Biomedical subjects

B M Cheng

Publications and source records attributed to B M Cheng.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Non-adiabatic intramolecular and photodissociation dynamics studied by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron and coincidence imaging spectroscopy.

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) is emerging as a useful tool for the study of non-adiabatic dynamics in isolated polyatomic molecules and clusters due to its sensitivity to both electronic and vibrational dynamics. A powerful extension of TRPES, coincidence imaging spectroscopy (CIS), based upon femtosecond time-resolved 3D momentum vector imaging of both photoions and photoelectrons in coincidence, is a new technique for the study of complex dissociative processes. Here we show how these spectroscopies can be used to study both non-adiabatic intramolecular and photodissociation dynamics in polyatomic molecules. Intramolecular dynamics in the alpha, beta-enones acrolein, crotonaldehyde and methyl vinyl ketone are studied using both TRPES and laser-induced fluorescence of HCO(X) product yields. The location of the methyl group is seen to have very dramatic effects on the relative electronic relaxation rates and the HCO(X) yield. Applying both TRPES and CIS to the 200 nm and 209 nm photodissociation of the nitric oxide dimer, (NO)2, we observe the fs time-scale evolution of the excited parent neutral via its photoelectron spectrum and the emergence of the NO(A) photofragment including its energy and angular distributions.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1999

Photo-induced fractionation of water isotopomers in the Martian atmosphere.

The history and size of the water reservoirs on early Mars can be constrained using isotopic ratios of deuterium to hydrogen. We present new laboratory measurements of the ultraviolet cross-sections of H2O and its isotopomers, and modeling calculations in support of a photo-induced fractionation effect (PHIFE), that reconciles a discrepancy between past theoretical modeling and recent observations. This supports the hypothesis that Mars had an early warm atmosphere and has lost at least a 50-m global layer of water. Likely applications of PHIFE to other planetary atmospheres are sketched.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed1998

Photoionization studies of sulfur radicals and products of their reactions.

A discharge flow-photoionization mass spectrometric system coupled to a synchrotron is employed to study intermediates and products of sulfur radical reactions related to atmospheric chemistry. Sulfur radicals are generated from reactions of oxygen or chlorine atoms with sulfur compounds in a flow tube. The gaseous reaction products are sampled into the ionization region via a three-stage differential pumping scheme. Photoionization spectra and ionization energies are measured by dispersing synchrotron radiation to ionize the samples. Using this technique, photoionization spectra and ionization energies of HSO, CH(3)SO, C(2)H(5)SO, HSCl, and some secondary reaction products, SSCl, HSSCl, HSSSH, CH(3)SOH and CH(3)SS(O)CH(3), were measured for the first time.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1997

A nurse rostering system using constraint programming and redundant modeling.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a constraint-based nurse rostering system using a redundant modeling approach. Nurse rostering is defined as the process of generating timetables for specifying the work shifts of nurses over a given period of time. This process is difficult because the human roster planner has to ensure that every rostering decision made complies with a mixture of hard hospital rules and soft nurse preference rules. Moreover, some nurse shift pre-assignments often break the regularity of wanted (or unwanted) shifts and reduce the choices for other unfilled slots. Soft constraints amount to disjunction, which can be modeled as choices in the search space. This approach, although straightforward, incurs overhead in the search of solution. To reduce search time, we propose redundant modeling, an effective way to increase constraint propagation through cooperations among different models for the same problem. Our problem domain involves around 25 to 28 nurses and 11 shift types. Experiments and pilot testing of the system confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of our method.

Biomedical Engineering↗