Plasma characteristics of the discharge produced during mechanoluminescence

The conditions during light emission from the fracture of solids have been difficult to determine because such mechanoluminescence (ML) is usually weak. When ML is produced by acoustic cavitation of a liquid slurry of resorcinol crystals, however, we observe bright light emission, which makes it possible to measure plasma conditions by emission spectra: a bimodal heavy atom emission temperature profile is observed with 405+/-22 K (for 80% of emitting CH) and 4015+/-730 K (for 20%), with an electron density and energy of 1.3+/-0.13x10;{14} cm;{-3} and approximately 3.5 eV (i.e., an effective T_{e} approximately 41 000 K).     

Measurement of angular distribution of soft X‐ray radiation from thin targets in the tabletop storage ring MIRRORCLE‐20SX

The only available tabletop electron storage rings are the machines from the MIRRORCLE series. The electrons are accelerated in a microtron and injected into the storage ring. During its circulation, each electron passes through a tiny target many times, emitting a photon beam. Both the spectrum and the angular distribution of the radiation depend on the material, the thickness and the shape of the target. In this paper measured angular distributions of the radiation from several different targets in the magnetic field of the 20 MeV storage ring MIRRORCLE‐20SX are presented. The detector comprises a 3 mm × 3 mm × 8.5 µm plastic scintillator (PS) coupled to a photomultiplier by a bundle of optical fibers. The output of the photomultiplier is digitized by an IF converter. This detector is sensitive mostly to soft X‐ray radiation, and its PS is moved by a mechanical system in a plane perpendicular to the radiation axis. The measured angular distributions for Mo and Sn targets contain an annulus which is attributed to transition radiation. The angular distributions for Al, carbon nanotube and diamond‐like carbon (DLC) targets show some suppression of the radiation along the magnetic field. This is the first evidence of observation of the angular distribution of synchrotron Cherenkov radiation, which represents Cherenkov radiation in a magnetic field. The power radiated from the DLC target is estimated.     

On the potential limitations of conventional sound metrics in quantifying perception of nonlinearly propagated noise

The use of conventional metrics to quantify the perception of nonlinearly propagated noise has been studied. Gaussian noise waveforms have been numerically propagated both linearly and nonlinearly, and from the resulting waveforms, several metrics are calculated. These metrics are overall, A-, C-, and D-weighted sound pressure levels, perceived noise level, Stevens Mark VII perceived loudness, Zwicker loudness, and sharpness. Informal listening demonstrations indicate that perceived differences in annoyance between linearly and nonlinearly propagated waveforms are substantial. Because the metrics studied seem inadequate in representing the perceived differences, rigorous subjective testing is encouraged to properly quantify and understand these differences.     

Integration of quantitative DCE-MRI and ADC mapping to monitor treatment response in human breast cancer: initial results

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to assess changes in the water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and in pharmacokinetic parameters obtained from the fast-exchange regime (FXR) modeling of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven patients with locally advanced breast cancer underwent MRI examination prior to and after chemotherapy but prior to surgery. A 1.5-T scanner was used to obtain T1, ADC and DCE-MRI data. DCE-MRI data were analyzed by the FXR model returning estimates of K(trans) (volume transfer constant), v(e) (extravascular extracellular volume fraction) and tau(i) (average intracellular water lifetime). Histogram and correlation analyses assessed parameter changes post-treatment. RESULTS: Significant (P < .05) changes or trends towards significance (P < .10) were seen in all parameters except tau(i), although there was qualitative reduction in tau(i) values post-treatment. In particular, there was reduction (P < .035) in voxels with K(trans) values in the range 0.2-0.5 min(-1) and a decrease (P < .05) in voxels with ADC values in the range 0.99 x 10(-3) to 1.35 x 10(-3) mm2/s. ADC and v(e) were negatively correlated (r = -.60, P < .02). Parameters sensitive to water distribution and geometry (T(1), v(e), tau(i) and ADC) correlated with a multivariable linear regression model. CONCLUSION: The analysis presented here is sensitive to longitudinal changes in breast tumor status; K(trans) and ADC are most sensitive to these changes. Relationships between parameters provide information on water distribution and geometry in the tumor environment.     

Reply to “Comment on ‘Super‐resolution microscopy by movable thin‐films with embedded microspheres: Resolution analysis’ [Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 527, 513 (2015)]”

In a comment [A. Darafsheh, Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 528 (2016)] on our paper [K. W. Allen et al., Ann. Phys. (Berlin) 527, 513–522 (2015)], the results and conclusions of our work were doubted along two directions. The first is related to the methodology of our resolution quantification and use of confocal microscopy. The second is related to the mathematical treatment of our magnification measurements aimed at estimating the gap between the microsphere and the object which is relevant to the mechanisms of super‐resolution imaging. We explain that both our estimates of the object resolution and gap are valid. The comment brings out points that are of rather secondary relevance, does not offer a worthwhile improvement of the mathematical treatment, and misrepresents our estimation procedure for the gap size. We also discuss general factors and problems involved in the quantification of resolution in microsphere‐assisted microscopy.

