Dynamics of analyte binding onto a metallophthalocyanine: NO/FePc

The gas-surface reaction dynamics of NO impinging on an iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) monolayer were investigated using King and Wells sticking measurements. The initial sticking probability was measured as a function of both incident molecular beam energy (0.09-0.4 eV) and surface temperature (100-300 K). NO adsorption onto FePc saturates at 3% of a monolayer for all incident beam energies and surface temperatures, suggesting that the final chemisorption site is confined to the Fe metal centers. At low surface temperature and low incident beam energy, the initial sticking probability is 40% and decreases linearly with increasing beam energy and surface temperature. The results are consistent with the NO molecule sticking onto the FePc molecules via physisorption to the aromatics followed by diffusion to the Fe metal center, or precursor-mediated chemisorption. The adsorption mechanism of NO onto FePc was confirmed by control studies of NO sticking onto metal-free H2Pc, inert Au111, and reactive Al111.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of iron overload in liver tissue

Whole-tissue and homogenized samples of human liver were studied in a NMR spectrometer, T1 and T2 relaxation times were measured as a function of added inorganic or organic iron. When inorganic iron (Fe+3) was added, pronounced T1 and T2 shortening was noted. However, when organic iron, in the form of ferritin, was added, the amount of T1 and T2 relaxation enhancement was much reduced for the same amount of added iron. The in vitro ferritin results model the situation found in clinical studies of hemochromatosis. Only in cases of severe iron overload were significant decreases in relaxation times observed. The T2 relaxation time was the more reliable indicator of excessive levels of iron in the liver. The large range of T1 and T2 values encountered in normal volunteers precludes the use of MR to quantitatively measure iron levels in the liver. The T1 and T2 relaxation times measured at intervals for one individual tend to fluctuate as well, making the use of MR to follow the course of treatment of iron overload disorders unreliable.     

Fano resonances in prism-coupled square micropillars

We report Fano resonances in the frustrated total internal reflection (TIR) spectra of a prism-coupled square micropillar. Our angle-selective frustrated TIR technique reveals characteristically asymmetric resonance line shapes, which evolve spectrally over approximately a 2pi phase in the far field within a subdegree range of reflection angles. We theoretically model the asymmetric line shapes by the interference between a high-Q resonance that is evanescently coupled and partially confined by TIR, and a coherent background that is total internally reflected at the prism surface without coupling to the micropillar.     

Multimode resonances in square-shaped optical microcavities

Square-shaped two-dimensional optical microcavities (micro-cavities) were investigated for possible applications as filters for dense wavelength-division multiplexing. Multimode cavity resonances were observed in the elastic scattering of approximately 200-microm square-shaped micro-cavities in fused silica. Based on a two-dimensional k-space representation, we accounted for the multimode spectrum by different normal modes with rays confined by total internal reflection. The cavity-mode trajectories need not be closed after each round trip. Single-mode spectra are expected from smaller square-shaped micro-cavities.     

Twin-image elimination experiments for three-dimensional images in optical scanning holography

Twin-image elimination in the context of optical scanning holography has recently been proposed. The proposed technique involves simultaneously acquiring sine and cosine Fresnel holograms. A complex hologram is then formed by complex addition of the holograms, and twin-image rejection is predicted by computer simulations. An experimental verification of the technique by optical acquisition of the two holograms and subsequent reconstruction of the complex hologram digitally is reported. Three-dimensional image reconstruction without twin-image noise is demonstrated.     

The temporal course of masking and the auditory filter shape

Recent experiments have shown that frequency selectivity measured in tone-on-tone simultaneous masking improves with increasing delay of a brief signal relative to the onset of a longer duration gated masker. To determine whether a similar improvement occurs for a notched-noise masker, threshold was measured for a 20-ms signal presented at the beginning, the temporal center, or the end of the 400-ms masker (simultaneous masking), or immediately following the masker (forward masking). The notch width was varied systematically and the notch was placed both symmetrically and asymmetrically about the 1-kHz signal frequency. Growth-of-masking functions were determined for each temporal condition, for a noise masker without a spectral notch. These functions were used to express the thresholds from the notched-noise experiment in terms of the level of a flat-spectrum noise which would produce the same threshold. In simultaneous masking the auditory filter shapes derived from the transformed data did not change significantly with signal delay, suggesting that the selectivity of the auditory filter does not develop over time. In forward masking the auditory filter shapes were sharper than those for simultaneous masking, particularly on the high-frequency side, which was attributed to suppression.     

A quartz crystal microbalance study of β-cyclodextrin self assembly on gold and complexation of immobilized β-cyclodextrin with adamantane derivatives

Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was used to study the self-assembly of per-6-thio-β-cyclodextrin (t₇-βCD) on gold surfaces, and the subsequent inclusion interactions of immobilized βCD with adamantane-poly(ethylene glycol) (5,000 MW, AD-PEG), 1-adamantanecarboxylic acid (AD-C) and 1-adamantylamine (AD-A). From a 50 μM solution of t₇-βCD in 60:40 DMSO:H₂O, a t₇-βCD layer was formed on gold with surface density of 71.7 ± 2.7 pmol/cm², corresponding to 80 ± 3% of close-packed monolayer coverage. Gold sensors with immobilized t₇-βCD were then exposed alternately to six different concentrations of AD-PEG, 500 μM AD-C or 500 μM AD-A aqueous solutions for association, and water for dissociation. Association of AD-PEG conformed to a Langmuir isotherm, with a best fit equilibrium constant K = 125,000 ± 18,000 M⁻¹. For AD-C and AD-A, association (k _a ) and dissociation (k _d ) rate constants were extracted from kinetic profiles by fitting to the Langmuir model, and equilibrium constants were calculated. The parameters for AD-C were found to be: k _a = 100 ± 5 M⁻¹ s⁻¹, k _d = 110 (±18) × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, and K = 9,400 ± 1,700 M⁻¹. For AD-A, k _a = 58 ± 6 M⁻¹ s⁻¹, k _d = 154 (±7) × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, and K = 3,800 ± 400 M⁻¹. The results demonstrate the utility of QCM as a tool for studying small molecule surface adsorption and guest–host interactions on surfaces. More specifically, the kinetic and thermodynamic data of AD-C, AD-A, and AD-PEG inclusion with immobilized t₇-βCD form a basis for further surface association studies of AD-X conjugates to advance surface sensory and coupling applications.     

Geometry of Hyper-Kähler Connections with Torsion

The internal space of a N = 4 supersymmetric model with Wess–Zumino term has a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion and holonomy in SP(n). We study the mathematical background of this type of connection. In particular, we relate it to classical Hermitian geometry, construct homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous examples, characterize it in terms of holomorphic data, develop its potential theory and reduction theory. Received: 1 October 1999 / Accepted: 30 January 2000     

Approximate colored range and point enclosure queries

In this paper, we formulate two classes of problems, the colored range query problems and the colored point enclosure query problems to model multi-dimensional range and point enclosure queries in the presence of categorical information. Many of these problems are difficult to solve using traditional data structural techniques. Based on a new framework of combining sketching techniques and traditional data structures, we obtain two sets of results in solving the problems approximately and efficiently. In addition, the framework can be employed to attack other related problems by finding the appropriate summary structures.     

Isometries for Ky Fan norms between matrix spaces

We characterize linear maps between different rectangular matrix spaces preserving Ky Fan norms.