Magnetic and Plasmonic Contrast Agents in Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has gained widespread application for many biomedical applications, yet the traditional array of contrast agents used in incoherent imaging modalities do not provide contrast in OCT. Owing to the high biocompatibility of iron oxides and noble metals, magnetic and plasmonic nanoparticles, respectively, have been developed as OCT contrast agents to enable a range of biological and pre-clinical studies. Here we provide a review of these developments within the past decade, including an overview of the physical contrast mechanisms and classes of OCT system hardware addons needed for magnetic and plasmonic nanoparticle contrast. A comparison of the wide variety of nanoparticle systems is also presented, where the figures of merit depend strongly upon the choice of biological application

Unbound states of 32Cl and the 31S(p,\gamma)32Cl reaction rate

The 31S(p,\gamma)32Cl reaction is expected to provide the dominant break-out path from the SiP cycle in novae and is important for understanding enrichments of sulfur observed in some nova ejecta. We studied the 32S(3He,t)32Cl charge-exchange reaction to determine properties of proton-unbound levels in 32Cl that have previously contributed significant uncertainties to the 31S(p,\gamma)32Cl reaction rate. Measured triton magnetic rigidities were used to determine excitation energies in 32Cl. Proton-branching ratios were obtained by detecting decay protons from unbound 32Cl states in coincidence with tritons. An improved 31S(p,\gamma)32Cl reaction rate was calculated including robust statistical and systematic uncertainties

An analysis of age, technology usage, and cognitive characteristics within information retrieval tasks

This work presents two studies that aim to discover whether age can be used as a suitable metric for distinguishing performance between individuals or if other factors can provide greater insight. Information retrieval tasks are used to test the performance of these factors. First, a study is introduced that examines the effect that fluid intelligence and Internet usage has on individuals. Second, a larger study is reported on that examines a collection of Internet and cognitive factors in order to determine to what extent each of these metrics can account for disorientation in users. This work adds to growing evidence showing that age is not a suitable metric to distinguish between individuals within the field of human-computer interaction. It shows that factors such as previous Internet experience and fluid-based cognitive abilities can be used to gain better insight into users' reported browsing experience during information retrieval tasks

Feeding microalgae meal (All-G Rich (TM); Schizochytrium limacinum CCAP 4067/2) to beef heifers. II: Effects on ground beef color and palatability

Citation: Phelps, K. J., Drouillard, J. S., O'Quinn, T. G., Burnett, D. D., Blackmon, T. L., Axman, J. E., . . . Gonzalez, J. M. (2016). Feeding microalgae meal (All-G Rich (TM); Schizochytrium limacinum CCAP 4067/2) to beef heifers. II: Effects on ground beef color and palatability. Journal of Animal Science, 94(9), 4030-4039. doi:10.2527/jas2016-0488The objective of this study was to examine the effects of feeding microalgae meal (All-G Rich, Schizochytrium limacinum CCAP 4087/2; Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY) to finishing heifers on 85% lean and 15% fat (85/15) ground beef PUFA content, palatability, and color stability. Crossbred heifers (n = 288; 452 +/- 23 kg initial BW) were allocated to pens (36 pens and 8 heifers/pen), stratified by initial pen BW (3,612 +/- 177 kg), and randomly assigned within strata to 1 of 4 treatments: 0, 50, 100, and 150 g center dot heifer(-1) center dot d(-1) of microalgae meal. After 89 d of feeding, a subset of heifers (3/pen) was harvested and the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius were collected for processing into ground beef. At 42 d postmortem, 85/15 ground beef was formulated and formed into 112-g patties and fatty acid composition, subjective palatability, and 96-h retail color stability analyses were conducted. Increasing dietary microalgae meal concentration increased ground beef 20: 5n-3 and 22: 6n-3 fatty acids (quadratic, P 0.12). Feeding microalgae meal affected (P = 0.02) b* at 24 h and decreased (linear, P = 0.08) b* at 48 h. From h 0 to 36 of display, microalgae affected redness of patties (P 0.20) but tended to affect (P = 0.10) cohesiveness scores. As the amount of microalgae meal fed to heifers increased, beef flavor intensity decreased (linear, P < 0.01) and off-flavor intensity increased (quadratic, P < 0.05). Surface oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin were impacted by microalgae meal from 12 to 36 h of display (P < 0.01). From 48 to 84 h of display, feeding microalgae meal to heifers decreased (linear, P < 0.09) surface oxymyoglobin and increased (linear, P < 0.02) surface metmyoglobin of patties. Although feeding microalgae meal to heifers increases the PUFA content of 85/15 ground beef, there are undesirable effects on flavor and color stability

Feeding microalgae meal (All-G Rich (TM); Schizochytrium limacinum CCAP 4087/2) to beef heifers. I: Effects on longissimus lumborum steak color and palatibility

