Ligand-exchange chromatography of amino acids on nickel-Chelex 100.

A ligand-exchange chromatographic proceudre for the selective separation of amino acids from inorganic ions is presented. It was found that the binding of amino acids to the nickel-Chelex 100 resin is pH dependent. At pH 8.5-9.1, only the basic amino acids lysine, histidine and arginine are quantitatively attached to the complex, whereas at pH 11, other amino acids with the exception of aspartic acid and glutamic acid are also bound, although not quantitatively. All of the amino acids can be eluted from the complex with 3 M ammonia solution without the displacement of nickel ions from the complex. This method can be used for the removal of the basic amino acids from solutions in the presence of inorganic ions as well as other amino acids.     

Multi-frequency harmonic arrays: initial experience with a novel transducer concept for nonlinear contrast imaging

Nonlinear contrast imaging modes such as second harmonic imaging (HI) and subharmonic imaging (SHI) are increasingly important for clinical applications. However, the performance of currently available transducers for HI and SHI is significantly constrained by their limited bandwidth. To bypass this constraint, a novel transducer concept termed multi-frequency harmonic transducer arrays (MFHA's) has been designed and a preliminary evaluation has been conducted. The MFHA may ultimately be used for broadband contrast enhanced HI and SHI with high dynamic range and consists of three multi-element piezo-composite sub-arrays (A-C) constructed so the center frequencies are 4f(A) = 2f(B) = f(C) (specifically 2.5/5.0/10.0 MHz and 1.75/3.5/7.0 MHz). In principle this enables SHI by transmitting on sub-array C receiving on B and, similarly, from B to A as well as HI by transmitting on A receiving on B and, likewise, from B to C. Initially transmit and receive pressure levels of the arrays were measured with the elements of each sub-array wired in parallel. Following contrast administration, preliminary in vitro HI and SHI signal-to-noise ratios of up to 40 dB were obtained. In conclusion, initial design and in vitro characterization of two MFHA's have been performed. They have an overall broad frequency bandwidth of at least two octaves. Due to the special design of the array assembly, the SNR for HI and SHI was comparable to that of regular B-mode and better than commercially available HI systems. However, further research on multi-element MFHA's is required before their potential for in vivo nonlinear contrast imaging can be assessed.     

Three-dimensional image fusion by use of multiwavelength digital holography

We present three-dimensional (3D) image fusion by use of digital holography. We demonstrate experimentally that, through the image fusion technique with multiresolution wavelet decomposition, it is possible to increase the details and contrast of 3D reconstructed images obtained by multiwavelength digital holography. Although there is substantial activity in the fields of image fusion and holography, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of 3D image fusion by use of digital holography.     

Gravitational effects of rotating masses

A gyroscope in orbit about a central rotating mass undergoes relativistic nutational oscillations in addition to the well-known precessional motions. The amplitude of the oscillation is proportional to the angular momentum of the rotating mass and its period is the Fokker period of geodetic precession. The amplitude is maximum for a polar orbit and vanishes if the orbit is equatorial. This nodding effect is due to a small divisor phenomenon involving the Fokker frequency, and its existence implies that the applicability of the post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity is limited in time. The dynamical significance of the new effect for the relative motion of neighboring test masses in the field of a rotating mass as well as for the restricted three-body problem in general relativity is investigated and the possibility of its detection is briefly discussed.     

Constant and Equivariant Cyclic Cohomology

In this note, we prove that the constant and equivariant cyclic cohomology of algebras coincide. This shows that constant cyclic cohomology is rich and computable.     

Designing different nanomagnets via delocalization of cobalt magnetic moment inside narrow single walled carbon nanotubes

Density functional theory calculations were employed to study the effects of chirality and diameter of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on electronic, structural and magnetic properties of cobalt-doped (9,0), (5,5) and (5,0) nanotube systems. The (9,0) and (5,5) SWCNTs have similar diameters but different chiralities, whereas the (5,0) tube has a very small diameter. The Co-SWCNT systems are considered with four different possible arrangements, three of which are stable and only substitution of the Co with one of the carbon atoms on the surface of the SWCNTs is an exemption. Although the quasi-metallic band gap of the (9,0) SWCNT is eliminated by the cobalt doping process, metallic features of the (5,5) and (5,0) nanotubes remain unchanged. On the other hand, delocalization of the cobalt’s magnetization and inducement of a noticeable magnetization to the tubes provide a vast area of possible total magnetizations for the Co-SWCNT systems. The results are applicable to spintronics and useful for designing other nanomagnetic systems.     

Enhancing electrooptic modulators using modulation instability

As electronic operating frequencies increase toward the terahertz regime, new electrooptic modulators capable of low‐voltage high‐frequency operation must be developed to provide the necessary optical interconnects. This Letter presents a new concept that exploits modulation instability to compensate for the intrinsically weak electrooptic effect, χ⁽²⁾. Simulations demonstrate more than 50 times enhancement of electrooptic effect at millimeter wave frequencies leading to a substantial reduction in the required modulation voltage.

     

Axially distributed sensing for three-dimensional imaging with unknown sensor positions

Recently, an axially distributed sensing system was proposed for three-dimensional (3D) imaging where the sensors are distributed along the optical axis. In this previously reported system, a priori knowledge of exact sensor positions was required for 3D image reconstruction. In this Letter, we present an axially distributed sensing with unknown sensor positions along the optical axis. In this system, only the relative positions of two sensors are needed, whereas all other sensor positions are assumed unknown. Experiments are presented to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed system and illustrate the visual quality of reconstructed 3D images by using the proposed calibrated sensor positions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on axially distributed sensing with unknown sensor positions.     

Optical time-domain analog pattern correlator for high-speed real-time image recognition

The speed of image processing is limited by image acquisition circuitry. While optical pattern recognition techniques can reduce the computational burden on digital image processing, their image correlation rates are typically low due to the use of spatial optical elements. Here we report a method that overcomes this limitation and enables fast real-time analog image recognition at a record correlation rate of 36.7 MHz--1000 times higher rates than conventional methods. This technique seamlessly performs image acquisition, correlation, and signal integration all optically in the time domain before analog-to-digital conversion by virtue of optical space-to-time mapping.