Impaired pulmonary blood flow distribution in congestive heart failure assessed using synchrotron radiation microangiography

Synchrotron radiation microangiography is a powerful tool for assessing adverse changes in pulmonary vessel density associated with primary pulmonary hypertension (PH). Congestive heart failure (CHF) leads to a `secondary' onset of PH, yet it is unknown whether secondary PH is also associated with reduced vessel density. This study utilized synchrotron radiation to assess both pulmonary vessel density and endothelial function in a Dahl rat model of CHF with secondary PH. High salt‐fed Dahl salt‐sensitive (Dahl‐S) and salt‐resistant (Dahl‐R) rats were anesthetized and microangiography was performed to assess the pulmonary vessel density and vascular responses to (i) sodium nitroprusside (5.0 µg kg^?1 min^?1), (ii) acetylcholine (3.0 µg kg^?1 min^?1) and (iii) ET‐1_A receptor blockade, BQ‐123 (1 mg kg^?1). Dahl‐S rats developed CHF and secondary PH as evident by endothelial dysfunction, impaired vasodilatory responses to acetylcholine, enhanced vasodilatory responses to BQ‐123 and extensive pulmonary vascular remodeling. Consequently, the pulmonary vessel density was adversely reduced. Interestingly, the etiology of secondary PH manifests with structural and functional changes that are comparable with that previously reported for primary PH. One important discrepancy, however, is that ET‐1 modulation of pulmonary vessels is most striking in vessels with a diameter range of 100–200 µm in secondary PH, in contrast to a range of 200–300 µm in primary PH. Such discrepancies should be considered in future studies investigating primary and secondary forms of PH.     

Isotope-selective laser photodetachment for 129I accelerator mass spectrometry

2D coordination polymer iron(II) spin crossover complexes containing 3,5-lutidine with host framework Fe(3,5-lutidine)₂Ni(CN)₄were synthesized. Their spin crossover properties were studied by temperature dependent ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Materials show gradual incomplete spin crossover with distinct thermochromism, while only 25 % of iron(II) ions are switched to the low spin state at 80 K, as determined by a detailed ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer study.     

Development of high resolution resonance ionization mass spectrometry for trace analysis of 93mNb

⁹³Nb(n, n′)^93mNb reaction allows retrospective estimation of integrated fast neutron dose in nuclear reactor. We proposed isomer-selective trace analysis of ^93mNb by Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry (RIMS) combined with a gas-jet atomic source and an injection locked Ti:Sapphire laser system operated at several kHz. Resonant ionization spectroscopy of Nb in gas-jet using Ti:Sapphire laser was demonstrated.     

Quantification of local oxygen defects around Yttrium ions for yttria-doped ceria–zirconia ternary system

Local coordination structure around Yttrium ions in CeO₂–Y₂O₃ binary and [(CeO₂)_x(ZrO₂)_1?x]_0.8(YO_1.5)_0.2 (x = 0.0 ~ 1.0) ternary system has been investigated by ⁸⁹Y MAS-NMR. NMR spectra are found to be consisted of multiple peaks that can be assigned to 6-, 7- and 8-oxygen coordinated Yttrium ions. Compositional dependence of the spectrum was observed and compared with the previous results for ZrO₂–Y₂O₃ binary system. The present investigation suggested the degree of localization of the oxygen vacancy around the cation is in the order of Zr⁴⁺ > Y³⁺ > Ce⁴⁺. The degree of the oxygen vacancy preference for each cation was quantitatively determined for CeO₂–ZrO₂–Y₂O₃ ternary system the first time.     

Enhancement of Magneto-Optic Effect in Optical Isolator with Semiconductor Guiding Layer by Selective Oxidation of AlInAs

Selective oxidation of an AlInAs layer was investigated for enhancement of magneto-optic effect in an optical isolator. Twelve times nonreciprocal phase shift enhancement was estimated from a measured AlInAs-oxide refractive index.     

Widely tunable terahertz-wave generation using an N-benzyl-2-methyl-4-nitroaniline crystal

Widely tunable terahertz (THz)-wave generation using difference frequency generation (DFG) in an organic N-benzyl-2-methyl-4-nitroaniline (BNA) crystal was demonstrated. To our knowledge, this is the first report of THz-wave generation by BNA DFG. Large, high-quality single crystals of BNA (phi 8 mm x 30 mm) were grown using the vertical Bridgman method. The nonlinear optical (NLO) coefficient d(33) of the BNA crystal is approximately 234 pm/V, which is the largest value reported for any yellow NLO material. The collinear phase-matching condition of the type-0 configuration is satisfied using a 0.7-1 microm band pump wavelength. We generated THz waves using an organic BNA crystal; the generation range is 0.1-15 THz.     

Scaling reduction of the contrast of fractal speckles detected with a finite aperture

It is known that speckle patterns with fractal properties, called fractal speckles, are produced by illuminating a diffuser with the coherent light having the intensity distribution obeying a negative power law. One of key properties of fractal speckles is the spatial correlation function obeying a negative power law, which implies that such speckles have scaling properties. In detecting fractal speckles, the effect of the spatial integration is inevitable in most cases since they have speckle grains of various scales including very fine ones. To evaluate this effect, in this paper, the contrast of spatially integrated intensity distributions is investigated theoretically and experimentally for fractal speckles. The results show that the contrast reduction with the size of the detector aperture obeys a negative power function related with the exponent of the intensity correlation coefficient of fractal speckles.