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[Abstract]: This thesis investigates the feasibility of closing wounds in skin tissue by laser welding as a substitute for suturing. Such a process would provide advantages in some surgical procedures. The investigation revised available theory on the action of lasers on skin tissue as a basis for the experimental program. The results of experiments using rat skin are then reported. In addition a thorough investigation of the normal (uninjured) tensile strength of rat skin was undertaken to provide a base line comparison. Laser systems permit very high-energy radiation of a single wavelength to be focused on a tiny spot, and have found application in many areas of engineering. They are also currently used in many branches of medicine including ophthalmology, gynaecology, dermatology, otolaryngology, and gastroenterology. These medical applications employ argon, YAG, and carbon dioxide type lasers. In many cases, lasers have been found to be more effective than conventional treatment methods with advantages including reduced blood loss, more accurate removal of unwanted tissue, shorter operating times and less postoperative pain and care (Gibson and Kernohan, 1993). Tissue welding using laser energy represents a small but growing area of medical research and is largely focused on anastomosis. This thesis investigates, using a specific experimental program, the feasibility of the bipolar contact Nd:YAG laser to weld cutaneous tissue. No similar published research has been identified in this area. The available literature focuses on non-contact lasers of various types and settings and mainly in the area of anastomosis. The experimental methodology and the specific technique for the bipolar contact laser is developed, tested and evaluated as part of this project. The welding techniques developed in this project overcome the previous difficulties of tissue alignment. The use of the bipolar laser probes substantially improves the ability to align the tissue edges to be joined. The probes give tactile feedback to the user and the pressure effect of the probes may assist with the welding process. The developed technique was no faster or easier than suturing. Viable welds and a useable technique for welding skin on rats were developed and tested. The resultant healing was comparable with published literature and both sutured and welded wounds returned to full strength as compared with the baseline data collected. All wounds had returned to full strength within 91 days. At 75 days there was not significant difference between laser welded and sutured wounds and they had achieved approximately 90 percent of full strength. Time to half strength was approximately 42 days and there was a larger standard deviation for both laser welded and sutured wounds. The most significant increase in strength and therefore healing occurred in the first 42 days. Simhon et al, 2001 states that a tensile strength of 0.6 N plus/minus 0.4 N was sufficient to hold tissue together. By day 7 the strength of the wound (laser welded) was more than twice the strength needed to maintain closure. There may have been sufficient healing for this to occur earlier but there were insufficient animals to allow for testing of this theory. In conclusion this experimental program and investigation has reviewed the available literature on the current use of lasers in medicine and their specific laser-tissue interaction which leads to tissue welding. It has provided a large database of tensile strength measurements collected with a reproducible methodology and reported in a standardised format. The developed technique for laser tissue welding using a bipolar contact Nd:YAG laser has been established and verified. It produces viable welds comparable in strength and healing rates to sutures.

A growing body of Nd isotope data derived from fish debris and Fe-Mn crusts suggests that the Pacific was characterized by deep-water mass formation in both the North and South Pacific during the Early Paleogene. However, the South Pacific source has not been identified to date. Here we present new fossil fish debris neodymium isotope data from the South Pacific and southern tropical Pacific Ocean Drilling Program and Deep Sea Drilling Project Sites 323, 463, 596, 865 and 869 (paleowater depths spanning 1500 to 5000m) to reconstruct the water mass composition over the time interval ~80 to ~24 Ma. The data indicate a relatively unradiogenic South Pacific water mass composition, and the composition of Nd increases with distance northward. The new tropical Pacific data are consistent with existing records from that region. Analyses of detrital sediment Nd isotopic composition, combined with the dissolved Nd composition recorded by fish debris, suggests that the South Pacific water mass convected in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. We designate this water mass South Pacific Deep Water (SPDW). The Nd isotopic composition of SPDW is more radiogenic than initially hypothesized and the relatively small increase in isotopic composition (from ~-6 to ~-4) during the transit from the Southern Ocean to the tropical Pacific suggests a faster rate of overturning circulation during the greenhouse climate interval than previously thought.

Oceanic circulation remains one of the poorly understood elements of the global climate system, despite its importance to planetary heat redistribution and carbon cycling. The nature of deep-water formation and circulation in ancient oceans are even more poorly constrained. In order to understand climate dynamics of past and future climates we must have a better understanding of the role of deep-ocean circulation. In this dissertation I investigated changes in intermediate- to deep-water circulation in three different ocean basins during two different geologic eras. The first study focused on the late Pleistocene (~25 ? 60 ka) California margin to investigate the role of intermediate water circulation in abrupt climate fluctuations. The other two studies investigated deep-water circulation during the Late Cretaceous (~70 ? 100 Ma) greenhouse interval, to determine if deep waters formed in the southern Indian or Atlantic basins. The above studies employed neodymium isotopes preserved in biogenic apatite (fish teeth and bones) and foraminiferal calcite to reconstruct the provenance of intermediate- to deep-water masses. Here I present data from two sites located at intermediate depths on the late Pleistocene California margin as well as seven Deep Sea Drilling Project and Ocean Drilling Program Cretaceous aged sites; four in the South Atlantic Ocean, and three in the Indian Ocean. The new Pleistocene data rule out changes in the source of intermediate waters to the California margin, thus the recorded changes in seafloor oxygenation were caused by changes in sea surface productivity. In the Cretaceous, the spread of deep waters formed in the high-latitude South Atlantic was hindered by tectonic barriers until the mid Campanian when the subduction of Rio Grande Rise allowed for the continuous flow of deep waters from the Southern Ocean into the North Atlantic. The deep Cretaceous Indian Ocean was filled with deep waters formed in the high-latitude Indian Ocean, until being replaced with waters sourced in the Pacific from the late Cenomanian to early Campanian before a return to southern Indian-sourced waters for the remainder of the study interval.

