New computational method for atoms in an intense electromagnetic field

A new representation is found for the interaction of intense circularly polarized light with an atom. A stationary centrosymmetric part, which depends on the field parameter a ₀=F/ω², is separated out from the atom-field interaction. The time-dependent part of the interaction is represented in the form of a multipole expansion with a ₀ taken into account. The application of this representation for calculating the nonlinear dynamic polarizability of a complicated atom in the random-phase approximation with exchange is studied. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 3, 189–193 (10 August 1998)     

Role of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange system in the pathogenesis of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion damage

Results from a systematic experiment on isolated perfused rat heart and isolated myocytes of adult rat showed that the mechanism of calcium influx during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion is due to the development of intracellular sodium overload during ischemic period; on reperfusion, the high intracellular Na+ content activated the reverse direction of Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange over myocardial sarcolemma (SL), thus a large quantity of extracellular Ca2+ fluxed over the SL to the intracellular space, forming a condition of intracellular Ca2+ overload, which leads to irreversible damage of the myocardium.     

Magnetopause plasma transients: mapping into the auroral ionosphere

Attention is focused on a specific category of auroral event occurring predominantly during a southward directed interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Coordinated observations from the ground and satellites in polar orbit have been used to study the temporal/spatial development of the events in relation to the background patterns of particle precipitation and ionospheric convection as well as the field-aligned current and ion drift characteristics of the individual events. Both prenoon and postnoon sector events are reported. In one case the auroral event was observed near the zero point potential line separating the morning and postnoon convection cells. The available data indicate that this auroral event sequence is a signature of quasi-periodic bursts of particle entry from the magnetosheath along flux tubes convecting into the polar cap, representing structures of enhanced IMF B_Y-related convection poleward of the persistent cleft aurora. Such events may be initiated by localized patches of enhanced merging rate at the dayside magnetopause     

A novel derivatization method for peptides to increase sensitivity and backbone fragmentation in liquid secondary-ion mass spectra.

Derivatization is used to increase both negative-ion sensitivity and positive-ion sequence information in the liquid secondary-ion mass spectra (LSIMS) of a series of peptides. The derivatization method involves acylation with pentafluorobenzoyl fluoride in a single-step reaction, and the reaction mixture is applied directly to the probe tip for analysis. Acylation takes place at the unprotected N-terminus, tyrosine, and lysine. The derivatives exhibit increased signal-to-noise ratio for [M-H]- ions, especially where there is not already an acidic amino acid residue in the peptide. In positive-ion LSIMS, the N-terminal group acts to retain the charge at the N-terminus, simplifying the fragmentation by producing N-terminal fragment ions. It also increases positive-ion fragmentation, sometimes very dramatically, making sequence determination more straightforward. The simplicity of the process, together with the enhancements it provides, make this a generally useful method for obtaining peptide structural information.     

Determination of the parameters of semiconductor quantum dots in glassy matrices from the absorption and luminescence spectra and from saturation of the optical absorption

Optical methods are described for determining the parameters of semiconducting quantum dots synthesized in a glassy borosilicate matrix. The limitations of these methods and the magnitudes of their errors are analyzed. The parameters of CdS_xSe_1−x nanocrystals in the commercial glasses KS-10, OS-12, Corning 2–61, and other experimental samples are determined. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1865–1870 (October 1997)     

Dependence of impurity incorporation upon substrate misorientation during GaAs growth by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy

Doping studies of the incorporation behaviour of three different dopants (Zn, In and Si) versus the misorientation of the (100) surface during MOVPE growth of GaAs have been carried out with diethylzinc, trimethylindium and disilane as precursors. The incorporation of the dopants has been studied as function of the input mole fraction dopant, growth temperature, degree and direction of misorientation. In order to explain the results we discuss the BCF theory and the nature of the steps as function of above mentioned parameters. It appears that the BCF theory alone cannot explain the results, a counteracting mechanism has been introduced based on preferential arsenic desorption from the step edges.     

Luminescence of self-trapped excitons in calcium fluoride under pulsed electron irradiation

Time-resolved pulsed spectroscopy was used to measure the luminescence spectra of calcium fluoride. Characteristic features of the luminescence of self-trapped excitons are discussed. It is shown that various configurations of self-trapped excitons incorporating hole nuclei of a more complex structure, may be formed in CaF₂ crystals. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1226–1227 (July 1998)