Recent improvements in methods for the investigation of ordered polysaccharide states in the hydrated environment have led to a number of new insights. For example, the spectroscopic origin of the conformation sensitivity of the optical rotation of polysaccharides now seems to be better understood, opening up wider possibilities for application. Fast reaction kinetic studies with stopped-flow p...

A new method for dextran quantification has been developed and field-trialled in Jamaica, in association with the Sugar Industry Research Institute. The method uses a near infrared (NIR) polarimeter and a specific dextranase. The dextranase selectively breaks down the dextran into sugars of lesser specific rotations without affecting any other substance present in the juice. The initial dextran...

The optical and magneto-optical activities of yttrium iron garnet are shown to depend on the sintering stage. Low density yttrium iron garnet presents a lower optical activity than the high density garnet. The magneto-optical activity decreases at energies in which the optical transitions are associated to crystal field, indicating a relationship between the optical activity and the distortion ...

We studied optical properties of polarized light scattered off a turbid medium. Based on the experimental setup, and using Muller calculus, we developed a model that provided us with optical information of the scattered light like amount of surviving linear polarization and optical rotation of the light after scattering. The scattered light was detected laterally, perpendicular to the direction...

We report on the magneto-optical properties of hexagonally arranged Ni nanowires embedded in anodic alumina templates. Due to the nanowire geometry, these samples show different response depending on the polarization orientation of the incident light, which leads to a high anisotropy of both their optical and magneto-optical properties. A strong increase of the magneto-optical activity is clear...

The formation and structure of the potassium complex with valinomycin in solution were studied by means of Raman and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectroscopy. The complexation caused significant spectral changes, particularly in the region 1200-1400 cm(-1). The experimental spectra were interpreted using first principles computations. A complete computational conformational search combined wit...

We report on enhanced experimental optical activity measurements of thin soap films in the presence of sugar. This unusual optical activity is linked to the intramolecular chiral conformation of the glucose molecules at the air/liquid interface. Choosing sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) as a model surfactant and glucose as model sugar, favorable interactions between the anionic group -OSO3(-)- and t...

Chiral metamaterials - artificial subwavelength structures with broken mirror symmetry - demonstrate outstanding degree of optical chirality that exhibits sophisticated spectral behavior and can eventually reach extreme values. Based on the fundamental causality principle we show how one can unambiguously relate the metamaterial circular dichroism and optical activity by the generalized Kramers...

The complex interactions among optically active substances in Case II waters make it difficult to associate the variability in spectral radiance (or reflectance) to any single component. In the present study, we developed a four end-member spectral decomposition model to estimate chlorophyll-a concentrations in a eutrophic shallow lake—Lake Taihu. The new model was constructed by simulated spec...