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The temporal evolution of the ablation plume of cerium was investigated by absorption spectroscopy. Cerium oxide pellets were ablated in a helium atmosphere by second-harmonic radiation (532 nm) from a Nd:YAG laser at a fluence of 0.5 J/cm2. The lateral velocity (expansion velocity horizontal to the sample surface) of the plume was determined from the magnitude of the Doppler splitting of the absorption spectra measured close to the sample surface. The lateral velocities of neutral and singly ionized atoms were systematically investigated by varying several parameters, such as ambient gas pressure, ablation laser fluence, observation timing, and observation height. In addition, temporal profiles of the absorption signal were measured by detuning the probe laser frequency from the atomic resonant frequency in order to obtain the temporal variation of the velocity. On the basis of the drag force model, the slowing coefficients for atomic and ionic species in a helium atmosphere were evaluated along with lateral velocity in a vacuum. This study may help in understanding the plume dynamics effect on deposited film properties as well as optimizing experimental conditions for ablation-based spectroscopic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains the development of a new optical scanning electromagnetic field probe system, which can be used for low-invasive electromagnetic measurement near the field distribution. The frequency response of the system is shown to highly enhance with the application of a magnetic bias.

Abstract Purpose Our study aimed to elucidate the intracellular processes associated with quinolinic acid (QA)-induced brain injury by acquiring semiquantitative fluorescent images of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and positron emission tomography (PET) images of mitochondrial complex I (MC-I) activity. Methods Ex vivo fluorescent imaging with dihydroethidium (DHE) and PET scans with 18F-BCPP-EF were conducted at 3 h and 24 h after QA injection into the rat striatum. Immunohistochemical studies were performed 24 h after QA injection into the rat brain using monoclonal antibodies against neuronal nuclei (NeuN) and CD11b. Results A strong DHE-derived fluorescent signal was detected in a focal area within the QA-injected striatum 3 h after QA injection, and increased fluorescent signal spread throughout the striatum and parts of the cerebral cortex after 24 h. By contrast, 18F-BCPP-EF uptake in the QA-injected rat brain was unchanged after 3 h and markedly decreased after 24 h, not only in the striatum but also in the cerebral hemisphere. The fluorescent signal in the striatum 24 h after QA injection colocalised with microglial marker expression. Conclusions We successfully obtained functional images of focal ROS generation during the early period of excitotoxic injury, and microglial ROS generation and mitochondrial dysfunction were observed during the progression of the inflammatory response. Both ex vivo DHE imaging and in vivo 18F-BCPP-EF-PET were sufficiently sensitive to detect the respective processes of QA-induced brain damage. Our study contributes to the functional imaging of multiple events during the pathological process.