Prolonged color blindness induced by intense spectral lights in rhesus monkeys

Prolonged exposure of rhesus monkeys to intense blue light produces long-term changes which are consistent with loss of response of those cones that contain a photopigment with peak absorption at 445 nanometers. The 90 percent reduction of spectral sensitivity in the blue region has lasted more than 5 months. Reduced sensitivity to long wavelengths is produced by adaptation to light of 520 nanometers. This reduced sensitivity, which lasts no more than 30 days, is attributed to a temporary loss of response of the cones containing a photopigment with peak absorption at 535 nanometers.     

Microspectrophotometry of photoreceptor organelles from eyes of the prawn Palaemonetes

Microspectrophotometric measurements of individual dark-adapted rhabdoms of the prawn Palaemonetes vulgaris reveal the presence of two light-sensitive pigments. A pigment with maximum absorbancy at 555 nanometers is converted by light to a long-lived intermediate with wavelength of maximum absorbancy at 496 nanometers. A second pigment with wavelength of maximum absorbancy at 496 nanometers bleaches in the light, seemingly without forming detectable products at wavelengths longer than 375 nanometers. Both pigments occur in each layer of microvilli.     

Evidence for large upward trends of ultraviolet-B radiation linked to ozone depletion

Spectral measurements of ultraviolet-B radiation made at Toronto since 1989 indicate that the intensity of light at wavelengths near 300 nanometers has increased by 35 percent per year in winter and 7 percent per year in summer. The wavelength dependence of these trends indicates that the increase is caused by the downward trend in total ozone that was measured at Toronto during the same period. The trend at wavelengths between 320 and 325 nanometers is essentially zero.     

Measurement of Laser-Plasma Electron Density with a Soft X-ray Laser Deflectometer

A soft x-ray laser (wavelength lambda = 15.5 nanometers) was used to create a moiré deflectogram of a high-density, laser-produced plasma. The use of deflectometry at this short wavelength permits measurement of the density spatial profile in a long-scalelength (3 millimeters), high-density plasma. A peak density of 3.2 x 10(21) per cubic centimeter was recorded.     

Vision in annelid worms

In a first electrophysiological study of worm vision, electroretinograms were measured in two alciopid worms: Torrea, taken at the surface, and deep-sea Vanadis. Both forms possess a primary retina in the focal plane of the lens, and accessory retinas lying beside the lens. Such accessory retinas occur also in deep sea fishes and cephalopods. In Torrea the primary retina peaks in sensitivity at 400 nanometers, the secondary retina at 560 nanometers. Both together could serve as a depth guage, since 560 nanometers attenuates much faster in seawater than 400 nanometers. The Vanadis eyes peaked in sensitivity at 460 to 480 nanometers, a property shared with deep-sea forms of other phyla; and appropriate, since these wavelengths penetrate seawater most deeply, and also are the wavelengths of maximum bioluminescence.     

Oxygen tension changes evoked in the brain by visual stimulation

Localized changes in oxygen tension were recorded with platinum cathodes placed in the lateral geniculate nucleus in both anesthetized and awake cats. The amplitude of the responses increased with increasing stimulus intensity, but decreased with increasing flash rate. Both increases and decreases in cathode current were produced by steady illumination. The characteristics of the responses suggest that the responses reflect localized variations in blood flow, produced in turn by changes evoked in the tonic neural activity of the lateral geniculate nucleus.     

Goldfish retina: sign of the rod input in opponent color ganglion cells

After light adaptation, all "on-center" ganglion cells in the dark became "red on-center," and all "off-center" cells turned into "red off-center" cells. On a chance basis, this similitude of effect between the rods and the red cones in opponent color cells was not expected. These findings indicate that in the goldfish there is some similarity between the connections of the rods and of the long-wavelength cones.     

Regulation of the mammalian pineal by non-rod, non-cone, ocular photoreceptors

In mammals, ocular photoreceptors mediate an acute inhibition of pineal melatonin by light. The effect of rod and cone loss on this response was assessed by combining the rd mutation with a transgenic ablation of cones (cl) to produce mice lacking both photoreceptor classes. Despite the loss of all known retinal photoreceptors, rd/rd cl mice showed normal suppression of pineal melatonin in response to monochromatic light of wavelength 509 nanometers. These data indicate that mammals have additional ocular photoreceptors that they use in the regulation of temporal physiology.     