The magnetic properties, crystal and magnetic structures of Nd5 SixGe4-x were investigated by ac susceptibility and high resolution neutron powder diffraction. The magnetic and crystalline phase diagrams were derived. Four distinct structures exist in the Nd 5SixGe4-x system: Gd5Ge 4-type [O(II)], Gd5Si2Ge2-type (M), Gd5Si4-type [O(I)], and Zr5Si4-type (T). The refinements of the neutron powder diffraction patterns revealed that the Nd5SixGe4-x compounds exhibit mixed ferro-antiferromagnetic structures. The ac susceptibility measurements showed that the magnetic ordering temperature of Nd5SixGe 4-x increases slightly with increasing silicon content, except that it increases by a factor of 2 in the orthorhombic Gd5Si 4-type [O(I)] phase region. The abrupt change of the magnetic ordering temperature between x = 2.25 and x = 2.5, where the monoclinic Gd5Si 2Ge2-type (M) structure changes to the orthorhombic Gd 5Si4-type [O(I)] structure, suggested that a first order magnetostructural transition likely takes place in this narrow composition range (2.25 < x < 2.5). The investigation of Nd5Si2.335 Ge1.665 revealed that Nd5Si2.335Ge 1.665 adopts the Gd5Si2Ge2-type (M) structure and undergoes a first order magnetostructural transition from the paramagnetic-monoclinic Gd5Si2Ge2-type (M) structure to the orthorhombic Gd5Si4-type [O(I)] structure upon cooling. The T1-T1 bonds increases by ∼1 A when the the Gd 5Si4-type [O(I)] structure (10 K) transforms to the Gd 5Si2Ge2-type (M) structure (140 K). The giant magnetocaloric effect is not observed in Nd5Si2.335Ge 1.665 probably due to the co-existence of the M phase and the O(I) phase. The maximum magnetic entropy change in Nd5Si2.335Ge 1.665 is 7.3 J/kg K for magnetic field change from 0 to 7 Tesla, which is similar to that obtained in Nd5Si1.5Ge2.5, the neighboring phase O(I).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:33:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:04:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:33:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:04:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / O interesse na pesquisa de Lasers randômicos, meios dispersivos com alto ganho, tem crescido nos últimos anos em virtude das novas possibilidades advindas ao se trabalhar com estes sistemas, como emissões em bandas com baixo ganho, bicromaticidade, localização da luz em meios difusos e sistemas ópticos mais compactos. Nesse trabalho serão discutidos temas como espalhamento da luz por partículas, intensidade de retroespalhamento, ganho em meios desordenados e as transições energéticas do neodímio, correlacionando as emissões características obtidas nos experimentos com a teoria. Quanto aos resultados será apresentado a primeira observação de laser randômico com nanopó de Nd:YVO4 através de análise do comportamento da emissão espectral e temporal oriunda da transição 4F3/24I11/2 (1064 nm). Os resultados apresentam outra forma de analisar a cinética temporal da emissão de laser randômico, permitindo uma separação da fração de emissão estimulada e espontânea e comparação desse resultado com o estreitamento sutil da largura de linha, típico de lasers randômicos. As conversões ascendentes e saturação de ETU (conversão ascendente por transferência de energia) serão analisadas na mesma amostra, sendo todos os ajustes provenientes da literatura e de fundamental interesse, principalmente por se tratarem de um mecanismo de perda em lasers operando na região do infravermelho. Por fim, a emissão característica será avaliada pela técnica CBS (retroespalhamento coerente) para determinação da coerência do laser emitido e localização da luz neste meio difuso, com os resultados comparados aos da simulação. / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

M.Sc. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A Dempster-type double-focussing mass spectrometer has been used to determine the relative abundances of the isotopes of neodymium using two samples, one irradiated in a strong neutron flux, the other, obtained from the same source, unirradiated. A comparison of these results permits the calculation of the cross-section of each isotope for the capture of pile neutrons. Results previously obtained have been extended to give definite cross-sections for three of the isotopes, two of which have not previously been reported, and to lower the upper limits for the remainder. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

"Hydroxyl ions are a common contaminant in optical fibers, and are responsible for strong absorption centered at 1380 nm that becomes significant over long optical path lengths. Recently, however, special fabrication methods have been developed that minimize the hydroxyl ion contamination, permitting use of the entire 1300-1700 nm spectral region for telecommunications. There is therefore interest in examining the Nd 4F3/2 to 4I13/2 transition for a potential optical amplifier at 1400 nm. In this thesis, the excited state absorption cross section and the overall gain/loss spectrum of neodymium in a silica glass fiber were determined for the 1200-1500 nm wavelength region using the pump-probe method. The ground state absorption cross section was also determined from transmission measurements, and the stimulated emission cross section was calculated using the fluorescence spectrum and the McCumber relation. Oscillator strengths for absorption and emission transitions were calculated in the 800-1600 nm wavelength range using the Judd-Ofelt method. The above procedures were followed for both the Nd-doped fiber, as well as an erbium-doped silica fiber. The shape of the Nd emission spectrum is also noteworthy, since the characteristic Nd peak at 1064 nm is not observed, although there is strong emission at 1092 nm. The pump-probe measurements revealed significant excited state absorption loss between 1200 and 1350 nm, due to excitation from the 4F3/2 to the higher 4G9/2 and 4G7/2 states. Between 1350 and 1475 nm, there was no net gain or loss that could be observed beyond the level of the noise. For the glass fibers studied, it appears that in the spectral region of interest for an optical amplifier, the stimulated emission and excited state absorption cancel one another out."