Two photon-induced fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of diphenylhexatriene in solvents and lipid bilayers

We measured the fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH)-labeled membranes resulting from simultaneous two-photon excitation of fluorescence. Comparison of these two-photon data with the more usual one-photon measurements revealed that DPH displayed identical intensity decays, anisotropy decays, and order parameters for one- and two-photon excitation. While the anisotropy data are numerically distinct, they can be compared by use of the factor 10/7, which accounts for the two-photon versus one-photon photoselection. The increased time 0 anisotropy of DPH can result in increased resolution of complex anisotropy decays. Global analysis of the one- and two-photon data reveals consistency with a single apparent angle between the absorption and the emission oscillators. The global anisotropy analysis also suggests that, except for the photoselection factor, the anisotropy decays are the same for one-and two-photon excitation. This ideal behavior of DPH as a two-photon absorber, and its high two-photon cross section, makes DPH a potential probe for confocal two-photon microscopy and other systems where it is advantageous to use long-wavelength (680- to 760-nm) excitation.     

Deeply penetrating photoacoustic tomography in biological tissues enhanced with an optical contrast agent

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) in a circular scanning configuration was developed to image deeply embedded optical heterogeneity in biological tissues. While the optical penetration was maximized with near-infrared laser pulses of 800-nm wavelength, the optical contrast was enhanced by Indocyanine Green (ICG) dye whose absorption peak matched the laser wavelength. This optimized PAT was able to image objects embedded at depths of as much as 5.2 cm, 6.2 times the 1/e optical penetration depth, in chicken breast muscle at a resolution of <780 microm and a sensitivity of <7 pmol of ICG in blood. The resolution was found to deteriorate slowly with increasing imaging depth. The effects of detection bandwidth on the quality of images acquired simultaneously by four different ultrasonic transducers are described.     

Measuring particle size-dependent physicochemical structure in airborne single walled carbon nanotube agglomerates

As-produced single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) material is a complex matrix of carbon nanotubes, bundles of nanotubes (nanoropes), non-tubular carbon and metal catalyst nanoparticles. The pulmonary toxicity of material released during manufacture and handling will depend on the partitioning and arrangement of these components within airborne particles. To probe the physicochemical structure of airborne SWCNT aggregates, a new technique was developed and applied to aerosolized as-produced material. Differential Mobility Analysis-classified aggregates were analyzed using an Aerosol Particle Mass Monitor, and a structural parameter Γ (proportional to the square of particle mobility diameter, divided by APM voltage) derived. Using information on the constituent components of the SWCNT, modal values of Γ were estimated for specific particle compositions and structures, and compared against measured values. Measured modal values of Γ for 150 nm mobility diameter aggregates suggested they were primarily composed of non-tubular carbon from one batch of material, and thin nanoropes from a second batch of material – these findings were confirmed using Transmission Electron Microscopy. Measured modal values of Γ for 31 nm mobility diameter aggregates indicated that they were comprised predominantly of thin carbon nanoropes with associated nanometer-diameter metal catalyst particles; there was no indication that either catalyst particles or non-tubular carbon particles were being preferentially released into the air. These results indicate that the physicochemistry of aerosol particles released while handling as-produced SWCNT may vary significantly by particle size and production batch, and that evaluations of potential health hazards need to account for this. Disclaimer: The mention of any company or product does not constitute an endorsement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings and conclusions in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.     

Spin and orbital magnetic moments of Fe3O4

We present measurements of the spin and orbital magnetic moments of Fe3O4 by using SQUID and magnetic circular dichroism in soft x-ray absorption. The measurements show that Fe3O4 has a noninteger spin moment, in contrast to its predicted half-metallic feature. Fe3O4 also exhibits a large unquenched orbital moment. Calculations using the local density approximation including the Hubbard U method and the configuration interaction cluster-model suggest that strong correlations and spin-orbit interaction of the 3d electrons result in the noninteger spin and large orbital moments of Fe3O4.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched picosecond Nd:GDxY1-xVO4 self-stimulated raman laser

An efficiency of 8.2% is demonstrated for a diode-pumped passively Q-switched self-stimulated Raman laser with an a-cut mixed vanadate crystal, Nd:Gd0.8Y0.2VO4. At 2.2 W of incident pump power, the self-stimulated Raman laser produces pulses as short as 660 ps at a Stokes wavelength of 1175 nm with 2.7 microJ of energy per pulse at a 66-kHz repetition rate.     

