On the potentialities of nuclear gamma resonance (Mössbauer effect) spectroscopy as a new,low dose approach to cancer radiation therapy

The extension of a new, low dose, Mössbauer spectroscopy approach to cancer radiation therapy to “easy” isotopes other than Iron-57 is outlined. New in vitro studies using a number of cancer cell lines are reported.     

A variational principle for the scattered wave

A Schwinger-type variational principle is presented for the scattered field in the case of scalar wave scattering with an arbitrary field incident on an object of arbitrary shape with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. The result is variationally invariant at field points ranging from the surface of the scatterer to the farfield and is an important extension of the usual Schwinger variational principle for the scattering amplitude, which is a farfield quantity. Also, a generic procedure, physically motivated by the general principles of boundary conditions and shadowing, is presented for constructing simple trial functions to approximate the fields. The variational principle and the trial function design are tested for the special case of a spherical scatterer and accurate answers are found over the entire frequency range.     

Rapid removal of selected volatile organic compounds from gaseous mixtures using a new dispersive vapor extraction technique: A feasibility study

A new dispersive vapor extraction (DVE) technique for rapid removal of selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from gaseous mixtures was investigated. In this technique, less than 1.0 mL of a volatile solvent was vaporized for 8 min in a 250-mL flask containing a gaseous mixture. The flask was then cooled under running tap water for 2-3 min to induce condensation of the vapor and co-extraction of the VOCs from the headspace. The technique was tested over a concentration range of 4-23 ppb, and resulted in extraction efficiencies ranging from 80 to 97% for the VOCs tested. Because of its simplicity and the relatively short sampling time, DVE could potentially lead to high sample throughput and rapid air analysis.     

Development of a Xanthine Oxidase Modified Amperometric Electrode for the Determination of the Antioxidant Capacity

This paper describes the development of a xanthine oxidase/poly‐m‐phenylenediamine (XOD‐PPD)‐modified electrode. The biosensor was constructed by encapsulating XOD in a sol‐gel matrix deposited onto a platinum based screen‐printed electrode functionalized with a permselective PPD membrane. The hydrogen peroxide generated as a final product of the enzymatic reaction between the hypoxanthine and the XOD or by the spontaneous dismutation of superoxide radicals was selectively monitored at +700 mV. The use of a highly selective PPD layer blocked the nonspecific oxidation of other oxidizable molecules. Finally the biosensor was applied to the determination of the antioxidant capacity of acetylsalicylic acid.     

DNA Encapsulation of Ten Silver Atoms Produces a Bright, Modulatable, Near Infrared-Emitting Cluster

Photostability, inherent fluorescence brightness, and optical modulation of fluorescence are key attributes distinguishing silver nanoclusters as fluorophores. DNA plays a central role both by protecting the clusters in aqueous environments and by directing their formation. Herein, we characterize a new near infrared-emitting cluster with excitation and emission maxima at 750 and 810 nm, respectively that is stabilized within C(3)AC(3)AC(3)TC(3)A. Following chromatographic resolution of the near infrared species, a stoichiometry of 10 Ag/oligonucleotide was determined. Combined with excellent photostability, the cluster's 30% fluorescence quantum yield and 180,000 M(-1)cm(-1) extinction coefficient give it a fluorescence brightness that significantly improves on that of the organic dye Cy7. Fluorescence correlation analysis shows an optically accessible dark state that can be directly depopulated with longer wavelength co-illumination. The coupled increase in total fluorescence demonstrates that enhanced sensitivity can be realized through Synchronously Amplified Fluorescence Image Recovery (SAFIRe), which further differentiates this new fluorophore.     

Structural and Spectroscopic Characterization of Mer-[RhBr3(Me2pzH)3] (Me2pzH?=?3, 5-Dimethylpyrazole); Interpreting the Results with Density Functional Theory Calculations

Abstract  

Mer-RhBr₃(Me₂pzH)₃ (Me₂pzH = 3,5-dimethylpyrazole) (monoclinic, P2₁/n, a = 8.3300 (5) Å, b = 16.2889 (9) Å, c = 15.9299 (11) Å, α = 90°, β = 100.217 (5)°, γ = 90°; V = 2,127.2 (2) ų; Z = 4) has been characterized by X-ray diffraction, ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and electronic absorption spectroscopy, and modeled by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Mer-RhBr₃(Me₂pzH)₃ is an octahedral complex with a HOMO → LUMO transition at 486 nm. The DFT and TDDFT calculations predicted mer-RhBr₃(Me₂pzH)₃ to be an octahedral complex with a HOMO → LUMO transition at 540 nm.     

Numerical study of an ion-exchanged glass waveguide using both two-dimensional and three-dimensional models

A numerical study is carried out to compare the two-dimensional (2-D) case and three-dimensional (3-D) case for the modelling of an ion-exchanged glass waveguide. It is shown that different waveguide widths on the photomask correspond to different ion concentration distributions after an annealing process. A numerical example is presented of two waveguide sections with different widths indicates that due to the abrupt change of the waveguide width, a 3-D theoretical model is required for an accurate prediction of the parameters of ion-exchanged glass waveguides. The good agreement between the modelled and measured results proves that the developed 3-D numerical model can be beneficially utilized in the generalized design of optical devices based on ion-exchange waveguides.     

Humidity sensor based on a single-mode hetero-core fiber structure

Using a small-core single-mode fiber (SCSMF), a novel relative humidity (RH) sensor based on an SMF28-SCSMF-SMF28 fiber structure was proposed in this paper. By depositing a humidity sensitive material, such as poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) on the bare SCSMF fiber, the proposed structure can act as an RH sensor with high sensitivity. Experiments demonstrated that the proposed RH sensor with PEO coating can achieve a sensitivity of 430 nm per relative humidity unit (RHU) in the RH range from 80% to 83% RH and a sensitivity of 50 nm per RHU in the RH range from 83% to 95% RH.     

Chirped area coupled resonator optical waveguide gyroscope

We study the transmission of an optical field through a rotating coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) in which the size of the ring resonators changes from one ring to the next. We focus on symmetric integer wavelength chirps of the circumference of the rings relative to the central ring in the array. The transfer matrix method is used to obtain the transmission as a function of the inertial rotation rate Ω resulting from the Sagnac effect. Chirping increases the slope of the oscillations in the transmission as a function of Ω, which can be exploited to further enhance the rotation sensitivity beyond that of a CROW with uniform resonators.