Reductions in overshoot following intense sound exposures

Overshoot refers to the poorer detectability of brief signals presented soon after the onset of a masking noise compared to those presented after longer delays. In the present experiment, brief tonal signals were presented 2 or 190 ms following the onset of a broadband masker that was 200 ms in duration. These two conditions of signal delay were tested before and after a series of exposures to a tone intense enough to induce temporary threshold shift (TTS). The magnitude of the overshoot was reduced after the exposure when a TTS of at least 10 dB was induced, but not when smaller amounts of TTS were induced. The reduction in overshoot was due to a decrease in the masked thresholds with the 2-ms delay; masked thresholds with the 190-ms delay were not different pre- and post-exposure. The implication is that the mechanisms responsible for the normal overshoot effect are temporarily inactivated by the same stimulus manipulations that produce a mild exposure-induced hearing loss. Thus the result is the paradox that exposure to intense sounds can produce a loss of signal detectability in certain stimulus conditions and a simultaneous improvement in detectability in other stimulus conditions.     

Chemical analysis and distribution investigation of trace elements in indium matrix by spark source mass spectrometry

Summary High-purity indium was analysed by spark source mass spectrometry, using electrical and photoplate detection. For the calibration of the differences in elemental sensitivity, a standard sample was prepared in which 10 impurities were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. In this way accuracies of less than 40% were obtained for relatively homogeneous elements at ppm and sub-ppm level. About 40 elements could be determined with detection limits of 10 to 30 ppb. Two pattern recognition methods, principal component analysis and clustering analysis, were applied to obtain information on trace element distribution, which indicated that a number of elements were strongly spatially correlated in the analysed sample.

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Chemische Analyse und Verteilungsbestimmung von Spurenelementen in Indium-Matrix durch Funkenquellen-Massenspektrometrie

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On leave from: Department of Chemistry, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China     

Influence of the Interaction between Two Neighboring Periodically Curved Fibers on the Stress Distribution in a Composite Material

A method is developed for a stress analysis in an infinite elastic body containing two neighboring periodically cophasaly curved fibers located along two parallel lines. The stress distribution is studied when the body is loaded at infinity by uniformly distributed normal forces in the fiber direction. The investigation is carried out within the framework of a piecewise homogeneous body model with the use of exact three-dimensional equations of elasticity theory. Numerical results related to the stress distribution considered and the influence of interaction between the fibers on this distribution are given.     

Decrease in the group velocity of a light pulse in the Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas

A semiclassical theory of electromagnetically induced transparency in a Bose-Einstein condensate is considered. A nonlinear Schrödinger equation that describes the interaction of the Bose-Einstein condensate with an electromagnetic field is derived. An analysis of the obtained solutions to this equation demonstrates a decrease in the group velocity of the light pulse.     

Photoluminescence of liquid-crystal azo derivatives in nanopores

Optics and Spectroscopy - The fluorescence of the nematic liquid crystal n-butyl-n′-methoxyazoxybenzene (BMAOB) in the form of a layer and in porous glasses with pores of different diameter...     

Polarized Fluorescence of Jet-Cooled indole and Carbazole and Their Complexes with Water

The spectra of the fluorescence excitation within the rotational contours of the bands of the pure electronic long-wavelength S ₀-S ₁ transitions of jet-cooled indole and carbazole molecules and their complexes with water are measured. For the carbazole-water complex, a contour with three maxima is registered, which is possibly related to the occurrence of two isomers, differing in a slight displacement of hydrogen between the nitrogen atom of the imine group of carbazole and the oxygen atom of the water molecule. The degrees of polarization of integral fluorescence upon excitation within the rotational contours of the S ₀-S ₁ electronic transition bands of the above molecules and their complexes with water are determined for the first time. The coincidence of the calculated (7.7%) and measured (7.3%) values of the degree of polarization upon excitation in the rotational Q branch of the ^b L ₁-A electronic transition of indole confirms the accepted intramolecular orientation of the transition dipole moment at an angle of 38.3° with respect to the principal axis of inertia A. Upon excitation of indole, its complex with water, and carbazole into the P and R branches, the measured and calculated degrees of polarization are also close to each other and amount to 2–3%. This confirms the occurrence of contributions to the fluorescence polarization due to the rotations of the indole molecules around the principal axes of inertia A and C.     

The Transformation Matrix of Vibrational Waves

The general theory on the transformation of elastic waves at a rigid nodal junction of an arbitrary number of thin plates is considered. The notion of transformation marix is introduced, and a way for computing it and numerical examples are given. Properties of the transformation matrix resulted from the reciprocity principle and the energy conservatin law are studied. In particular, a new relation that expresses the energy conservation low for the case where a wave damped in the direction of the joint of plates is a source of a field is obtained. Bibliography: 18 titles.