-spatial and very selective outer-voxel suppression pulses was tested in 25 prostate cancer patients. At an echo time of 85 ms, the MLEV-PRESS sequence resulted in maximally upright inner resonances and minimal outer resonances of the citrate doublet of doublets. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) exams performed at both 3 and 1.5 T for 10 patients demonstrated a 2.08+/-0.36-fold increase in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at 3 T as compared with 1.5 T for the center citrate resonances. This permitted the acquisition of MRSI data with a nominal spatial resolution of 0.16 cm3 at 3 T with similar SNR as the 0.34-cm3 data acquired at 1.5 T. Due to the twofold increase in spectral resolution at 3 T and the improved magnetic field homogeneity provided by susceptibility-matched endorectal coils, the choline resonance was better resolved from polyamine and creatine resonances as compared with 1.5 T spectra. In prostate cancer patients, the elevation of choline and the reduction of polyamines were more clearly observed at 3 T, as compared with 1.5 T MRSI. The increased SNR and corresponding spatial resolution obtainable at 3 T reduced partial volume effects and allowed improved detection of the presence and extent of abnormal metabolite levels in prostate cancer patients, as compared with 1.5 T MRSI.     

Forward- and simultaneous-masked thresholds in bandlimited maskers in subjects with normal hearing and cochlear hearing loss

Forward- and simultaneous-masked thresholds were measured at 0.5 and 2.0 kHz in bandpass maskers as a function of masker bandwidth and in a broadband masker with the goal of estimating psychophysical suppression. Suppression was operationally defined in two ways: (1) as a change in forward-masked threshold as a function of masker bandwidth, and (2) as a change in effective masker level with increased masker bandwidth, taking into account the nonlinear growth of forward masking. Subjects were younger adults with normal hearing and older adults with cochlear hearing loss. Thresholds decreased as a function of masker bandwidth in forward masking, which was attributed to effects of suppression; thresholds remained constant or increased slightly with increasing masker bandwidth in simultaneous masking. For subjects with normal hearing, slightly larger estimates of suppression were obtained at 2.0 kHz rather than at 0.5 kHz. For hearing-impaired subjects, suppression was reduced in regions of hearing loss. The magnitude of suppression was strongly correlated with the absolute threshold at the signal frequency, but did not vary with thresholds at frequencies remote from the signal. The results suggest that measuring forward-masked thresholds in bandlimited and broadband maskers may be an efficient psychophysical method for estimating suppression.     

醇引起酵母醇脱氢酶构象变化的光谱研究

应用紫外、荧光、ＣＤ谱研究了酵母醇脱氢酶经乙醇、正丙醇和乙二醇作用后的构象变化。结果表明２２０ｎｍ、２８０ｎｍ处的紫外吸收，３３６ｎｍ的相对荧光强度随醇浓度增大而加强。ＣＤ谱显示乙醇、乙二醇引起酶分子在２０８ｎｍ、２２０ｎｍ处的双负峰逐渐加强，正丙醇使２２０ｎｍ处负峰加强，２０８ｎｍ处负峰减弱并红移，直至完全消失。上述数据表明醇浓度增加导致酶分子结构逐步松散，同时伴随着活力的丧失。     

氧氟沙星的荧光光谱与质子化作用研究

研究了氧氟沙星(Ofloxacin,OFL)在不同pH条件下的荧光光谱、紫外光谱和质子化作用。在强酸性溶液中,OFL分子可以结合两个质子而以三元酸H₃L2+的形式存在,最大荧光发射波长(λ_max)为505 nm。随着pH值升高,OFL的荧光光谱发生变化,在激发光谱中352 nm 形成一等荧光点,同时在紫外吸收光谱中出现等色点,这一光谱特征表明H₃L2+逐渐失去4位C羰基氧结合的质子。在pH 2.5～4范围内,OFL以H₂L+形式存在,λ_max为499 nm。当pH＞4时,随pH值升高,位于499 nm 的荧光发射峰逐渐蓝移至455 nm,在484 nm形成一等荧光发射点,表明C-3位羧基质子的离解。在pH 7左右,OFL以双极离子HL形式存在,λ_max为455 nm,是最强的荧光型体。当pH＞8时,随pH值升高,λ_max由455 nm红移至约475 nm,同时荧光强度下降,表明HL失去哌嗪环N-4上结合的质子。当pH＞10时,OFL以阴离子L-形式存在, 荧光强度随pH值升高而降低,但λmax基本不变,表明介质环境对OFL的荧光性质有一定影响。     

Phase transition in ammonium aluminium and ammonium chromium alums— A high pressure EPR study

An investigation of the phase transitions at high pressures in the alums mentioned in the title has been carried out using EPR of the Cr³⁺ ion (at the trivalent metal ion site). It is observed that at ambient as well as at high pressures there is a change of slope in the linear variations of the zero field splitting with temperature and that the low temperature phase is characterised by a large number of lines in the EPR spectra. The transition temperature shows a large positive shift with pressure, for both the alums. All these facts are explained in terms of our model of the origin of the trigonal field at the trivalent metal ion site as well as the details of the motion of NH₄⁺ ion.     

