Spin-lattice relaxation times of bound water—Its determination and implications for tissue discrimination

Measurements were made of T1 of bound water (T1b) and bound water fraction () for gelatin solutions and human tissues (sera, brain tumor, cerebral white matter). Bound water fraction in each sample was measured by means of thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry: DSC). T1 values were measured by FONAR QED 80-. T1b values were calculated by an equation derived from the fast-exchange two-state model. In the study of gelatin solutions, the relationship between T1 and water content differed depending on the sort of solutions. This was considered to be due to differences in T1b values. In each biological tissue the values of T1b and had different distributions. These results indicate that values of T1b and for biological tissues may be altered in correspondence to the changes in pathophysiological states in those tissues.     

Fast Optical Switching Using Oriented Cyanine Dye-Doped Nematic Liquid Crystal

A cyanine dye, 2-[7-（1,3-dihydro-1,3,3-trimethyl-2H-indol-2-ylidene）-1,3,5-heptatrienyl]-1,3,3-trimethyl-3H-indolium iodide （NK-125）, is doped in 4-cyano-4＇-pentylbiphenyl （5 CB）, and the mixture is sandwiched between two pieces of rubbed glass plates. The third-order nonlinear optical properties of the oriented NK-125-SCB layers are measured by the resonant femtosecond degenerate four-wave mixing （DFWM） technique at 760 nm. The third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility of one of the present samples is 5.5×10^-8 esu. The slow DFWM response of the NK-125-SCB layers due to a population grating is accelerated by the increasing laser power because of amplified spontaneous emission （ASE）. On the other hand, we do not observe a similar phenomenon for NK-125- polyethylene glycol （PEG-400）. Oriented NK-125 molecules in nematic liquid crystals must have very high ASE efficiency. Hence the population grating in a DFWM signal disappears within about 4 ps. It is expected that NK-125-SCB can be used as a material for very fast all-optical switching.     

Coulometric titration of copper in CuxMo6S8−y(0⩽y⩽0.4) with solid Cu-electrolyte Rb4Cu16I7Cl13

In order to determine the copper content x of copper Chevrel compound Cu_xMo₆S_8?y(0?y?0.4) as a function of copper activity a_Cu and sulfur deficit y, a solid state electrochemical cell, Cu/Rb₄Cu₁₆I₇Cl₁₃/Cu_xMo₆S_8?y/Pt, was constructed and coulometric titration studies were made at 400 K. For the evaluation of the coulometric titration data, measurements were made on the electronic conductivity of copper-ion conductor Rb₄Cu₁₆I₇Cl₁₃. Also, a brief investigation was made on the condition of formation of single phase Chevrel Cu_xMo₆S_8?y with varying x and y at 1000°C. The structural change of Cu_xMo₆S_8?y with a change in x and y was studied by the X-ray diffraction method. It was found that x for constant a_Cu decreases with increasing y. The maximum value x_max of x in Cu_xMo₆S_8?y in equilibrium with metallic copper was found to be expressed by $\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>max</mtext>}}\text{=-(}\text{10}\text{3}\text{)y+5}$. In the region of y<0.3, x_max exceeded 4, contrary to a presupposition that x_max is less than 4. X-ray analysis revealed that most of the copper Chevrel compounds denoted by Cu_xMo₆S₈ so far were sulfur deficient ones with y?0.4. The importance of sulfur deficit on the properties of the copper Chevrel compound was emphasized.     

Enhanced photoinduced desorption from metal nanoparticles by photoexcitation of confined hot electrons using femtosecond laser pulses

Strong fluence dependence of photodesorption cross sections is observed in femtosecond laser photodesorption of NO from (NO)2 on silver nanoparticles, in contrast to femtosecond photodesorption on bulk metals. The time scale of excitation buildup is found to be equal or less than the pulse duration of ～100 fs; NO translational energies are independent of fluence and pulse duration. We propose a nanoparticle-specific nonlinear mechanism in which, due to confinement, strongly nonthermal hot-electron distributions are maintained during the femtosecond pulses, enhancing the normal desorption pathway.     

Phase Conjugation in Saturable Absorbing Dye Films by Degenerate Four-Wave Mixing and Holographic Processes Using Nanosecond Pulse and CW Lasers

We report on the simultaneous generation of phase-conjugate signals by degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) and holographic processes using a nanosecond pulse and a CW lasers in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films doped with four kinds of saturable absorbing dyes. For the pulse laser, of the four kinds of dye-doped PVA films, the erythrosine B-doped PVA and uranine doped-PVA films generate PC signals only by the DFWM process, while the other dye-doped PVA films generate PC signals simultaneously by not only the DFWM process but also the holographic process. Especially, the safranin T-doped PVA film generates strong PC signals by the holographic process. In contrast, all of the dye-doped PVA films generate the two types of PC signals for the CW laser. The fading of dye molecules is found to result in the generation of the holographic component of PC signals which governs the temporal behavior of the total PC signals.     

A Consistent BGK-Type Model for Gas Mixtures

We introduce a relaxation collision operator for a mixture of gases which satisfies several fundamental properties. Different BGK type collision operators for gas mixtures have been introduced earlier but none of them could satisfy all the basic physical properties: positivity, correct exchange coefficients, entropy inequality, indifferentiability principle. We show that all those properties are verified for our model, and we derive its Navier–Stokes limit by a Chapman–Enskog expansion.     

A new dual-type DMA for measuring nanoparticles emitted from combustion engines

A new dual-type differential mobility analyzer (dual-type DMA) was developed in order to detect transient number concentrations of airborne nanoparticles with diameters centralized at around 10 nm (for nuclei mode particles) and 100 nm (for accumulation mode particles) in automobile exhaust gas. The apparatus divides the gas sample into two parts, and each part is sent through one of two coaxially nested sections for analysis. For the scanning mode measurement, the nanoparticles are charged by ²⁴¹Am and their size distributions are determined by varying the applied voltage over 2 min. The transient mode measurement, on the other hand, fixes the voltages for the two sections at peaks near 10 and 100 nm in order to monitor the transient behavior of the exhaust nanoparticles. The measurement principles and design of the dual-type DMA are detailed and the results for time response experiments are presented using model nanoparticles charged by a corona charger. The transient concentrations of the nuclei mode and the accumulation mode particles from a diesel engine were shown to be detected by this method, when ²⁴¹Am was used for charging the particles.     

Kaon condensation and lambda–nucleon loop in the relativistic mean-field approach

The possibility of kaon condensation in high-density symmetric nuclear matter is investigated including both s- and p-wave kaon–baryon interactions within the relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. Above a certain density, we have a collective state carrying the same quantum numbers as the antikaon. The appearance of the state is caused by the time component of the axial-vector interaction between kaons and baryons. It is shown that the system becomes unstable with respect to condensation of K– pairs. We consider how the effective baryon masses affect the kaon self-energy coming from the time component of the axial-vector interaction. Also, the role of the spatial component of the axial-vector interaction on the possible existence of the collective kaonic states is discussed in connection with Λ-mixing effects in the ground state of high-density matter. Implications of condensation for high-energy heavy-ion collisions are briefly mentioned.