Focused array transducer for two-dimensional optoacoustic tomography

Optoacoustic (OA) imaging utilizes short laser pulses to create acoustic sources in tissue and time resolved detection of generated pressure profiles for image reconstruction. The ultrasonic transients provide information on the distribution of optical absorption coefficient that can be useful for early cancer diagnostics. In this work a new design of wide-band array transducer is developed and tested. The array consists of 32 focused piezo-elements made of PVDF slabs imposed on a cylindrical surface. A single array element response to an OA signal coming from arbitrarily located point source is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The measured signals correspond well to numerically calculated ones. Focal zone maps of the elements with aperture angles 30 degrees and 60 degrees are presented and discussed; the resolution in direction perpendicular to the imaging plane is determined. Point spread function of the whole array is calculated using experimentally obtained signals from the sources located at different distances from the array. Backprojection algorithm is employed for reconstruction of the optoacoustic images. It is shown that the spatial resolution of the images yielded by the proposed array increases significantly compared to previous transducer designs.     

Molybdenum phosphide as an o-propylaniline hydrodenitrogenation catalyst: a first principles study

MoP has been shown experimentally to be an active catalyst in the hydrodenitrogenation of o-propylaniline. We investigate the structure and the energetics of the o-propylaniline adsorption on the Mo-terminated MoP(001) surface. Detailed information on the structure of the free MoP(001) surface and on the structure and adsorption energy of o-propylaniline on MoP(001) is obtained by using density functional theory. The transition state, reaction path, and the energy barrier are reported for one of the branches of the HDN reaction network that leads to the formation of propylbenzene by hydrogenolysis of the C-N bond.     

A systematic investigation into the recovery of radioactively labeled proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels

We report the results of a systematic investigation designed to optimize a method for quantifying radioactivity in proteins in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The method involves dissolving appropriately sized pieces of gel in hydrogen peroxide and heating to 70 degrees C overnight followed by liquid scintillation counting. H(2)O(2) had no effect on the count rates of [(14)C]bovine serum albumin (BSA) when counted in a conventional liquid scintillation system, and the count rates remained stable for several days. Temperatures below 70 degrees C resulted in incomplete extraction of radioactivity from gels containing [(14)C]BSA, but there was also a significant reduction in count rates in samples incubated at 80 degrees C. At 70 degrees C recovery was not affected by the amount of sample loaded onto the gel or by the staining procedure (Coomassie Brilliant Blue or SYPRO Ruby). Recoveries were in the range of 89-94%, and the coefficient of variation for five replicate samples was 5-10%. This method offers a reliable way of measuring the amount of radioactivity in proteins that have been separated by electrophoresis. It may be useful, for example, in quantitative metabolic labeling experiments when it is necessary to know precisely how much tracer has been incorporated into a particular protein.     

Electrochemical study of quercetin-DNA interactions: part I. Analysis in incubated solutions

The present study aims to investigate the quercetin-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) interaction occurring in bulk solution either electrochemically using differential pulse voltammetry or spectrophotometrically, in order to explain the possible DNA-damaging activity of quercetin. A very weak interaction between quercetin and DNA in solution was found to take place. However, since extensive quercetin-induced DNA damage via reaction with Cu(II) has been reported, an electrochemical study of the DNA-Cu(II)-quercetin system in solution was undertaken. The product of DNA interaction with quercetin-Cu(II) complex was observed. Damages to DNA were electrochemically recognized via the increasing of the anodic peaks corresponding to the oxidation of guanosine and adenosine bases and spectrophotometrically via increasing of the 260 nm adsorption band. It was also observed that dsDNA damage produced by the quercetin-Cu(II) complex occurred with time. Control experiments with different mixtures of Cu(II), quercetin, ssDNA, dsDNA or poly[A] were carried out in order to establish a possible mechanism of interaction between DNA and quercetin via Cu(II).     

Anionic O --> alpha- and beta-vinyl carbamoyl translocation of 2-(O-carbamoyl) stilbenes

[reaction: see text] New anionic oxygen to alpha- and beta-vinyl carbamoyl migration reactions, 17a and 26a-c --> 18 and 30a-c, proceed under LDA-mediated conditions leading stereoselectively to highly substituted stilbenes bearing electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents. Compounds 17a and 26a-c are prepared by combination of efficient, directed ortho metalation, Sonogashira, and Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling procedures.     

Poisson deformations of symplectic quotient singularities

We establish a connection between smooth symplectic resolutions and symplectic deformations of a (possibly singular) affine Poisson variety.In particular, let V be a finite-dimensional complex symplectic vector space and G⊂Sp(V) a finite subgroup. Our main result says that the so-called Calogero-Moser deformation of the orbifold V/G is, in an appropriate sense, a versal Poisson deformation. That enables us to determine the algebra structure on the cohomology of any smooth symplectic resolution X?V/G (multiplicative McKay correspondence). We prove further that if is an irreducible Weyl group and , then no smooth symplectic resolution of V/G exists unless G is of types .     

Tunable soliton self-bending in optical lattices with nonlocal nonlinearity

We address the phenomenon of soliton self-bending in Kerr-type nonlocal nonlinear media with an imprinted transverse periodic modulation of the linear refractive index. We show that the imprinted optical lattice makes possible to control the mobility of soliton by varying the depth and the frequency of the linear refractive index modulation.     

Newton-Like Iteration Based on a Cubic Polynomial for Structured Matrices

We recall Newtons iteration for computing the inverse or Moore–Penrose generalized inverse of a matrix. Then we specialize this approach to the case of structured matrices where all input, output and intermediate auxiliary matrices are represented in a compressed form, via their short displacement generators. We design a new Newton-like iteration based on a cubic polynomial and show its effectiveness by some numerical experiments for matrices from the Toeplitz-like class and the Cauchy-like class.     

Strong mixing coefficients for non-commutative Gaussian processes

Bounds for non-commutative versions of two classical strong mixing coefficients for -Gaussian processes are found in terms of the angle between the underlying Hilbert spaces. As a consequence, we construct a -mixing -Gaussian stationary sequence with growth conditions on variances of partial sums. If classical processes with analogous properties were to exist, they would provide a counter-example to the Ibragimov conjecture.