Evanescent-wave trapping and evaporative cooling of an atomic gas at the crossover to two dimensions

A dense gas of cesium atoms at the crossover to two dimensions is prepared in a highly anisotropic surface trap that is realized with two evanescent light waves. Temperatures as low as 100 nK are reached with 20,000 atoms at a phase-space density close to 0.1. The lowest quantum state in the tightly confined direction is populated by more than 60%. The system provides atoms at a mean distance from the surface as low as 1 microm, and offers intriguing prospects for future experiments on degenerate quantum gases in two dimensions.     

Development and initial evaluation of 7-T q-ball imaging of the human brain

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) noninvasively depicts white matter connectivity in regions where the Gaussian model of diffusion is valid but yields inaccurate results in those where diffusion has a more complex distribution, such as fiber crossings. q-ball imaging (QBI) overcomes this limitation of DTI by more fully characterizing the angular dependence of intravoxel diffusion with larger numbers of diffusion-encoding directional measurements at higher diffusion-weighting factors (b values). However, the former technique results in longer acquisition times and the latter technique results in a lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this project, we developed specialized 7-T acquisition methods utilizing novel radiofrequency pulses, eight-channel parallel imaging EPI and high-order shimming with a phase-sensitive multichannel B0 field map reconstruction. These methods were applied in initial healthy adult volunteer studies, which demonstrated the feasibility of performing 7-T QBI. Preliminary comparisons of 3 T with 7 T within supratentorial crossing white matter tracts documented a 79.5% SNR increase for b=3000 s/mm2 (P=.0001) and a 38.6% SNR increase for b=6000 s/mm2 (P=.015). With spherical harmonic reconstruction of the q-ball orientation distribution function at b=3000 s/mm2, 7-T QBI allowed for accurate visualization of crossing fiber tracts with fewer diffusion-encoding acquisitions as compared with 3-T QBI. The improvement of 7-T QBI at b factors as high as 6000 s/mm2 resulted in better angular resolution as compared with 3-T QBI for depicting fibers crossing at shallow angles. Although the increased susceptibility effects at 7 T caused problematic distortions near brain-air interfaces at the skull base and posterior fossa, these initial 7-T QBI studies demonstrated excellent quality in much of the supratentorial brain, with significant improvements as compared with 3-T acquisitions in the same individuals.     

Stability of small planar dust cluster in the presence of an external magnetic field

Oscillations and stability of planar symmetric dust clusters shaped as a regular polygon and a regular polygon with a particle at the center in the presence of an external uniform magnetic field are analyzed. The structure stability against small perturbations is considered. To this end, the equation of motion was linearized with respect to small coordinate variations. As a result, a dispersion relation (quartic algebraic equation) was derived and numerically studied for particular types of interactions between particles. A comparison of stability regions for a quadrangle and a triangle with a particle at the center, as well as a pentagon and a quadrangle with a particle at the center shows that there are ranges of parameters, where configurations without particle at the center are stable and configurations with a particle at the center are unstable, and vice versa.     

Degradation of benzene present in wastewater using hydrodynamic cavitation in combination with air

The degradation of benzene present in wastewater using hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) alone as well as in combination with air has been studied using nozzles as cavitating device of HC reactor. Initially, the energy efficiency of the HC reactor operated at different inlet pressures was determined using the calorimetric studies. Maximum energy efficiency of 53.4% was obtained at an inlet pressure of 3.9 bar. The treatment processes were compared under adiabatic as well as isothermal conditions and it was observed that under the adiabatic condition, the extent of degradation is higher as compared to isothermal condition. Studies related to the understanding the effect of inlet pressure (range of 1.8–3.9 bar) revealed that the maximum degradation as 98.9% was obtained at 2.4 bar pressure using the individual operation of HC under adiabatic conditions and in 70 min of treatment. The combination of HC with air was investigated at different air flow rates with best results for maximum degradation of benzene achieved at air flow rate of 60 mL/sec. A novel approach of using cavitation for a limited fraction of total treatment time was also demonstrated to be beneficial in terms of the extent of degradation as well as energy requirements and cost of operation. Based on the cavitational intensity, the resonant radius of aggregates of cavitation bubbles was also determined for distilled water as well as for aqueous solution of benzene. Overall, significant benefits of using HC combined with air have been demonstrated for degradation of benzene along with fundamental understanding into cavitation effects.     

