Reactor production of anhydrous18F ion

The direct production of anhydrous¹³F ion has been achieved through the incorporation of a new approach to hot atom reactions for reactor generated radiopharmaceuticals. Capitalizing on the traditional Li₂CO₃ method for hydrated¹⁸F production, a unique target design and geometry utilizing neutron generated energetic tritions emerging from the surface of a thin LiF embedded stainless steel matrix react with gaseous O₂ to produce¹⁸F as a free recoiling anhydrous species. Approximately 10–15 MBq of reactive anhydrous¹⁸F ion absorbed onto a metallic foil has been produced by this method. Verification of the production of¹⁸F was substantiated through decay measurements using Ge(Li) spectroscopic analysis, and by the synthesis of¹⁸F-fluoromethane gas. Cyclotron gas target chemistry which has been instrumental in the preparation of¹⁸F-2FDG and other metabolic tracers may be reproduced using this technique by the addition of 1% F₂ scavenger gas to a recirculating reactor gas handling system.     

Intracellular localization of meso-tetraphenylporphine tetrasulphonate probed by time-resolved and microscopic fluorescence spectroscopy.

The effects of solvent pH on spectral properties and fluorescence decay kinetics were investigated in order to characterize the microenvironment of meso-tetraphenylporphine tetrasulphonate (TPPS4) taken up by cells. Steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra of TPPS4 in buffer solutions of different pH were used to identify a ring protonated species at pH less than or equal to 4. This dictation could also be distinguished from the unprotonated form by its altered fluorescence decay time (3.5 vs. 11.4 ns). In addition, time-resolved spectroscopy gave some evidence of a monocationic species existing at pH 6-9. This was concluded from the occurrence of another component with a decay time of 5 ns. Measurements of the spectral and kinetic properties of the fluorescence emission of single epithelial cells (RR1022) incubated with TPPS4 indicated that the sensitizer was mainly localized in a microenvironment with a pH of 5, a value which occurs intracellularly only within lysosomes. Cells kept in the dark exhibited the characteristic spectra of both the dication and the neutral form. The fluorescence decay showed two components with decay times of 2.6 ns and 10.6 ns. Irradiation of the cells changed the decay times to 4.6 ns and 13.4 ns and the dication fluorescence emission peak vanished, which is in accordance with the results obtained from buffer solutions at pH greater than or equal to 6. Therefore, we deduce that the photodynamic action leads to a rupture of the lysosomes and that the sensitizer is released into the surrounding cytoplasm.     

Driven production of cold antihydrogen and the first measured distribution of antihydrogen states

Cold antihydrogen is produced when antiprotons are repeatedly driven into collisions with cold positrons within a nested Penning trap. Efficient antihydrogen production takes place during many cycles of positron cooling of antiprotons. A first measurement of a distribution of antihydrogen states is made using a preionizing electric field between separated production and detection regions. Surviving antihydrogen is stripped in an ionization well that captures and stores the freed antiproton for background-free detection.     

Background-free observation of cold antihydrogen with field-ionization analysis of its states

A background-free observation of cold antihydrogen atoms is made using field ionization followed by antiproton storage, a detection method that provides the first experimental information about antihydrogen atomic states. More antihydrogen atoms can be field ionized in an hour than all the antimatter atoms that have been previously reported, and the production rate per incident high energy antiproton is higher than ever observed. The high rate and the high Rydberg states suggest that the antihydrogen is formed via three-body recombination.     

Observing molecular motions of a fluorinated ferroelectric liquid crystal using fluorine-19 NMR

Fluorine-19 NMR spectra have been recorded for both the phases (cholesteric and smectic C*) of the ferroelectric liquid crystal 2,3-difluoro-4-octyloxybiphenyl-4'(-4'-oxycarbonyl-(S)-1-chloro-3-methylbutyl)benzoate, using a conventional high-resolution NMR probe. The magnitude of the dipolar coupling constant, D_FF0, was found to increase with decreasing temperature in the cholesteric phase with a sudden increase (of approximately 1 000 Hz) at the cholesteric-smectic C* transition, whereafter a more gradual change was observed. The order parameter, was S_FF, subsequently calculated for each temperature.     

BaTiO3 thin-film waveguide modulator with a low voltage-length product at near-infrared wavelengths of 0.98 and 1.55 microm

A BaTiO3 thin-film electro-optic waveguide modulator with a low half-wave voltage-length product has been demonstrated at near-infrared wavelengths of 1-1.6 microm. Half-wave voltage-length products as small as 0.25 and 0.5 V cm were measured for a 5-mm-long device at wavelengths of 973 and 1561 nm, respectively. The effective electro-optic coefficients were calculated as 420 pm/V at 973 nm and 360 pm/V at 1561 nm. Further improvements in device performance by optimizing the ferroelectric domain structure are anticipated.