Exponential gain and saturation of a self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser

Self-amplified spontaneous emission in a free-electron laser has been proposed for the generation of very high brightness coherent x-rays. This process involves passing a high-energy, high-charge, short-pulse, low-energy-spread, and low-emittance electron beam through the periodic magnetic field of a long series of high-quality undulator magnets. The radiation produced grows exponentially in intensity until it reaches a saturation point. We report on the demonstration of self-amplified spontaneous emission gain, exponential growth, and saturation at visible (530 nanometers) and ultraviolet (385 nanometers) wavelengths. Good agreement between theory and simulation indicates that scaling to much shorter wavelengths may be possible. These results confirm the physics behind the self-amplified spontaneous emission process and forward the development of an operational x-ray free-electron laser.     

Absorption of proteins and peptides in the far ultraviolet

An absorption peak for the peptide bond at 187 nanometers has been confirmed; a protein assay at this wavelength allows quantitation of proteins in aqueous solution at concentrations between 0.1 and 25 micrograms per milliliter. Assays are conducted at 6 degrees C to take advantage of the reduction of end-absorption of water with temperature.     

分光光度法测定小球藻数量的方法研究

[目的]确定用分光光度法测定小球藻藻液浓度的适宜波长。[方法]在不同波长下对不同浓度普通小球藻藻液的吸光度进行测定,对有关数据进行生物统计分析。[结果]在8．7×10^6～8．7×10^8个／ml的浓度范围内,小球藻藻液的最大吸收波长在680nm左右,较高浓度小球藻藻液的吸光度超出了测定范围。显著性测验表明,9种波长下小球藻藻液浓度与藻液吸光度呈极显著直线相关。680nm波长下的测定灵敏度最高,其最高藻液浓度最低,为3．79×10^8个／ml;700nm波长下的测定灵敏度最低,其最高藻液浓度最高,为7．7×10^8个／ml;560nm波长下的测定灵敏度仅高于700nm波长下的,其最高藻液浓度为6．9×10^8个／ml;540nm波长下的测定灵敏度高于560nm波长下的,其最高藻液浓度为6．5×10^8个／ml。[结论]在680nm波长下测定小球藻藻液浓度,其灵敏度高、数据更精确。     

The ultraviolet receptor of bird retinas

The eyes of 15 species of birds from 10 families have some cones maximally sensitive at 370 nanometers in the near-ultraviolet. Spectral sensitivity was measured by recording extracellularly in opened eyecups , and a maximum in the ultraviolet was revealed by selectively adapting the retina with yellow background lights. The 370-nanometer spectral sensitivity function is attributed to receptors because its spectral position does not vary with the strength of adaptation and because it is present when the receptor potentials are isolated from the contributions of higher order retinal neurons by exposing the retina to sodium aspartate. These measurements demonstrate the basis for the ultraviolet sensitivity of birds that has been seen in behavioral experiments, and they provide further evidence that many vertebrates share with insects vision in the near-ultraviolet.     

Upper limit of 3.3 astronomical units to the diameter of the galactic center radio source sgr a*

Sagittarius (Sgr) A(*) is a unique radio source located at the center of our galaxy. The radiation from Sgr A(*) may be generated in matter accreting onto a massive black hole. In observations at long wavelengths, the apparent angular size of Sgr A(*) decreases in the manner expected for emission from a point source scattered by electron density fluctuations along the line of sight. Measurements at a wavelength of 7 millimeters with the nearly completed Very Long Baseline Array indicate a size of 0.7 milliarc seconds, which is consistent with an extrapolation from results at longer wavelengths. The true size of Sgr A(*) must be less than 0.4 milliarc seconds, or 3.3 astronomical units. The inferred black hole mass is less than 1.5 x 10(6) solar masses according to a recent model for the emission.     