Cryoprotection in plant tissues related to reduced volume expansion of cryoprotectant solution

To clarify the mechanism of reduced volume expansion-related cryoprotection changes in solution volume during freezing using several types of cryoprotectant were investigated. The effect of each cryoprotectant solution on the survival of asparagus nodal segments cooled slowly (0.5 degrees C/min) to -40 degrees C was also examined. The ratio of the volume at -40 degrees C to the volume at +20 degrees C was used as an index for expansion, calculated as a ratio of the density at +20 degrees C to the density at -40 degrees C. Distilled, deionized water showed the largest volume change at a ratio of 1.094. The ratio gradually decreased with an increase in the molar concentration of cryoprotectant, with the magnitude of the change dependent on the nature of the cryoprotectant. Raffinose was the most effective in reducing volume expansion when compared with other cryoprotectants at a same concentration. Raffinose exhibited greatest cryoprotection in asparagus tissue at 0.6 M where the solution became saturated. Dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO) at 1.69 M had the largest effect on cryoprotecting asparagus tissue. Furthermore, Me2SO was also the most effective in reducing volume expansion among the group of cryoprotectants permeable to the plasma membrane. It is concluded that cryoprotection in tissues was closely related to reduced volume expansion especially at low concentration (< or = 1.0 M). Cryoprotectants of impermeable sugar group lost their cryoprotective effect at > 1.0 M, which may due to severe dehydration and cell damage occurred in hypertonic solution. Useful cryoprotectants should be furnished with high ability of reducing volume expansion during freezing as well as low toxicity and high permeability for cells.     

环丙沙星的光谱性质、质子化作用与荧光量子产率

研究了环丙沙星(ciprofloxacin, CIP)在不同pH条件下的荧光光谱、紫外吸收光谱和质子化作用,测量了CIP在中性条件下的荧光量子产率。在H+浓度大于1 mol·L-1的HCl介质中,CIP分子(简写为HL)可以结合3个质子而以H₄L3+形式存在,有微弱的荧光,最大荧光发射波长(λ_ｍａｘ)为456 nm。在pH 0～2的酸性条件下,CIP主要以H₃L2+形式存在,λ_ｍａｘ为450 nm,荧光较弱,荧光强度随pH的升高而上升。在pH 2～4时,CIP主要以H₂L+形式存在,具有强荧光,λ_ｍａｘ仍为450 nm。当pH＞4时,λ_ｍａｘ逐步蓝移到414 nm,荧光强度随pH的升高而稍有降低,同时紫外吸收光谱也有明显变化,表明H₂L+随pH升高而失去质子,以双极离子HL形式存在。当pH＞8时,荧光强度随pH升高而减弱至消失,表明HL逐步失去质子,转化为无荧光的阴离子L-。在分子形态变化过程中,最大荧光激发波长始终在275 nm附近,但最大荧光发射波长有较大变化。在pH 7.0的缓冲溶液中,以硫酸奎宁为参比,测得CIP在最大荧光激发波长275 nm处的荧光量子产率为0.12。     

My Life in Nuclear Physics, Photography, and Opera

I sketch my life as an experimental nuclear physicist, beginning as a graduate student at Harvard University from 1948 to 1951, then as a postdoctoral fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory from 1951 to 1952, and finally as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota from 1952 until my retirement in 1991. I also carried out research at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Indiana University, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and I participated in a number of summer schools and international conferences on nuclear physics. I also have worked in photography and opera. Over the years, I met and collaborated with many people in many walks of life who became friends for life.     

Crossed Andreev reflection in graphene normal-superconductor-normal structures with pseudo-diffusive interfaces

In this Letter graphene normal-superconductor-normal heterostructures are modeled for studying the crossed Andreev reflection. A thin layer of undoped graphene with Fermi energy at the Dirac point at is assumed the interface between superconductor layer and each normal lead. The resulting contribution of the crossed Andreev reflection to the nonlocal conductance equals that of the electron elastic cotunneling. We explain this as another figure of merit for pseudodiffusive conduction at the Dirac point of the undoped layers. Also structures with only one undoped layer at the interface between the superconductor and one of the normal leads, as well as structures in which one of the leads is ferromagnetic, show pseudodiffusive conduction at the Dirac points.     

Direct and indirect optical transitions in Zn3P2

Absorption measurements were made on single crystals of Zn₃P₂ at temperatures of 300, 80 and 5 K, and photo-voltage spectral responses-were measured at 300 K for Au- and In---Zn₃P₂ contacts. Interband absorption was interpreted as a process involving three mechanisms: (1) indirect transitions from the valence band at the Γ point, (2) either excitations from acceptor level to the conduction band at the Γ point, or second indirect transitions associated with the creation of excitons, and (3) band-to-band direct transitions at the Γ point. The effect of the lighting configuration on spectral PV plots is also discussed, and the origin of two peaks of PV responses is interpreted as being in accordance with optical data. The indirect energy gap has been estimated as 1.315eV at 300 K and 1.335 eV at 80 and 5 K, and the direct one as 1.505, 1.645 and 1.685 eV at 300, 80 and 5 K, respectively.     

