Quasiparticle interference, quasiparticle interactions, and the origin of the charge density wave in 2H-NbSe2.

We show that a small number of intentionally introduced defects can be used as a spectroscopic tool to amplify quasiparticle interference in 2H-NbSe2 that we measure by scanning tunneling spectroscopic imaging. We show, from the momentum and energy dependence of the quasiparticle interference, that Fermi surface nesting is inconsequential to charge density wave formation in 2H-NbSe2. We demonstrate that, by combining quasiparticle interference data with additional knowledge of the quasiparticle band structure from angle resolved photoemission measurements, one can extract the wave vector and energy dependence of the important electronic scattering processes thereby obtaining direct information both about the fermiology and the interactions. In 2H-NbSe2, we use this combination to confirm that the important near-Fermi-surface electronic physics is dominated by the coupling of the quasiparticles to soft mode phonons at a wave vector different from the charge density wave ordering wave vector.

Corneal topographic evaluation of decentration in photorefractive keratectomy: treatment displacement vs intraoperative drift.

PURPOSE: To evaluate treatment displacement and movement during treatment (drift) after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy using tangential topographic maps. METHODS: Forty-eight eyes of 48 patients showing axial decentration of 0.30 mm or more at 1 month posttreatment were reevaluated retrospectively to determine treatment displacement of the center of the photorefractive keratectomy ablation from the center of the pupil. A drift index was calculated to determine the relative degree of movement (drift) during treatment. We subdivided patients into four groups based on the degree of treatment displacement and drift and compared the mean axial decentration and the mean best-corrected logMAR visual acuity among the subgroups. RESULTS: Mean treatment displacement +/- SD from the center of the entrance pupil was 0.34 +/- 0.21 mm. Thirty-eight eyes (79.2%) had ablations within 0.50 mm from the center of the entrance pupil. We observed downward displacement in 27 eyes (56.2%) and upward displacement in 21 eyes (43.8%). The drift index showed a positive, statistically significant correlation with best-corrected visual acuity (r = .58, P < .0001). Patients with low displacement and low drift had mean logMAR best-corrected visual acuity of 0.91, which was statistically significantly better than patients with high displacement and high drift (r = 0.64; P = .009). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with gross decentration by axial topography after photorefractive keratectomy, tangential corneal topography is valuable in evaluating and differentiating photorefractive keratectomy treatment displacement from movement during treatment (drift). Patients with high drift index have worse visual outcomes after photorefractive keratectomy than those exhibiting high treatment displacement.

Effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil on prostanoid metabolism during acute coronary occlusion with or without reperfusion in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

We studied the changes in myocardial and aortic concentrations of prostacyclin and thromboxane A2 during acute coronary occlusion with or without reperfusion in rabbits fed with a cholesterol-enriched diet with or without fish oil supplementation for a short (5 days) or long period (6 weeks). New Zealand white male rabbits were divided into 5 groups: Group I, 15 control rabbits fed with a laboratory standard rabbit chow. In addition to the standard chow, the 4 study groups were treated with cholesterol or fish oil. Group II, 17 rabbits fed with a 1% high cholesterol diet for 5 days. Group III, 16 rabbits fed with a diet containing 1% cholesterol and 10% fish oil for 5 days. Group IV, 17 rabbits fed with the same diet as group II for 6 weeks. Group V, 18 rabbits fed with the same diet as group III for 6 weeks. Each group of rabbits was randomly divided into the coronary occlusion or occlusion-reperfusion mode of experiment. Acute coronary occlusion was induced by ligating the marginal branch of the left circumflex coronary artery for 1 h. Subsequent reperfusion for 4 h was performed in the occlusion-reperfusion rabbits. The aortic tissue above the aortic valve and the ischemic and normal (nonischemic) areas of the left ventricle were excised for the measurement of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and thromboxane B2 levels by radioimmunoassay. Both during coronary occlusion and occlusion-reperfusion, rabbits showed higher myocardial concentrations of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and thromboxane B2 in the ischemic area than in the normal myocardium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil on atherosclerosis and myocardial injury during acute coronary occlusion-reperfusion in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rabbits.

We studied myocardial injury during acute coronary occlusion-reperfusion and atherosclerosis in rabbits fed a high cholesterol diet with or without fish oil supplementation. New Zealand white male rabbits were divided into 3 groups. Eight control rabbits fed with laboratory standard rabbit chow were group I. In addition to the standard chow, 15 rabbits fed with a 1% cholesterol-enriched diet for 6 weeks were group II, and 10 rabbits fed with a 1% cholesterol-enriched and 10% fish oil supplemented diet for 6 weeks were group III. Acute coronary occlusion was induced by ligating the marginal branch of the left circumflex coronary artery for 1 h, followed by reperfusion for 4 h. Myocardial injury was assessed by tissue creatine kinase activities and amino-nitrogen concentrations from the ischemic (infarct) and nonischemic (normal) myocardium, and the infarct area/risk area ratios of the left ventricle. The surface area of the atherosclerotic lesions of the aorta and pulmonary artery was measured by planimeter. There was significantly more myocardial loss of creatine kinase and amino-nitrogen in the cholesterol-fed rabbits than the controls (p less than 0.01 and 0.02, respectively). The cholesterol and fish oil-treated rabbits had a nonsignificant reduction in myocardial loss of both agents as compared to their corresponding cholesterol-fed ones. The same trend was also found in the infarct area/risk area ratio. Fish oil treated rabbits had a good effect on the reduction of atherosclerotic lesions and tissue cholesterol levels in the aorta and pulmonary artery, but not in the left ventricle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)