Multichannel detection in high-performance liquid chromatography

A linear photodiode array has been used as the photodetector element in a new ultraviolet-visible detection system for high-performance liquid chromatography. This array allows simultaneous acquisition of light intensity data at all wavelengths between 190 and 600 nanometers. By use of a computer network concept in the electronics, this detection system can process eight different chromatographic signals simultaneously in real time and acquire spectra manually or automatically. Detector response times are variable and can be as low as 0.040 second, and bandwidth selection is variable from 4 to 400 nanometers. These characteristics permit fast chromatographic techniques and user-selectable signal-to-noise ratio enhancement. Spectra can be acquired in 10 milliseconds, permitting qualitative characterization at several different points on a single peak without destroying chromatographic signal integrity. Examples illustrate applications in fast high-performance liquid chromatography peak purity determination, and postanalysis data reduction.     

Geniculate neural plasticity in kittens after exposure to periodic gratings

Kittens were exposed for 2 hours a day to a periodic vertical grating during the first 10 weeks after birth, and otherwise kept in darkness. The spatial frequency of the grating fell in the range of highest contrast sensitivity of normal cats. After the 10-week exposure period, cortical evoked potentials and lateral geniculate mass responses to alternating gratings showed a reduced amplitude for the spatial frequency of exposure. This reduction was independent of grating orientation. An analysis of orientational sensitivity of cortical units did not show any bias in favor of the vertical orientation.     

Control of light emission by 3D photonic crystals

Three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals containing artificial point defects have been fabricated to emit light at optical communications wavelengths. They were constructed by stacking 0.7-micrometer-period gallium arsenide striped layers, resulting in a 3D "woodpile" photonic crystal. Indium-gallium arsenide-phosphide quantum-well layers emitting at a wavelength of 1.55 micrometers were incorporated in the center of the crystal. Samples having up to nine stacked layers were constructed, and artificial point-defect cavities of different sizes were formed in the light-emitting layer. Light emission was suppressed in the photonic crystal regions, whereas cavity modes were successfully observed at the point defects and were size dependent.     

脐橙糖度光谱图像检测技术研究

对采集到的不同波长的光谱图像灰度分布进行洛伦茨分布(LD)、高斯分布(GD)、指数分布(ED)函数拟合,通过比较发现洛伦茨分布为最优灰度分布拟合函数.将脐橙的糖度与洛伦茨分布函数拟合所得参数分别进行多元线性回归,建立最佳单波长、最佳双波长组合、最佳三波长组合和最佳四波长组合的校正方程.结果表明:利用光谱图像技术无损检测脐橙糖度是可行性的.     

油桃糖度的光谱图像检测技术研究

应用光谱图像技术进行油桃内部品质无损检测技术的研究。通过采集不同波长(分别为632、650、670、780、850和900 nm)的光谱图像,对所采集的光谱图像灰度分布进行洛伦茨分布(LD)函数的拟合。将油桃的糖度与洛伦茨分布函数拟合所得参数分别进行多元线性回归,建立最佳单波长、最佳双波长组合、最佳三波长组合和最佳四波长组合的校正方程,相关系数分别是最佳单波长r为0.789;最佳双波长r为0.893;最佳三波长r为0.970;最佳四波长r为0.943。试验结果表明:利用光谱图像技术无损检测油桃糖度是可行性的,为计算机图像对水果进行内部品质的无损检测提供技术依据。     

Light adaptation in the rat retina: evidence for two receptor mechanisms

Light adapting the rat retina with transient white flashes too dim to bleach a substantial amount of visual pigment produces a change in electroretinogram spectral sensitivity and an increase in flicker fusion frequency. Increment threshold curves obtained with a long wavelength adapting stimulus and a short wavelength test stimulus show rod saturation.     

Intracellular absorption difference spectrum of Limulus extra-ocular photolabile pigment

Microspectrophotometric measurements on single cell bodies located on the surface of the"lateral olfactory nerve" of Limulus polyphemus show they contain a photolabile pigment with a absorption-difference spectrum similar in shape to that of most other visual pigments and with a maximum absorption at 529 +/- 5 nanometers.