Structure,transport and magnetic properties of the double perovskite (Ca<Subscript>2-2x</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>2x</Subscript>)FeMoO<Subscript>6</Subscript>

In this paper we report the results of a detailed investigation of the double perovskite (Ca_2-2xSr_2x)FeMoO₆ system. Chemical size effects on structural, electrical, and magnetic properties caused by the substitution of isovalent, larger Sr ions into the smaller Ca sites, resulting in (Ca_2-2xSr_2x)FeMoO₆, have been examined. The compounds crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2₁/n for 0.0x<0.2, the orthorhombic space group Pbnm for 0.2x<0.4, and the tetragonal space group I4/m and I4/mmm for x0.4. Examination of the resistivity of all compounds reveals a metallic behavior which is well described by a Tⁿ dependence except for x=1.0. These n values change from 1 to 2 as T decreases lower than T_c. This is indicative of a variation in the transport mechanism at T_c. The ferrimagnetic transition temperature T_c increases with increasing x from 318 (x=0.0) to 393 K (x=1.0). For all samples, the saturation magnetization at 82 K obeys M_s3.5_B/(formula unit), compared to a theoretical spin-only moment of 4_B/(formula unit) for a perfectly ordered compound. PACS 74.25.Fy; 74.25.Ha     

Direct experimental limit on neutron-mirror-neutron oscillations

In case a mirror world with a copy of our ordinary particle spectrum would exist, the neutron n and its degenerate partner, the mirror neutron n', could potentially mix and undergo nn' oscillations. The interaction of an ordinary magnetic field with the ordinary neutron would lift the degeneracy between the mirror partners, diminish the n' amplitude in the n wave function and, thus, suppress its observability. We report an experimental comparison of ultracold neutron storage in a trap with and without superimposed magnetic field. No influence of the magnetic field is found and, assuming negligible mirror magnetic fields, a limit on the oscillation time taunn' > 103 s (95% C.L.) is derived.     

Switchable wavelength generation by injection-locked fiber laser based on GS-RSOAs

This paper proposes a switchable wavelength fiber laser (SWFL) based on an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) and a gain-saturated reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA). The SWFL was experimentally implemented in the C- and L-bands. In order to achieve narrow-linewidth oscillation, the SWFL was driven by bidirectional injection-locked RSOAs. The RSOA was operated in the gain-saturated region, using gain compression properties to obtain uniform power over a wide bandwidth. Based on this configuration, we obtained 40 C-band international telecommunication unit (ITU) wavelengths with 100-GHz channel spacing. The SWFL displayed a narrow 3-dB bandwidth (<0.06 nm), a high and uniform peak power (P _max > 0.22 dB, ΔP _max < 0.26 dB), and a high and uniform side mode suppression ratio (SMSR > 66 dB, ΔSMSR < 1 dB). The peak-power and wavelength stabilities were ±0.24 dB and ±0.01 nm, respectively, at room temperature over a 1 h period.     

Situations in traffic — how quickly they change

Spatio-temporal correlations of traffic intensity are analyzed employing data collected for the motorway M-30 around Madrid during one week in January 2009. We found that the lifetime of these correlations is the shortest in the evening between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This lifetime represents a new indicator for the amount of attention that is demanded by drivers in given traffic conditions.     

Order-disorder phase transition in a cliquey social network

We investigate the network model of community by Watts, Dodds and Newman (D.J. Watts et al., Science 296, 1302 (2002)) as a hierarchy of groups, each of 5 individuals. A homophily parameter α controls the probability proportional to exp (-αx) of selection of neighbours against distance x. The network nodes are endowed with spin-like variables s_i = ± 1, with Ising interaction J > 0. The Glauber dynamics is used to investigate the order-disorder transition. The transition temperature T_c is close to 3.8 for α < 0.0 and it falls down to zero above this value. The result provides a mathematical illustration of the social ability to a collective action via weak ties, as discussed by Granovetter in 1973.