     

Human‐Serum‐Albumin‐Coated Prussian Blue Nanoparticles as pH‐/Thermotriggered Drug‐Delivery Vehicles for Cancer Thermochemotherapy

Constructing novel multimodal antitumor therapeutic nanoagents has attracted tremendous recent attention. In this work, a new drug‐delivery vehicle based on human‐serum‐albumin (HSA)‐coated Prussian blue nanoparticles (PB NPs) is synthesized. It is demonstrated that doxorubicin (DOX)/HSA is successfully loaded after in situ polymerization of dopamine onto PB NPs, and the PB@PDA/DOX/HSA NPs are highly compatible and stable in various physiological solutions. The NPs possess strong near‐infrared (NIR) absorbance, and excellent capability and stability of photothermal conversion for highly efficient photothermal therapy applications. Furthermore, a bimodal on‐demand drug release sensitively triggered by pH or NIR irradiation has been realized, resulting in a significant chemotherapeutic effect due to the preferential uptake and internalization of the NPs by cancer cells. Importantly, the thermochemotherapy efficacy of the NPs has been examined by a cell viability assay, revealing a remarkably superior synergistic anticancer effect over either monotherapy. Such multifunctional drug‐delivery systems composed of approved materials may have promising biomedical applications for antitumor therapy.     

Oxidized metabolites from cyclopenta‐fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (CP‐PAHs). A DFT model study of their carbocations formed by epoxide ring opening

A density functional theory (DFT) study aimed at understanding structure–reactivity relationships in the oxidized metabolites of cyclopenta‐fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (CP‐PAHs) is reported. Epoxidation at various positions was examined in order to identify the most stable epoxide in each class of CP‐PAHs. Relative energies of the carbocations resulting from O‐protonation and epoxide ring opening were analyzed and compared, taking into account the available biological activity data on these compounds. Geometrical, electronic, and conformational issues were considered. Charge delocalization modes in the resulting carbocations were deduced via the natural population analysis (NPA)‐derived changes in charges. Computational results pointed to the importance of the unsaturated cyclopenta ring on the reactivity of these compounds. The reported bioactivity of this highly mutagenic/carcinogenic family of PAHs was observed to parallel their relative carbocation stabilities. A different behavior was observed in crowded non‐planar structures possessing a distorted aromatic system. A covalent adduct formed between a CP‐PAH epoxide and a purine base was computed inside a DNA fragment employing the ONIOM method. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermochemistry of azide salts and the azide ion using direct minimisation equations to obtain the lattice energy of the univalent azide salts

The opportunity to test a new equation for the computation of the lattice energy and at the same time examine a disparity in the literature data for the enthalpy of formation of the azide ion, $\text{ΔH}{}^{\mathrm{\theta }}{}_{\mathrm{?}}\text{(}\text{N}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{) (}\text{g}\text{)}$ was the motivation for this study. The results confirm our earlier calculation and show the new equation to be reliable. Thermodynamic data produced in the study take values: $\text{ΔH}{}^{\mathrm{\theta }}{}_{\mathrm{?}}\text{(}\text{N}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)(}\text{g}\text{) = 144}\text{kJ mor}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ΔH^θ_hyd(N₃^?) = ?315 KJ mol^?1 or ΔH^θ_hyd(N₃^?) = ?295 KJ mol^?1U_POT(NaN₃) = 732 kJ mol^?1U_POT(KN₃) = 659 kJ mol^?1U_POT(RbN₃) = 637 kJ mol^?1U_POT(CsN₃) = 612 kJ mol^?1U_POT(TIN₃) = 689 kJ mol^?1. The lattice energies of azides whose enthalpies of formation are documented have been calculated as well as the enthalpy of formation of the azide radical.     

Studies Directed Towards a Practical Synthesis of Brevicomins (II)1 : A Novel Synthesis of 1, 5-Dimethyl-8-Oxobicyclo [3.2.1]octane-6-one

The recent interest in pheromones,² as means of controlling insect pests, has prompted us to examine syntheses which could be both simple and practical. We recently reported a three-step synthesis of brevicomin (3), the aggregating pheromone of the pine bark beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis.³     

1-(1-Alkenyl)benzotriazoles: Novel α-Hydroxyacyl Anion Equivalents for the Synthesis of α-Hydroxy Ketones

α-Lithiated 1-(1-alkenyl)benzotriazoles, generated from the reactions of 1-(1-alkenyl)benzotriazoles with n-BuLi, react with a variety of electrophiles to afford α-substituted 1-(1-alkenyl)benzotriazoles which undergo epoxidation with m-CPBA followed by hydrolysis to give α-hydroxy ketones in good yields. Thus, 1-(1-alkenyl)benzotriazoles behave as α-hydroxyacyl anion equivalents.