Citation: Phelps, K. J., Drouillard, J. S., O'Quinn, T. G., Burnett, D. D., Blackmon, T. L., Axman, J. E., . . . Gonzalez, J. M. (2016). Feeding microalgae meal (All-G Rich (TM); Schizochytrium limacinum CCAP 4087/2) to beef heifers. I: Effects on longissimus lumborum steak color and palatibility. Journal of Animal Science, 94(9), 4016-4029. doi:10.2527/jas2016-0487The objective of this study was to examine effects of 4 levels of microalgae meal (All-G Rich, Schizochytrium limacinum CCAP 4087/2; Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY) supplementation to the diet of finishing heifers on longissimus lumborum (LL) steak PUFA content, beef palatability, and color stability. Crossbred heifers (n = 288; 452 +/- 23 kg initial BW) were allocated to pens (36 pens and 8 heifers/ pen), stratified by initial pen BW (3,612 +/- 177 kg), and randomly assigned within strata to 1 of 4 treatments: 0, 50, 100, and 150 g . heifer(-1) . d(-1) of microalgae meal. After 89 d of feeding, cattle were harvested and LL were collected for determination of fatty acid composition and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), trained sensory panel evaluation, and 7-d retail color stability and lipid oxidation analyses. Feeding microalgae meal to heifers increased (quadratic, P 0.25) but tended (P = 0.10) to increase total PUFA in a quadratic manner (P = 0.03). Total omega-6 PUFA decreased (linear, P = 0.01) and total omega-3 PUFA increased (quadratic, P 0.16); however, off-flavor intensity increased with increasing concentration of microalgae meal in the diet (quadratic, P 0.19); therefore, the negative effects of microalgae on color stability were not due to fiber metabolism differences. Feeding microalgae meal to finishing heifers improves PUFA content of beef within the LL, but there are adverse effects on flavor and color stability

New γ\gamma-ray Transitions Observed in 19^{19}Ne with Implications for the 15^{15}O(α\alpha,γ\gamma)19^{19}Ne Reaction Rate

The $^{15}$O($\alpha$,$\gamma$)$^{19}$Ne reaction is responsible for breakout from the hot CNO cycle in Type I x-ray bursts. Understanding the properties of resonances between $E_x = 4$ and 5 MeV in $^{19}$Ne is crucial in the calculation of this reaction rate. The spins and parities of these states are well known, with the exception of the 4.14- and 4.20-MeV states, which have adopted spin-parities of 9/2$^-$ and 7/2$^-$, respectively. Gamma-ray transitions from these states were studied using triton-$\gamma$-$\gamma$ coincidences from the $^{19}$F($^{3}$He,$t\gamma$)$^{19}$Ne reaction measured with GODDESS (Gammasphere ORRUBA Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies) at Argonne National Laboratory. The observed transitions from the 4.14- and 4.20-MeV states provide strong evidence that the $J^\pi$ values are actually 7/2$^-$ and 9/2$^-$, respectively. These assignments are consistent with the values in the $^{19}$F mirror nucleus and in contrast to previously accepted assignments

Key 19^{19}Ne states identified affecting γ\gamma-ray emission from 18^{18}F in novae

Detection of nuclear-decay $\gamma$ rays provides a sensitive thermometer of nova nucleosynthesis. The most intense $\gamma$-ray flux is thought to be annihilation radiation from the $\beta^+$ decay of $^{18}$F, which is destroyed prior to decay by the $^{18}$F($p$,$\alpha$)$^{15}$O reaction. Estimates of $^{18}$F production had been uncertain, however, because key near-threshold levels in the compound nucleus, $^{19}$Ne, had yet to be identified. This Letter reports the first measurement of the $^{19}$F($^{3}$He,$t\gamma$)$^{19}$Ne reaction, in which the placement of two long-sought 3/2$^+$ levels is suggested via triton-$\gamma$-$\gamma$ coincidences. The precise determination of their resonance energies reduces the upper limit of the rate by a factor of $1.5-17$ at nova temperatures and reduces the average uncertainty on the nova detection probability by a factor of 2.1.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Direct reaction measurements with a 132Sn radioactive ion beam

The (d,p) neutron transfer and (d,d) elastic scattering reactions were measured in inverse kinematics using a radioactive ion beam of 132Sn at 630 MeV. The elastic scattering data were taken in a region where Rutherford scattering dominated the reaction, and nuclear effects account for less than 8% of the cross section. The magnitude of the nuclear effects was found to be independent of the optical potential used, allowing the transfer data to be normalized in a reliable manner. The neutron-transfer reaction populated a previously unmeasured state at 1363 keV, which is most likely the single-particle 3p1/2 state expected above the N=82 shell closure. The data were analyzed using finite range adiabatic wave calculations and the results compared with the previous analysis using the distorted wave Born approximation. Angular distributions for the ground and first excited states are consistent with the previous tentative spin and parity assignments. Spectroscopic factors extracted from the differential cross sections are similar to those found for the one neutron states beyond the benchmark doubly-magic nucleus 208Pb.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure