Transducers in medical ultrasound. Part 4: Transducer safety

Transducer safety encompasses a wide spectrum of topics. It may range from mechanical construction reliability to biological effects created by ultrasound radiation. In this Paper the electrical and acoustical safety aspects are summarized and initial experience with sterilization of echocardiographic transducers for peroperative cardiac scanning is mentioned.     

Progress in the quality assurance of environmental trace organic analysis

An overview is given on the stepwise learning programmes undertaken to identify the main sources of error associated with the determination of the mandatory organic contaminants in the marine monitoring programmes. Details are given on the preparation and use of LRMs and CRMs to maintain analytical control and quantify the laboratory errors in relation to the measurement of changes in the environment.     

Gas‐phase chemistry of dihydromyrcenol with ozone and OH radical: Rate constants and products

A bimolecular rate constant, k_{OH + dihydromyrcenol}, of (38 ± 9) × 10^?12 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 was measured using the relative rate technique for the reaction of the hydroxyl radical (OH) with 2,6‐dimethyl‐7‐octen‐2‐ol (dihydromyrcenol,) at 297 ± 3 K and 1 atm total pressure. Additionally, an upper limit of the bimolecular rate constant, k, of approximately 2 × 10^?18 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 was determined by monitoring the decrease in ozone (O₃) concentration in an excess of dihydromyrcenol. To more clearly define part of dihydromyrcenol's indoor environment degradation mechanism, the products of the dihydromyrcenol + OH and dihydromyrcenol + O₃ reactions were also investigated. The positively identified dihydromyrcenol/OH and dihydromyrcenol/O₃ reaction products were acetone, 2‐methylpropanal (O?CHCH(CH₃)₂), 2‐methylbutanal (O?CHCH(CH₃)CH₂CH₃), ethanedial (glyoxal, HC(?O)C(?O)H), 2‐oxopropanal (methylglyoxal, CH₃C(?O)C(?O)H). The use of derivatizing agents O‐(2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine (PFBHA) and N,O‐bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) clearly indicated that several other reaction products were formed. The elucidation of these other reaction products was facilitated by mass spectrometry of the derivatized reaction products coupled with plausible dihydromyrcenol/OH and dihydromyrcenol/O₃ reaction mechanisms based on previously published volatile organic compound/OH and volatile organic compound/O₃ gas‐phase reaction mechanisms. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. *

1 This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain of the United States of America

Int J Chem Kinet 38: 451–463, 2006     

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry studies of noncovalent myosin VI complexes reveal a new specific calmodulin binding site

Among the myosin superfamily, myosin VI differs from all others by a reverse directionality and a particular motility. Little structural information is available for myosin VI. It is known that it binds one calmodulin (CaM) by means of a single "IQ motif" and that myosin VI contains a specific insert located at the junction between the motor domain (MD) and the lever arm, likely to play a critical role for the unusual motility previously observed. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (MS) was used to determine the CaM and Ca2+ stoichiometries in several myosin VI constructs. In particular, the experimental conditions required for the observation of multiprotein/Ca2+ noncovalent assemblies are detailed for two truncated MD constructs (less than 20 kDa) and for three full MD constructs (more than 90 KDa). The specificity of the detected stoichiometries is discussed for each construct and the resolving power of Time of Flight mass spectrometry is stressed, in particular for the detection of metal ions binding to high molecular weight complexes. MS reveals a new CaM binding site for myosin VI and highlights a different behavior for the five myosin VI constructs versus Ca2+ binding. In addition to these stoichiometry based experiments, gas-phase dissociation analyses on intact complexes are described. They reveal that Ca2+ transfer between protein partners occurs during the dissociation process for one construct with a full MD. Charge-transfer and dissociation behavior has allowed to draw structural assumptions for the interaction of the MD with the CaM N-terminal lobe.     

Site symmetry and crystal field splittings of Ce 3+ in LiLuF 4 and LiSr 0.8 Ca 0.2 AlF 6

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of Ce 3+ in LiLuF 4 (LLF) and LiSr 0.8 Ca 0.2 AlF 6 (LSCAF) observed at low temperatures (<20 v K) show that the Ce 3+ centers have tetragonal and pseudo-trigonal symmetry with ( g , g )=(2.751, 1.467) and (2.14, 0.80), respectively. The EPR lines of Ce 3+ in LSCAF are inhomogeneously broadened by different Ce 3+ configurations which correspond to the random occupation of the second nearest neighbor cation sites by Ca 2+ and Sr 2+ and/or charge compensators. These EPR results indicate that the Ce 3+ centers in LLF and LSCAF are associated with substitution of Ce 3+ for Lu 3+ with eight-fold coordination and Sr 2+ /Ca 2+ with six-fold coordination, respectively. Fourier transform infrared absorption has been used to measure transitions between the 2 F 5/2 ground state and the 2 F 7/2 multiplet of Ce 3+ in LLF at 10 v K. The optical absorption and luminescence of Ce 3+ :LLF and Ce 3+ :LSCAF in the UV range are strongly polarized. The energy levels and polarization dependence of the optical transitions can be accounted for in terms of the crystal field potential experienced by the Ce 3+ ions under the action of the different point group symmetries.     

Crosstalk in a bidirectional optical fiber

Abstract

Full-duplex communications in a single optical fiber is both feasible and practical in certain applications. The main problem is crosstalk between the two directions. This paper reviews the sources of crosstalk, gives its magnitude, and describes techniques to reduce crosstalk. An example is a system that requires 75 optical dB of isolation between transmitted and received signals at each terminal. There are two sources of optical crosstalk. The first occurs in components such as couplers and connectors and can be held below 50 dB by careful design. The second is Rayleigh scattering within the fiber, which increases system noise as well as crosstalk between counterdirectional signals.