Decreasing electrical resistivity of silver along the melting boundary up to 5 GPa

The electrical resistivity of Ag was experimentally measured at high pressures up to 5?GPa and at temperatures up to ～300?K above melting. The resistivity decreased as a function of pressure and increased as a function of temperature as expected and is in very good agreement with 1 atm data. Observed melting temperatures at high pressures also agree well with previous experimental and theoretical studies. The main finding of this study is that resistivity of Ag decreases along the pressure- and temperature-dependent melting boundary, in conflict with prediction of resistivity invariance. This result is discussed in terms of the dominant contribution of the increasing energy separation between the Fermi level and 4d-band as a function of pressure. Calculated from the resistivity using the Wiedemann–Franz law, the electronic thermal conductivity increased as a function of pressure and decreased as a function of temperature as expected. The decrease in the high pressure thermal conductivity in the liquid phase as a function of temperature contrasts with the behavior of the 1 atm data.     

单偏振控制器环形腔光纤激光器实验研究

理论分析了非线性偏振旋转环形腔作为类饱和可吸收体获得脉冲的物理机理。在光纤环形腔结构中,采用单个偏振控制器实现了非线性偏振旋转锁模,直接获得了脉冲宽度为131 fs的超短脉冲输出。实验中,采用性能稳定的976 nm半导体二极管激光器作为抽运源,使用高掺杂浓度的Er3 光纤为增益介质,通过调节偏振控制器,获得了光谱谱宽(3 dB带宽处)为23.5 nm的稳定锁模脉冲输出。脉冲中心波长为1535.9 nm,平均功率为5.91 mW,脉冲重复率为11.20 MHz。     

EuMo_6S_8的超导性、电荷密度波和磁性间的相互影响

我们已观察到在120K时Eu_(1.2)Mo_6S_8的热容量、电阻及霍尔系数的反常规象,并确定为一种马氏体结构的相变特征;这种马氏体结构相变产生于一种模糊的电荷密度波的转变,后者在部分费米面上造成能隙。 费米面出现部分能隙说明了在常压下直10mK不出现超导的原因。高压抑制了电荷密度波的转变。从费米面上状态的超导性和这种转变相互竞争出发,计算得到的超导转变温度对压力的依赖性,与实验结果非常一致。在低温时,临界场随温度的变化非常强烈,这种变化已用Jaccarino-Peter补偿效应进行了解释。在高压时与理论的预言比较,EuMo_6S_8的临界场非常高,至少与现有任何的超导体一样高。压力为14Kbar、温度低于2K时在10T到15T范围内已观察到低场下电阻态到超导态的转变,这就是称之为场诱导超导性的一种新效应。     

A negative biasing experiment to test numerical calculations basedon a neoclassical L-H transition model in stellarators

Numerical calculations based on Shaing's L-H transition theory in stellarators and performed by Dahi et al. determine viscosity as a function of ion flow speed in the interchangeable module stellarator (IMS). The calculations predict local maximums in viscosity at flows corresponding to Mach numbers -2 and -10, but not elsewhere. The local peaks manifest themselves as jumps in flow speed, and as regions of high radial electric field (E_r) shear. By inducting flows swept between Mach numbers ±5, an electron injection biasing probe revealed a jump at -2, but none at +2, in agreement with the numerical results. A series of flow profiles at constant bias confirmed this result. Altogether, these data agree well with the numerical calculations and provide support for Shaing's L-H transition model as applied to stellarators     

Joint resummation for gaugino pair production at hadron colliders

We calculate direct gaugino pair production at hadron colliders at next-to-leading order of perturbative QCD, resumming simultaneously large logarithms in the small transverse-momentum and threshold regions to next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. Numerical predictions are presented for transverse momentum and invariant mass spectra as well as for total cross sections and compared to results obtained at fixed order and with pure transverse-momentum and threshold resummation. We find that our new results are in general in good agreement with the previous ones, but often even more precise.     

Measurements of electron beam damage for organic crystals in a high voltage electron microscope with image plates

The critical dose for extinction of the diffraction pattern from behenic acid monolayer crystals increased with increasing accelerating voltages. The mean values at 114, 500 and 1000kV were 0.6, 1.8 and 2.2 electrons/A(2), respectively. The critical dose at 500-1000kV is three or more times as large as that at 114kV. Considering this with the recent measured value of the detective quantum efficiency of the image plate, 0.5 at 500kV and 0.4 at 1000kV, 1.5 times as much information can be collected from a crystal at 500-1000kV as at 114kV. Therefore, the combined use of high voltage electron microscopy and image plate detectors offers a significant improvement over conventional electron microscopy approaches for the study of radiation sensitive organic molecule crystals.