Measurements of cavitation bubble dynamics based on a beam-deflection probe

We present an optodynamic measurement of a laser-induced cavitation bubble and its oscillations based on a scanning technique using a laser beam-deflection probe. The deflection of the beam was detected with a fast quadrant photodiode which was built into the optical probe. The applied experimental setup enabled us to carry out one- or two-dimensional scanning of the cavitation bubble, automatic control of the experiment, data acquisition and data processing. Shadow photography was used as a comparative method during the experiments.     

Context-specific acoustic differences between Peruvian and Iberian Spanish vowels

This paper examines four acoustic properties (duration F0, F1, and F2) of the monophthongal vowels of Iberian Spanish (IS) from Madrid and Peruvian Spanish (PS) from Lima in various consonantal contexts (/s/, /f/, /t/, /p/, and /k/) and in various phrasal contexts (in isolated words and sentence-internally). Acoustic measurements on 39 speakers, balanced by dialect and gender, can be generalized to the following differences between the two dialects. The vowel /a/ has a lower first formant in PS than in IS by 6.3%. The vowels /e/ and /o/ have more peripheral second-formant (F2) values in PS than in IS by about 4%. The consonant /s/ causes more centralization of the F2 of neighboring vowels in IS than in PS. No dialectal differences are found for the effect of phrasal context. Next to the between-dialect differences in the vowels, the present study finds that /s/ has a higher spectral center of gravity in PS than in IS by about 10%, that PS speakers speak slower than IS speakers by about 9%, and that Spanish-speaking women speak slower than Spanish-speaking men by about 5% (irrespective of dialect).     

AC susceptibility of thin Pb films in intermediate and mixed state

Thin films of type I superconductors of a thickness comparable or less than a flux penetration length behave like type II superconductors in a mixed state. With decreasing film thickness normal domains carrying a magnetic flux get smaller with smaller number of flux quanta per domain and finally transform into single quantum flux lines, i.e. quantum vortices similar to those found in type II superconductors. We give an evidence of this behavior from the measurements of the nonlinear response of a total magnetic moment to an applied AC magnetic field, directly from the temperature dependence of an AC susceptibility.     

Analysis of spectral properties of acoustic noise produced during magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique enables non-invasive analysis of the human vocal tract during phonation. Creation of MR images of the vocal tract is accompanied by simultaneous recording of the produced speech. The paper analyzes and compares spectral properties of an acoustical noise produced by mechanical vibration of the gradient coils during scanning in the open-air MRI equipment working in a weak magnetic field with low B₀ up to 0.2 T. This noise exhibits harmonic character, so it is suitable to analyze its properties in the spectral domain. Obtained results of spectral analysis will be used to devise a new cepstral-based filtering method for noise suppression of recorded speech.     

1H and13C nuclear magnetic relaxation and local dynamics of lysozyme and synthetic polypeptides

The combined analysis of¹H and¹³C NMR relaxation data in solid lysozyme and some typical homopolypeptides was carried out by using “model-free” approach. Three types of relaxation transitions (γ’, γ and β) were revealed in the temperature range investigated. The microdynamical parameters of these motions were determined. From the comparison of these parameters with those of selected synthetic polymers it follows that the molecular motions in proteins and synthetic polymers are of the same nature. All these motions show pronounced anisotropic character. In the investigated temperature range no molecular motions corresponding to α-relaxation (liquid-like) transition were revealed. The hydration effects on parameters of the motions in proteins were considered. The most pronounced effect takes place for β-transition. The effect of Brownian rotation of protein molecule in solution on measured correlation function of local motions was also discussed.     

On Higher Order Pyramidal Finite Elements

In this paper we first prove a theorem on the nonexistence of pyramidal polynomial basis functions. Then we present a new symmetric composite pyramidal finite element which yields a better convergence than the nonsymmetric one. It has fourteen degrees of freedom and its basis functions are incomplete piecewise triquadratic polynomials. The space of ansatz functions contains all quadratic functions on each of four sub-tetrahedra that form a given pyramidal element.     

Tense Operators on Basic Algebras

The concept of tense operators on a basic algebra is introduced. Since basic algebras can serve as an axiomatization of a many-valued quantum logic (see e.g. Chajda et al. in Algebra Univer. 60(1):63–90, 2009), these tense operators are considered to quantify time dimension, i.e. one expresses the quantification “it is always going to be the case that” and the other expresses “it has always been the case that”. We set up the axiomatization and basic properties of tense operators on basic algebras and involve a certain construction of these operators for left-monotonous basic algebras. Finally, we relate basic algebras with tense operators with another quantum structures which are the so-called dynamic effect algebras.     

Internal magnetic fields in submicron particles of barium hexaferrite detected by 57Fe NMR

⁵⁷Fe nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of hexaferrite BaFe₁₂O₁₉ powder samples prepared by glass crystallization method were measured at 4.2 K and analyzed in comparison to spectra of single crystals. Samples with various mean particle dimensions were tested. NMR spectral lines corresponding to individual iron sublattices showed pronounced frequency shifts of their positions and a significant line broadening compared to single crystals. The significant contribution to the line shifts and line shape had a uniform macroscopic origin giving identical absolute value of shifts and the same line shapes for all measured lines of a particular sample. Estimations of demagnetization fields based on mean particle dimensions reasonably corresponded to the observed frequency shifts for particle mean diameter 67 nm, or had a higher value for a sample with mean diameter of 340 nm, for which a presence of domain walls was detected by NMR. In the spectrum of a sample with the smallest particles (～16 nm), an additional contribution having broader lines and faster spin-spin relaxations was found. It could be assigned to weaker exchange interactions or deviations of magnetic moment directions from the hexagonal axis in a surface layer.