Can a linearly polarized light beam polarize atomic spin?

Lax et al. [Phys. Rev. 11 (1975) 1365] discovered that a light beam in vacuum is not a transverse wave but does have a longitudinal field component. We investigate atomic and molecular electric dipole transitions induced by such a light beam, in particular, linearly polarized in a transverse plane. We derive the selection rules and the transition rates for various quantization axes using the paraxial approximation up to the first order of 1/kw, where k is the wave number and w is the transverse size of the light beam. The light beam is able to yield atomic spin polarization in the direction perpendicular to both the optical axis and the transverse electric field, and its magnitude is approximately 1/kw times that generated by a circularly polarized light wave with the similar intensity.     

Investigation of the relationship between the ionic conductivity and the local structures of singly and doubly doped ceria compounds using EXAFS measurement

The oxide ionic conductivity measurements of singly and doubly doped ceria compounds were carried out. Singly and doubly doped ceria used in this study were Ce_0.8Ln_0.2O_1.9 (Ln=Y, Sm, Nd, or La) and Ce_0.8La_0.1Y_0.1O_1.9, respectively. Lattice constants of these compounds were in proportion to the ionic radius of the dopant(s). The doubly doped ceria compound showed oxide ionic conductivity comparative to the average of that of each corresponding singly doped sample. This finding indicates that the conductivity is influenced by both dopants in the doubly doped compounds. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) study showed that the coordination number of oxide ions at the nearest neighbor of cation was related to the ionic conductivity. It was found that the conductivity gave the highest value when oxygen vacancies were randomly distributed in the lattice. This indicates that the local structure seriously affects oxide ionic conduction in singly and doubly doped ceria compounds.     

Nuclear Spin Alignment of 12,13B Produced in Heavy Ion Collisions

The nuclear spin alignments of the β-emitting fragments ¹²B(I ^π=1⁺, T _1/2=20.2 ms) and ¹³B(I ^π=3/2⁻, T _1/2=17.4 ms) produced in the 100A-MeV ¹³C, ¹⁵N + ⁹Be collisions respectively have been observed for the first time detecting asymmetric β-ray emission from these nuclei. By means of the spin manipulation technique based on the hyperfine interaction of B isotopes in TiO₂, both the polarization P and the alignment A were determined reliably. The obtained P and A were significantly smaller than the expectation from the kinematical model. From the fact that the quenching factors for P and A are almost the same, there may be some depolarization mechanism in the collision process itself. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Precise determination of Mg/Fe ratios applicable to terrestrial olivine samples using Raman spectroscopy

The relationship between Mg# [ = 100 Mg/(Mg + Fe) in mol] and the Raman shift was analyzed precisely for olivine [(Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄] samples with Mg# between 100 and 62.8. Two prominent peaks at 826–820 cm⁻¹ (peak 1) and 858–849 cm⁻¹ (peak 2) and three subordinate peaks at 883–881 cm⁻¹ (peak 3), 920–914 cm⁻¹ (peak 4), and 967–951 cm⁻¹ (peak 5) were observed to shift monotonously to lower wavenumbers with decreasing Mg#. The ΔMg#( = Mg#_ref − Mg#) versus Δν(= ν_ref − ν) can be linearly regressed for each peak as ΔMg# = A Δν, where ν is a peak wavenumber of olivine with Mg# ranging from 100 to 62.8, and ν_ref is that of olivine with a reference value of Mg#, namely, Mg#_ref. We set Mg#_ref as 100 (i.e.pure forsterite Mg₂SiO₄) whereas A is a regression parameter (5.789, 4.294, 12.34, 6.348, and 2.09, respectively,for peaks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). This equation enables us to avoid small inter‐laboratory differences of wavenumber calibration. The equation for peak 2 yields estimations of Mg# in geologically satisfactory precision, ± 1 Mg# (1σ) in the Mg# range of 100–62.8. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applying a Mode Selector to Improve the Pulse-Compression Performance of Asymmetric-Coupled-Waveguide-Based Dispersion Compensators

An InGaAsP slab-type asymmetric-coupled-waveguide-based dispersion compensator with a mode selector has been designed and fabricated. The mode selector is necessary to select either a symmetric [with a positive group-velocity dispersion (GVD)] or antisymmetric (with a negative GVD) supermode. These supermodes exist simultaneously in the dispersion-compensation region of the device. Pulse-compression experiments were used to test the dispersion compensator, evaluating the function of the mode selector. A theoretical study of the experimental results shows that the mode selector obtains a very strong selectivity (nearly 100%) for the antisymmetric supermode.     

