Study of the reaction238U (α, α′f) atE α=480 MeV

The excitation function of the fission probability P _E E _x) for²³⁸U has been measured in the reaction²³⁸U(α, α′ f) at 480 MeV bombarding energy. The reaction mechanism of this reaction is discussed for excitation energies belowB _nf , the threshold for second chance fission, and aboveB _nf up toE _x =37 MeV. In comparing with results from fission induced by photons and by particle transfer reactions the (α, α′f) reaction gives too low values for the fission probabilityP _f at excitation energies well aboveB _nE . The role of the quasi-elastic knock-out process in this reaction is discussed.     

Observation of the nonlinear effect in relativistic Thomson scattering of electron and laser beams

Thomson scattering of high-power laser and electron beams is a good test of electrodynamics in the high-field region. We demonstrated production of high-intensity X-rays in the head-on collision of a CO₂ laser and 60-MeV electron beams at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Accelerator Test Facility. The energy of an X-ray photon was limited at 6.5 keV in the linear (lowest order) Thomson scattering, but the nonlinear (higher order) process produces higher energy X-rays. We measured the angular distribution of the high-energy X-rays and confirmed that it agrees with theoretical predictions.     

Advantages of NIR radiation use for optical determination of skin horny layer thickness with embedded TiO2 nanoparticles during tape stripping procedure

The tape stripping technique is an experimental method frequently used for reconstruction of the in-depth distribution of various topically administered substances within the horny layer of human skin, e.g., compounds contained in sunscreens. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles (25–200 nm in diameter) are one such compound. Optical techniques which apply blue light are found to be suitable for reconstruction. However, the presence of particles affects the light propagation within the skin and therefore causes incorrect determination of strip thickness, leading to an improper reconstructed distribution of nanoparticle concentration revealed from the experimental data. This study evaluates the errors emerging from the use of blue (400 nm) and NIR (800 nm) radiation and finds the use of longer wavelength light more advantageous. Particles of different diameters are considered, and it is revealed that the application of small particles (25–60 nm) results in the lowest rate of error.     

Hydrogen peroxide promoted hydroxylation of haloarenes and heteroarenes

Addition of aqueous hydrogen peroxide significantly accelerates the substitution reactions of hydroxide salts with haloarenes bearing electron withdrawing substituents. A similar effect is observed in the reactions of hydroxide salts with halogenated heteroarenes. Reactions are carried out in water or water-THF at ambient temperature or at 50-60 °C.     

A study of the fluorescent properties of spin-coated sodium salicylate thin films

Thin films of sodium salicylate were deposited by spin coating from a solution prepared by dissolving sodium salicylate in methanol. The films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy and spectrofluorometry. The films were crystalline with a strong blue fluorescence peak at an emission wavelength of 419.3 nm. The influence of solution concentration, spin speed and annealing temperature on the fluorescence intensity was studied. Optimum results were obtained with a solution whose concentration was 2.5 M. It was found that lower spin speed resulted in higher fluorescence intensity. Moreover, the fluorescence intensity decreased as the annealing temperature was increased. The durability of the films over a period of 30 days was also investigated, and films annealed at higher temperatures were found to be less degraded with time.     

Anisotropy of two-photon absorption in gallium selenide at 1064 nm

The Bridgman method is used to grow single crystals of ε-GaSe. The two-photon absorption (TPA) coefficient β was measured for especially un-doped crystals at room temperature for the ordinary o-ray (β_⊥) and extraordinary e-ray (β_∥) using single-wavelength excitation by a Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1.064 μm with a pulse duration of 10 ps and a repetition rate of 81 MHz. No large anisotropy was observed for the TPA coefficients between the two geometries. The TPA coefficients were found to be β_⊥ = 1.07 × 10⁻⁹ cm/W and β_∥ = 1.88 × 10⁻⁹ cm/W. It was found that doping slightly increases the TPA coefficient. The value of the TPA for crystals doped with 0.5 at.% of Tl is β_⊥ = 7.56 × 10⁻⁹ cm/W.     

Asymptotic optimality of the bayes estimator in models differentiable in quadratic mean

We study the asymptotic properties of the Bayes estimator in models differentiable in quadratic mean (DQM) in the case of independent and identically distributed observations. The goal is to define weak assumptions on the model under which this estimator is asymptotically efficient, regular, and asymptotically of minimal risk. The results of the paper are applied to models based on a mixture distribution, the Cauchy distribution with location and scale parameter, and the Weibull distribution. Bibliography: 10 titles. Published in Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 328, 2005, pp. 114–146.     

Electron spin resonance of diluted solid solutions of MnO2 in Y2O3

Electron spin resonance spectra of Mn²⁺ in diluted solid solutions of MnO₂ in Y₂O₃ have been studied at room temperature for Mn concentrations between 0.20 and 2.00 mol%. Isolated Mn²⁺ ions in sites with two different symmetries were observed, as well as Mn²⁺ ions coupled by the exchange interaction. The relative concentration of isolated to coupled Mn²⁺ ions decreases with increasing manganese concentration. The results are consistent with the assumption that the manganese ions occupy preferentially the C₂ symmetry sites. A theoretical calculation based on this model yields an effective range of the exchange interaction between Mn²⁺ ions of 0.53 nm, of the same order as that of Mn²⁺ ions in CaO.     

Evaluation of the Planck-mean absorption coefficients from HITRAN and HITEMP databases

New values of Planck-mean absorption coefficients are presented for various gases, based on line-by-line calculations from the high-resolution databases, HITRAN and HITEMP. The new values are compared with previously published Planck-mean absorption coefficients.