A study of dipolar interactions and dynamic processes of water molecules in tendon by 1H and 2H homonuclear and heteronuclear multiple-quantum-filtered NMR spectroscopy

The effect of proton exchange on the measurement of 1H-1H, 1H-2H, and 2H-2H residual dipolar interactions in water molecules in bovine Achilles tendons was investigated using double-quantum-filtered (DQF) NMR and new pulse sequences based on heteronuclear and homonuclear multiple-quantum filtering (MQF). Derivation of theoretical expressions for these techniques allowed evaluation of the 1H-1H and 1H-2H residual dipolar interactions and the proton exchange rate at a temperature of 24 degrees C and above, where no dipolar splitting is evident. The values obtained for these parameters at 24 degrees C were 300 and 50 Hz and 3000 s-1, respectively. The results for the residual dipolar interactions were verified by repeating the above measurements at a temperature of 1.5 degrees C, where the spectra of the H2O molecules were well resolved, so that the 1H-1H dipolar interaction could be determined directly from the observed splitting. Analysis of the MQF experiments at 1.5 degrees C, where the proton exchange was in the intermediate regime for the 1H-2H dipolar interaction, confirmed the result obtained at 24 degrees C for this interaction. A strong dependence of the intensities of the MQF signals on the proton exchange rate, in the intermediate and the fast exchange regimes, was observed and theoretically interpreted. This leads to the conclusion that the MQF techniques are mostly useful for tissues where the residual dipolar interaction is not significantly smaller than the proton exchange rate. Dependence of the relaxation times and signal intensities of the MQF experiments on the orientation of the tendon with respect to the magnetic field was observed and analyzed. One of the results of the theoretical analysis is that, in the fast exchange regime, the signal decay rates in the MQF experiments as well as in the spin echo or CPMG pulse sequences (T2) depend on the orientation as the square of the second-rank Legendre polynomial.     

Smoothed cross-validation

Summary For bandwidth selection of a kernel density estimator, a generalization of the widely studied least squares cross-validation method is considered. The essential idea is to do a particular type of presmoothing of the data. This is seen to be essentially the same as using the smoothed bootstrap estimate of the mean integrated squared error. Analysis reveals that a rather large amount of presmoothing yields excellent asymptotic performance. The rate of convergence to the optimum is known to be best possible under a wide range of smoothness conditions. The method is more appealing than other selectors with this property, because its motivation is not heavily dependent on precise asymptotic analysis, and because its form is simple and intuitive. Theory is also given for choice of the amount of presmoothing, and this is used to derive a data-based method for this choice.Research of the second author was done while on leave from the University of North Carolina. That of both the second and third was partially supported by National Science Foundation Grants DMS-8701201 and DMS-8902973     

Transient magnetic reconnection and unstable shear layers

We study three-dimensional magnetic reconnection caused by the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability and differential rotation in subsonic and sub-Alfvenic flows. The flows, which are modeled by the resistive magnetohydrodynamic equations with constant resistivity, are stable in the direction of the magnetic field but unstable perpendicular to the magnetic field. Localized transient reconnection is observed on the KH time scale, and kinetic energy increases with decreasing resistivity. As in flux-transfer events in the Earth's magnetopause boundary layer, bipolar structures in the normal flux and bidirectional jetting away from reconnection zones are observed.     

Field induced biquadratic exchange in hard/soft ferromagnetic bilayers

The appearance of biquadratic exchange coupling between soft Fe and hard SmCo thin layers is found. The remanent magnetization in the Fe layer reorients from parallel to perpendicular with respect to the SmCo easy axis after application of large enough negative field. To explain such an unexpected behavior in contacting ferromagnetic layers a model is proposed based on Slonczewski's fluctuating exchange mechanism. In our samples a partial remagnetization of the hard layer creates fluctuations of the bilinear interactions. The intralayer exchange averaging of the resulting magnetization fluctuations in the soft layer causes the observed biquadratic coupling.     

Monopoles in an antiferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate

We show that even in three dimensions an antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate, which can, for instance, be created with (23)Na atoms in an optical trap, has not only singular linelike vortex excitations, but also allows for singular pointlike topological excitations, i.e., monopoles similar to the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles. We discuss the static and dynamic properties of these monopoles.     

Laser-cooled and trapped atoms as a precision target for heavy ion beams

We report on the development of a novel precision target for atomic physics with heavy ion beams, which consists of extremely cold and well localized, laser-cooled lithium atoms in a magneto-optical trap. First experiments are in preparation to study the collisional losses from the trap caused by the ion beam. The experimental set-up and the laser system, using exclusively 670 nm diode lasers, are described.     

XRD and bulk magnetic studies on Ni-Cd and Ti doped Ni-Cd ferrites

For the ferrites Ni _x Cd_1–x Fe₂O₄ (x=0.3, 0.4,1) the lattice parameter, grain size, electrical resistivity, initial permeability, Curie temperature and squareness of the magnetization curve were measured. The results are discussed in terms of the model of the canted spin structure taking into account the domain structure of the polycrystalline ferrite.     

Laser-induced fluorescence thermometry and concentration measurements on NOA–X (0-0) transitions in the exhaust gas of high pressure CH4/air flames

Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) excitation spectra in the NOA–X (0-0) band were used for temperature measurements in the postflame region of high-pressure CH₄/air flames. To improve the quality of the measured spectra and to perform reliable line-shape measurements, the initial mixture was doped with approximately 400 ppm NO. At pressures up to 18 bar, excellent agreement was obtained between NO LIF temperatures and NARS/rotational Raman temperatures. Effective broadening coefficients were also determined in these flames. Problems with quantitative concentration measurements of NO and single-pulse temperature measurements at high pressures are discussed.     

Dissipation, decoherence and preparation effects in the spin-boson system

The dynamics of the reduced density matrix of the driven dissipative two-state system is studied for a general diagonal/off-diagonal initial state. We derive exact formal series expressions for the populations and coherences and show that they can be cast into the form of coupled nonconvolutive exact master equations and integral relations. We show that neither the asymptotic distributions, nor the transition temperature between coherent and incoherent motion, nor the dephasing rate and relaxation rate towards the equilibrium state depend on the particular initial state chosen. However, in the underdamped regime, effects of the particular initial preparation, e.g. in an off-diagonal state of the density matrix, strongly affect the transient dynamics. We find that an appropriately tuned external ac-field can slow down decoherence and thus allow preparation effects to persist for longer times than in the absence of driving. Received 23 October 1998 and Received in final form 26 February 1999     

Discrete optimization in public rail transport

Many problems arising in traffic planning can be modelled and solved using discrete optimization. We will focus on recent developments which were applied to large scale real world instances. Most railroad companies apply a hierarchically structured planning process. Starting with the definition of the underlying network used for transport one has to decide which infrastructural improvements are necessary. Usually, the rail system is periodically scheduled. A fundamental base of the schedule are the lines connecting several stations with a fixed frequency. Possible objectives for the construction of the line plan may be the minimization of the total cost or the maximization of the passengers’s comfort satisfying certain regulations. After the lines of the system are fixed, the train schedule can be determined. A criterion for the quality of a schedule is the total transit time of the passengers including the waiting time which should be minimized satisfying some operational constraints. For each trip of the schedule a train consisting of a locomotive and some carriages is needed for service. The assignment of rolling stock to schedule trips has to satisfy operational requirements. A comprehensible objective is to minimize the total cost. After all strategic and tactical planning the schedule has to be realized. Several external influences, for example delayed trains, force the dispatcher to recompute parts of the schedule on-line. A Web page with examples quoted in this survey can be found at http://www.math.tu-bs.de/mo/ismp.html.