Synthesis and Optical Properties of SiO2-Coated CeO2 Nanoparticles

Silica (SiO₂)-coated ceria (CeO₂) nanoparticles were prepared using water-in-oil microemulsion. Polyoxyethylene (15) cetylether and cyclohexane were used as a surfactant and organic solvent. SiO₂-coated CeO₂ nanoparticles were obtained by hydrolysis of metal alkoxide (tetraethylorthosilicate, TEOS) in the solution containing CeO₂ precursor nanoparticles. The effects of CeO₂ sources (Ce metal salt) and CeO₂ particle-forming agents on the morphology of SiO₂–CeO₂ particles were investigated. Observation via transmission electron microscopy revealed that the type of particle-forming agent affected the nanoparticles' morphology and that CeO₂ nanoparticles were spherically coated with SiO₂ when using oxalic acid ((COOH)₂) as a particle-forming agent of CeO₂. Furthermore, the transmittance of the particles was high in the visible region (above 400 nm) and decreased in the ultraviolet region.     

Proposition of Single Molecular Orientation Determination Using polarization Controlled Beam by Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulators

We have proposed a method to control the three-dimensional electric field in the focus of an optical microscope using two non-twisted liquid crystal spatial light modulators, and to detect the molecular orientation of a single molecule. The three-dimensional electric field is generated by focusing the beam with two dimensional spatial distribution of polarization. The possibility of detection of three-dimensional single molecular orientation was shown by numerical calculations. © 2005 The Optical Society of Japan     

Finding of Optimal Calcium Ion Probes for Fluorescence Lifetime Measurement

We have investigated the fluorescence lifetime properties of 8 calcium ion probes, calcium-green-1, calcium green-2, calcium green-5N, calcium orange, oregon green 488 BAPTA-6F, fluo-3, fluo-4, and fluo-5N. We found that the decay time of calcium green-5N varied more sensitively with calcium concentration than calcium green-1 which was known to be a highly sensitive probe. We have also found that the center of observable range of calcium concentration by fluorescence lifetime measurement is lower than that by fluorescence intensity measurement.     

Size Effect of the Immediate Surround for the Border between the Natural and Unnatural Object Color Appearance

The border luminance of the test stimulus between the natural and unnatural object color, y_ynB_u was obtained for different spatial sizes of the immediate surround to prove that _nB_u can be determined based on a new recognized visual space of illumination (RVSI) that is assumed to be constructed for the immediate surround separately from the RVSI for the subjects room itself. The _nB_u of five test stimuli were determined for six different sizes covering from zero to 1866 cm² with four different lightnesses, N4, N6 and N8, while keeping the room illuminance constant at 100 or 600 lx. The results showed that luminance of the border _nB_u gradually decreased as the size of the immediate surround was increased and that the decrease was larger for immediate surround with lower lightness. The results were interpreted as showing a new RVSI constructed for the spatial extent of the immediate surround of the test stimulus, and the RVSI was more completely constructed for larger spatial size of the immediate surround. © 2005 The Optical Society of Japan     

Signalling crosstalk in FGF2-mediated protection of endothelial cells from HIV-gp120

Background  

The blood brain barrier (BBB) is the first line of defence of the central nervous system (CNS) against circulating pathogens, such as HIV. The cytotoxic HIV protein, gp120, damages endothelial cells of the BBB, thereby compromising its integrity, which may lead to migration of HIV-infected cells into the brain. Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), produced primarily by astrocytes, promotes endothelial cell fitness and angiogenesis. We hypothesized that treatment of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) with FGF2 would protect the cells from gp120-mediated toxicity via endothelial cell survival signalling.