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Notes: The mode transition from a capacitively coupled mode (E mode) to an inductively coupled mode (H mode) was observed in an inductive Ar plasma source by applying an axially uniform low B field. The applied fundamental rf was 13.56 MHz and many harmonic components were observed. A beat and standing wave patterns of azimuthally symmetric (m=0 mode) first and second harmonic pseudosurfaces and helicon waves were measured at various densities (n∼9.0×1010–2.2×1011 cm−3) and B fields (12–28 G). Wave propagation mode changes, from pseudosurface to helicon waves and from helicon to pseudosurface waves, were observed at critical conditions, ωc/ω〉3.0 and n∼2.2×1011 cm−3. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: We report electroluminescence (EL) degradation studies of thin-film organic light-emitting diodes under ambient conditions. Bilayer organic ITO/TPD/Alq3/Mg/Ag devices were studied via EL and photoluminescence (PL) microscopy. In situ imaging of device luminescing areas and measurement of sample luminance were performed, allowing for a detailed study of black spot formation and luminance reduction under constant voltage stress conditions. Post-stress devices were further characterized using PL microscopy, and it was found that black spots result from delamination of the metal at the Alq3/Mg interface initiated by pinholes on the cathode, caused by substrate defects. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Micromotion of ions in Paul traps has several adverse effects, including alterations of atomic transition line shapes, significant second-order Doppler shifts in high-accuracy studies, and limited confinement time in the absence of cooling. The ac electric field that causes the micromotion may also induce significant Stark shifts in atomic transitions. We describe three methods of detecting micromotion. The first relies on the change of the average ion position as the trap potentials are changed. The second monitors the amplitude of the sidebands of a narrow atomic transition, caused by the first-order Doppler shift due to the micromotion. The last technique detects the Doppler shift induced modulation of the fluorescence rate of a broad atomic transition. We discuss the detection sensitivity of each method to Doppler and Stark shifts, and show experimental results using the last technique.

Notes: Electronic couplings in long-range electron transfer have been calculated using ab initio molecular orbital theory to investigate the effect of the binding energy of the electron on the decay of through-space and through-bond couplings. Through-space and through-bond couplings for anions and cations of the CF3 dimer and of CnH2n and CnF2n chains were calculated by ab initio molecular orbital theory. The anions and cations provide systems for which the electron binding energies, Be, differ by about a factor of 10. Through-space couplings decay exponentially, exp(−βR), with increasing distance, R, between the donor/acceptor carbon atoms. The decay coefficient β varies approximately as B1/2e. In contrast, the decay coefficients for through-bond coupling in CnF2n and CnH2n chains are not affected significantly by the binding energy of the electron. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Racial evolution of sunflower broomrape (Orobanche cernua) has been very rapid in Spain during recent years, in which resistance has been overcome several times and there has been an important increase in areas infested with this parasitic angiosperm. In order to find resistance to a highly virulent population of sunflower broomrape that could be used directly in breeding programmes, three different sets of cultivated plant material composed of 429 entries were tested by artificial inoculation. All evaluated inbred lines from Moden, Canada, were fully susceptible. Out of the 240 P.I. accessions tested, only 10 segregated for resistance to broomrape, the rest being susceptible. From the 160 USDA breeding lines evaluated, 5% were resistant and 19% segregated for resistance to O. cernua. These lines traced back mainly to crosses of RHA 274 and RHA 801 with Russian, Turkish and Romanian hybrids. The origin of P.I. accessions that segregated for resistance were primarily derived from the former USSR and from Romania.

Notes: Dissolved paramagnetic ions generally provide an efficient mechanism for the relaxation of nuclear spins in solution, a phenomenon called the nuclear magnetic resonance-paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (NMR-PRE). Metal ions with electron spins S≥1 exhibit rich NMR relaxation phenomena originating in the properties of the zero-field splitting (zfs) interaction, which vanishes for spin-〈fraction SHAPE="CASE"〉12 ions but which is nonzero for S≥1 ions in site symmetry lower than cubic. For S≥1 ions in the vicinity of the zfs-limit, i.e., at magnetic-field strengths low enough that the zfs energy exceeds the Zeeman energy, the NMR-PRE depends strongly on the detailed structure of the electron spin energy levels as well as on the spatial quantization of the spin motion. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the NMR-PRE produced by integer spins can be influenced strongly by the small intradoublet zero-field splittings, i.e., the splittings between the components of the non-Kramers doublets, which are produced by noncylindrical components of the crystal field potential. These small splittings produce relatively low-frequency oscillations in the dipolar field associated with 〈Sz(circumflex)〉 (the spin component along the molecule-fixed z(circumflex) axis). These motions decouple the nuclear spin from the electron spin, thereby depressing, in some cases very strongly, the NMR-PRE. The presence of a relatively small Zeeman field, comparable in magnitude to the intradoublet spacing but small compared to the larger interdoublet zfs splittings, causes a major change in the spin wave functions which has profound effects on the motions of the electron spin. When the Zeeman energy exceeds the small zfs splitting, the oscillatory motion of 〈Sz(circumflex)〉 damps out, with the result that the electron spin couples more effectively to the nuclear spin, providing a more efficient NMR relaxation pathway. NMR-PRE data are presented for the S=1 complex Ni(II)(o-pda)2Cl2 (o-pda=ortho-phenylenediamine) which confirm the importance of the splitting of the mS=±1 non-Kramers doublet on the NMR relaxation efficiency. The zfs E-parameter was measured from the NMR data to be |E|=0.26 cm−1. The S=2 spin system, Mn(III)-tetraphenylporphyrin sulfonate, exhibits a related phenomenon which arises from the effects of a small zfs splitting, Δε±2, of the mS=±2 non-Kramers doublet that is caused by a fourfold rotational component of the crystal field potential. The splitting Δε±2 was measured from NMR data to be 0.20 cm−1. © 1998 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: Summary: There is now convincing evidence that CD8+ T cells can be activated by professional antigen-presenting ceils which present antigens derived from non-lymphoid tissues in association with MHC class I molecules in the draining lymph nodes. This mechanism, referred to as cross-presentation, enables the immune system to respond to those microorganisms that infect only non-lymphoid tissues. Consistent with this view, cross-presentation was found to focus on antigens expressed in high concentrations and those released from dying cells, which can be expected to result from viral infections. Recent evidence, however, demonstrates that high dose self antigens can be cross-presented constitutively, resulting m the activation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells. This does not lead to auto-immunity under physiologic conditions, but to CD95-mediated deletion of the T cells. Cross-presentation can thus engage a well-defined pathway of antigen-induced T-cell death and purge the immune system of autoreactive CD8+ T cells. Low dose self antigens are not cross-presented and are consequently ignored. The immune system therefore uses two strategies to avoid CD8+ T-cell-mediated autoimmunity in the periphery: deletion of autoreactive CD8+ T cells responding to high dose self antigens and ignorance of self antigens expressed at low concentrations.