Pimprinols A–C,from the terrestrial actinomycete,Streptomyces sp.

A Streptomyces sp. Lv3-13, isolated from the rhizosphere soil of the plant Mespilus germanica, has yielded three new pimprinine derivatives, named pimprinols A–C (1–3) and the unknown (2-aminophenyl)(2-ethyloxazol-5-yl) methanone (4) along with the known compounds 2-ethyl oxazole pimprinine and 2-propyl oxazole pimprinine. The structures of the compounds were elucidated based on spectroscopic methods including UV, HR-ESIMS and 1D, 2D NMR data. Compounds 1–4 were screened for antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities.     

Light emission from nanocrystalline silicon clusters embedded in silicon dioxide: Role of the suboxide states

Silicon clusters embedded in a silicon dioxide matrix were prepared by ultrasound-assisted implantation resulting in a modified concentration of suboxide states as revealed by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy. It is suggested that ultrasound treatment results in formation of different interface structure between silicon cluster and silicon dioxide matrix which is characterized by a distinctly reduced concentration of the suboxide states. It is observed that photoluminescence properties are strongly correlated with the concentration of the suboxide states thereby providing an evidence that besides a quantum confinement effect a closer look at the chemical composition of the nc-Si/SiO₂ system is important.     

Self-consistent molecular theory of polymers in melts and solutions

We propose a self-consistent molecular theory of conformational properties of flexible polymers in melts and solutions. The method employs the polymer reference interaction site model for the intermolecular correlations and the Green function technique for the intramolecular correlations. We demonstrate this method on n-alkane molecules in different environments: water, hexane, and in melt, corresponding to poor, good, and theta condition, respectively. The numerical results of the intramolecular correlation function, the radius of gyration, and the characteristic ratio of a polymer chain are indicative of conformational changes from one environment to another and are in agreement with other findings in the literature. Scaling laws for the chain size with respect to the number of monomers are discussed. We show results for the intra- and intermolecular correlation functions and the medium-induced potential. We also extract the Kuhn length and the characteristic ratio for the infinite chain limit for melts. The latter is compared to the experimental results and computer simulation. The conformational free energy per monomer in different solvents is calculated. Our treatment can be generalized readily to other polymer-solvent systems, for example, those containing branched copolymers and polar solvents.     

Coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity close to a quantum phase transition: the Heisenberg- to Ising-type crossover

A microscopic mean-field theory of the phase coexistence between ferromagnetism and superconductivity in the weakly ferromagnetic itinerant electron system is constructed, while incorporating a realistic mechanism for superconducting pairing due to the exchange of critical spin fluctuations. The self-consistent solution of the resulting equations determines the superconducting transition temperature which is shown to depend strongly on the exchange splitting. The effect of phase crossover from isotropic (Heisenberg-like) to uniaxial (Ising-like) spin fluctuations near the quantum phase transition is analyzed and the generic phase diagram is obtained. This scenario is then applied to the case of itinerant ferromagnet ZrZn2, which sheds light on the proposed phase diagram of this compound. A possible explanation of superconductivity in UGe2 is also discussed.     

Bi-Poisson Structures and Integrability of Geodesic Flow on Homogeneous Spaces

Let G/K be a semisimple orbit of the adjoint representation of a real connected reductive Lie group G. Let K₁ be any closed subgroup of K containing the commutant of the identity component of K. We prove that the geodesic flow on the symplectic manifold T*(G/K₁), corresponding to a G-invariant pseudo-Riemannian metric on G/K₁ which is induced by a bi-invariant pseudo-Riemannian metric on G, is completely integrable in the class of real analytic functions, polynomial in momenta. To this end we study the Poisson geometry of the space of G-invariant functions on T*(G/K) using a one-parameter family of moment maps.     

Algebras of Symmetric Holomorphic Functions on lp

The authors study the algebra of uniformly continuous holomorphicsymmetric functions on the ball of l_p, investigating in particularthe spectrum of such algebras. To do so, they examine the algebraof symmetric polynomials on l_p-spaces, as well as finitely generatedsymmetric algebras of holomorphic functions. Such symmetricpolynomials determine the points in l_p up to a permutation.     

Acetone,butanone, pentanone,hexanone and heptanone in the headspace of aqueous solution and urine studied by selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry

Urine is commonly analysed in clinical practice by a variety of liquid‐phase techniques to check for excessive ketone bodies, proteins and salts to name just a few compounds. However, little work has been carried out to measure the volatile compounds emitted by urine since these do not yet have an established role in clinical diagnosis. There is, however, a growing body of evidence that these volatile compounds can be indicators of adverse physiological conditions and disease and with the advent of sensitive gas‐phase analytical methods they can be quickly quantified in urine headspace and potentially provide valuable support for clinical diagnosis. Thus, we are developing selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT‐MS, for the real‐time analysis of urine headspace, ultimately to support rapid diagnosis in the clinical environment. In this paper we focus on volatile ketones in the headspace of aqueous solutions and urine donated by three healthy volunteers. Using SIFT‐MS, we have unambiguously quantified in urine headspace acetone, by far the most abundant ketone, butanone, pentanone, hexanone and heptanone using NO⁺ precursor ions. Further to this, we have determined the Henry's Law coefficients, HLC, for these ketones in aqueous solution to allow the liquid‐phase concentrations in urine to be estimated from headspace levels of their vapours. In addition, the influence of the addition of physiological amounts of dissolved urea, sodium chloride and hydrochloric acid on the partitioning of these ketones between the aqueous phase and gas phase has been investigated and found to be small, which gives greater credence to the use of the HLC obtained using aqueous solutions for the estimation of ketone concentrations in urine. Finally, parallel measurements of the levels of acetone in exhaled breath and urine headspace have been obtained and shown to be very similar, which gives support to the previous deduction from breath analysis that acetone is a truly systemic compound. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low-temperature, solution processing of TiO2 thin films and fabrication of multilayer dielectric optical elements

High-quality TiO₂ thin films have been deposited from aqueous titanium-peroxo solutions via spin coating. The effects of precursor solution pH on the crystallization behavior, morphology, density, and refractive index of the films are reported. From X-ray diffraction measurements, the amorphous as-deposited films are found to crystallize in the anatase phase at 250 °C. Surface and cross-section SEM images reveal that films deposited from an acidic precursor are more uniform and denser than those deposited from a basic precursor. X-ray reflectivity measurements show that films with smooth surfaces and high densities (up to 87% of single-crystal anatase) can be produced at temperatures as low as 300 °C. Measured densities are consistent with high refractive indices at 633 nm of 2.24 and 2.11 for films derived from acidic and basic precursors, respectively. The uniformity and dense nature of the films have allowed fabrication of multilayer dielectric optical elements with thermal processing at only 300 °C. The distributed Bragg reflector with four bilayers exhibits a reflectance of 92% and a stop band width of 150 nm. The optical microcavity has a quality factor of 20. The optical properties of all elements agree well with theoretical models, indicating good optical quality. Use of the precursor chemistry for direct photopatterning of TiO₂ films without a polymer resist is also demonstrated.