C-14 and H-3 contents in the groundwater around radioactive repository site in Korea

The contents of H-3 and C-14 in groundwater and surface waters around low and medium-level atomic waste repository site in Korea were determined. The concentrations of C-14 were in the range 0.186–0.287 Bq/L. The H-3 concentration of the groundwaters and surface waters were <0.06–5.75 and 1.22–4.74 Bq/L. The average H-3 contents of west, north and south direction were 1.18 ± 0.12, 1.11 ± 0.78 and 2.85 ± 2.66. H-3 and C-14 concentrations in the south direction were relatively higher than west and north direction samples. The surface waters sampled from catchment were four times higher than average H-3 concentration in precipitation. The concentrations of H-3 and C-14 within 5 km area samples were much higher than other samples.     

Extension of the GHJW theorem for operator ensembles

The Gisin-Hughston-Jozsa-Wootters theorem plays an important role in analyzing various theories about quantum information, quantum communication, and quantum cryptography. It means that any purifications on the extended system which yield indistinguishable state ensembles on their subsystem should have a specific local unitary relation. In this Letter, we show that the local relation is also established even when the indistinguishability of state ensembles is extended to that of operator ensembles.     

Cyclic Group Actions on 4-Manifolds

Let X be a closed, oriented Riemannian 4-manifold. Suppose that a cyclic group Z( _p (p is prime) acts on X by an orientation preserving isometry with an embedded Riemann surface as fixed point set. We study the representation of Z _p on the Spin^c-bundles and the Z _p-invariant moduli space of the solutions of the Seiberg–Witten equations for a Spin^c-structure X. When the Z _p action on the determinant bundle det L acts non-trivially on the restriction L| over the fixed point set , we consider -twisted solutions of the Seiberg-Witten equations over a Spin^c-structure ' on the quotient manifold X/Z _p X', (0,1). We relate the Z _p -invariant moduli space for the Spin^c-structure on X and the -twisted moduli space for the Spin^c-structure on X'. From this we induce a one-to-one correspondence between these moduli spaces and calculate the dimension of the -twisted moduli space. When Z _p acts trivially on L|, we prove that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the Z _p -invariant moduli space M( ^Zp and the moduli space M (") where ' is a Spin^c-structure on X' associated to the quotient bundle L/Z _p X'. vskip0pt When p = 2, we apply the above constructions to a Kahler surface X with b ₂ ⁺ (X) > 3 and H ₂(X;Z) has no 2-torsion on which an anti-holomorphic involution acts with fixed point set , a Lagrangian surface with genus greater than 0 and []2H ₂(H ;Z). If _K ^X 2 > 0 or K _X ² = 0 and the genus g()> 1, we have a vanishing theorem for Seiberg–Witten invariant of the quotient manifold X'. When K _X ² = 0 and the genus g()= 1, if there is a Z ²-equivariant Spin^c-structure on X whose virtual dimension of the Seiberg–Witten moduli space is zero then there is a Spin^c-structure " on X' such that the Seiberg-Witten invariant is ±1.     

Osmium tetroxide-(QN)2PHAL in an ionic liquid: a highly efficient and recyclable catalyst system for asymmetric dihydroxylation of olefins

In Os-catalysed asymmetric dihydroxylation using NMO as a co-oxidant, the combination of an ionic liquid and the new bis-cinchona alkaloid 2 generated in situ from (QN)2PHAL during reaction provided a simple and practical approach to the recycling of both catalytic components (osmium tetraoxide and chiral ligand).     

Instability driven fragmentation of nanoscale fractal islands

Formation and evolution of fragmentation instabilities in fractal islands, obtained by deposition of silver clusters on graphite, are studied. The fragmentation dynamics and subsequent relaxation to the equilibrium shapes are controlled by the deposition conditions and cluster composition. Sharing common features with other materials' breakup phenomena, the fragmentation instability is governed by the length-to-width ratio of the fractal arms.     

Segregation in binary mixtures under gravity

We employ kinetic theory for a binary mixture to study segregation by size and/or mass in a gravitational field. Simple segregation criteria are obtained for spheres and disks that are supported by numerical simulations.     

Use of a microelectromechanical mirror for adaptive optics in the human eye

Ophthalmic instrumentation equipped with adaptive optics offers the possibility of rapid and automated correction of the eye's optics for improving vision and for improving images of the retina. One factor that limits the widespread implementation of adaptive optics is the cost of the wave-front corrector, such as a deformable mirror. In addition, the large apertures of these elements require high pupil magnification, and hence the systems tend to be physically large. We present what are believed to be the first closed-loop results when a compact, low-cost, surface micromachined, microelectromechanical mirror is used in a vision adaptive-optics system. The correction performance of the mirror is shown to be comparable to that of a Xinetics mirror for a 4.6-mm pupil size. Furthermore, for a pupil diameter of 6.0-mm, the residual rms error is reduced from 0.36 to 0.12 microm and individual photoreceptors are resolved at a pupil eccentricity of 1 degrees from the fovea.     

Diffractometric methods for absolute measurement of diffraction-grating spacings

We propose one- and two-wavelength methods of absolute measurement of diffraction-grating spacings based on the Littman configuration for autocollimation. The one-wavelength method has been applied to measure the spacing of a grating with a nominal value of 2160grooves/mm . The grating spacing was measured to be 463.16 nm, with an experimental standard deviation of 0.24 nm. It has been demonstrated that the both methods can provide direct traceability in the submicrometer region in terms of wavelength standards for applications in the field of nanometrology.     

MRI of thermally denatured blood: methemoglobin formation and relaxation effects

Focal regions of T₁-shortening have been observed in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-monitored thermal ablations of perfused tissues. The aims of this study were two-fold: to find evidence for heat-induced conversion of hemoglobin (Hb) to methemoglobin (mHb), and to investigate the effects of heat treatment of in-vitro blood components upon their MR relaxation times. Spectrophotometric studies were performed to confirm the heat-induced formation of methemoglobin. Preparations of whole and fractionated blood, previously submitted to elevated temperatures of 40°C to 80°C, were imaged and the relaxation times were calculated. Optical absorption spectra of samples containing free Hb, heated to 60°C, showed increased light absorption at 630 nm, evident of mHb presence. Short T₁ values in whole blood (1.13 s) and packed red blood cell (0.65 s) compartments, heated at 60°C, compared to their baseline values (1.62 s and 0.83 s, respectively), were attributed to mHb formation. In relation to MRI-guided thermal interventions, these results suggest a possible explanation for observation of hyperintense regions on T₁-weighted images.