Evaluating Zn2SiO4:Mn phosphor for use in medical imaging radiation detectors

2 SiO₄:Mn phosphor was evaluated for use in radiation detectors of medical imaging systems. Zn₂SiO₄:Mn was used in the form of laboratory-prepared fluorescent layers (screens) with coating weights from 18 to 150 mg/cm². The phosphor was excited to luminescence by low-energy X-raysusing X-raytube voltages ranging from 15 to 50 kVp. The number of emitted optical photons per incident X-rayquantum was thus determined for various X-rayenergies and phosphor coating weights. The optical emission spectrum was also measured and it was used to evaluate the spectral compatibility of Zn₂SiO₄:Mn with radiographic films, photocathodes and the Si photodiode. Finally, phosphor optical properties were estimated by fitting a theoretical model to experimental data. Results showed that Zn₂SiO₄:Mn is more efficient for low-energy X-rays. Its intrinsic conversion efficiency was found equal to 0.08, which is comparable to that of actually used phosphors. Zn₂SiO₄:Mn was also adequately compatible with orthochromatic films and the ES-20 photocathode, thus being appropriate for low-voltage radiography and fluoroscopy. Received: 31 July 1998/Accepted: 3 August 1998     

QCD corrections to the forward-backward asymmetries of c and b quarks at the Z pole

Measurements of the forward-backward production asymmetry of heavy quarks in Z decays provide a precise determination of . The asymmetries are sensitive to QCD effects, in particular hard gluon radiation. In this paper QCD corrections for and are discussed. The interplay between the experimental techniques used to measure the asymmetries and the QCD effects is investigated using simulated events. A procedure to estimate the correction needed for experimental measurements is proposed, and some specific examples are given. Received: 26 February 1998 / Published online: 2 June 1998     

Mixed block elimination for linear systems with wider borders

The paper is about the stable solution of possibly ill-conditionedbordered linear systems. Given stable solvers for matrix A andfor A^T, we prove that the Govaerts Mixed Block Elimination (BEM)method constitutes a stable solver for the matrix consistingof A or A^T with a border of width 1, and hence by recursionfor a border of any width. We express the algorithm in an efficient,iterative, form. We analyse its operation count, and verifythe theory by extensive numerical experiments. ^*Senior Research Associate of the Belgian National Fund of ScientificResearch NFWO.     

Parity-locking effect in a strongly-correlated ring

Orbital magnetism in an integrable model of a multichannel ring with long-ranged electron-electron interactions is investigated. In a noninteracting multichannel system, the response to an external magnetic flux is the sum of many diamagnetic and paramagnetic contributions, but we find that for sufficiently strong correlations, the contributions of all channels add constructively, leading to a parity (diamagnetic or paramagnetic) which depends only on the total number of electrons. Numerical results confirm that this parity-locking effect is robust with respect to subband mixing due to disorder.     

Critical behavior of the wave functions of icosahedral quasicrystals

The character of the localization of the wave functions of an icosahedral quasicrystal is investigated in the tight-binding approximation. It is found that the wave functions exhibit “critical behavior”: they are neither localized, as in the case of Anderson localization, nor delocalized, as in the case of Bloch states. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 8, 559–563 (25 October 1996)     

Conversion estimates for gas-solid reactions: Improved estimates for irreversible systems

Solid conversion has been of much interest to research workers and the Cumulative Gas Concentration Method (CGCM) has been developed to provide bounds for the reactant solid in irreversible systems having power-law type kinetics. This CGCM is used in conjunction with the Pseudo-Steady-State (PSS) assumption and these bounds appear to be good under certain conditions and for long times.

In this work, the PSS condition is not assumed when deriving the bounds on the cumulative gas concentration and the effect of the inclusion of the transient part is analysed. A technique, based on an iterative scheme incorporating the CGCM, is developed to provide improved estimates for the reactant solid.     

Measurement of the spin and temperature dependence of ddµ molecule formation rate in solid and liquid deuterium

The ddµ molecule formation rate is experimentally measured for the two hyperfine states of the dµ-atom in the temperature range of 5–30 K. Results are consistent with a preliminary measurement by the TRIUMF group and contradict theoretical predictions. The work has been performed on the JINR phasotron (Dubna).     

Hydrogel composition based on carboxymethylcellulose and agar-agar

The results are given of a study of the rheological properties of concentrated solutions of CNC and agar-agar and the influence of their quantitative ratio on the anomalous flow behavior of their solutions. A hypothesis is put forward of the formation of intermolecular associates from CMC and agar-agar which leads to the formation of a stronger structural network of solutions of the initial polysaccharides.Institute of the Physics and Chemistry of Polymers, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (371) 1 44 26 61. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 357–361, May–June, 1998.     

Associators as measures of memory for media with optical memory and the optimization problem

The interference of light in a medium with optical memory is discussed within the framework of a nonassociative algebra. It is shown that it is possible to introduce an energy coefficient of useful action K_e, an information coefficient of useful action K_int, and a coefficient characterizing the size of the memory of the medium D. The problem of optimizing the process over these parameters is considered. Graphs are given for K_e, K_int, and D as functions of a free parameter β that accounts for experimental conditions. Tbilisi State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 29–32, August, 1997.