Yes, no and maybe

Johnny Mercer had a hit song a few decades ago in which he admonished us to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, hold on the affimative and to have nothing to do with in between. This seems like good advice, but as is the case with most good advice it is rather hard to follow and not always applicable.     

Scalable synthesis of palladium nanoparticle catalysts by atomic layer deposition

Potential applications in drug delivery from nanostructures composed of two oppositely charged polymethacrylates, eudragit^? L100 (EL) and eudragit^? EPO (EE), loaded with three model basic drugs (D), atenolol, propranolol, and metroclopramide were evaluated. The self-organized nanoparticles based on drug-interpolyelectrolyte complexes (DIPEC), (EL-D₅₀)?CEE_X, were obtained by mixing the aqueous dispersions of both polyelectrolytes at room temperature in an ultrasound bath. Dispersions of (EL-D₅₀) neutralized with increasing proportions of EE exhibited a rise of turbidity, particle sizes in the range of 150?C400?nm, and high negative zeta potential. The sign of zeta potential was shifted from negative to positive by changes in composition of DIPEC. Freeze dried DIPEC were easily redispersed in water yielding nearly the same parameters of fresh dispersions. In vitro release experiments using Franz cells showed that DIPEC systems behave as a drug reservoir that slowly releases the drug as water is placed in the receptor compartment. The release rate was raised by ionic exchange with counterions present in simulated physiological fluids placed in the receptor media. Delivery of D from DIPEC exhibited a remarkable robustness toward simulated physiological media of different pH. The DIPEC systems exhibit interesting properties to design nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for oral and/or topical routes.     

Dalitz analysis of D0-->K(0)(S)pi(+)pi(-)

In e(+)e(-) collisions using the CLEO detector, we have studied the decay of the D0 to the final state K(0)(S)pi(+)pi(-) with the initial flavor of the D0 tagged by the decay D(*+)-->D0pi(+). We use the Dalitz technique to measure the resonant substructure in this final state and clearly observe ten different contributions by fitting for their amplitudes and relative phases. We observe a K(*)(892)(+)pi(-) component which arises from doubly Cabibbo suppressed decays or D0-D0; mixing.     

Observation of B-->K(0)(S)pi(+)pi(-) and Evidence for B-->K(*+/-)pi(-/+)

We report on a search for charmless hadronic B decays to the three-body final states K(0)(S)h(+)pi(-), K(+)h(-)pi(0), K(0)(S)h(+)pi(0) (h(+/-) denotes a charged pion or kaon), and their charge conjugates, using 13.5 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity produced near sqrt[s]=10.6 GeV, and collected with the CLEO detector. We observe the decay B-->K0pi(+)pi(-) with a branching fraction (50(+10)(-9)(stat.)+/-7(syst.))x10(-6) and the decay B-->K(*+)(892)pi(-) with a branching fraction (16(+6)(-5)(stat.)+/-2(syst.))x10(-6).     

High fidelity single qubit operations using pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance

Systematic errors in spin rotation operations using simple rf pulses place severe limitations on the usefulness of the pulsed magnetic resonance methods in quantum computing applications. In particular, the fidelity of quantum logic operations performed on electron spin qubits falls well below the threshold for the application of quantum algorithms. Using three independent techniques, we demonstrate the use of composite pulses to improve this fidelity by several orders of magnitude. The observed high-fidelity operations are limited by pulse phase errors, but nevertheless fall within the limits required for the application of quantum error correction.     

Two-flux composite fermion series of the fractional quantum Hall states in strained Si

Magnetotransport properties are investigated in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system in the strained Si quantum well of a (100) Si(0.75)Ge(0.25)/Si/Si(0.75)Ge0.25 heterostructure, at temperatures down to 30 mK and in magnetic fields up to 45 T. We observe around nu=1/2 the two-flux composite fermion (CF) series of the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) at nu=2/3, 3/5, 4/7, and at nu=4/9, 2/5, 1/3. Among these FQHE states, the nu=1/3, 4/7, and 4/9 states are seen for the first time in the Si/SiGe system. Interestingly, of the CF series, the 3/5 state is weaker than the nearby 4/7 state and the 3/7 state is conspicuously missing, resembling the observation in the IQHE regime that the nu=3 is weaker than the nearby nu=4 state. Our results can be quantitatively understood in the picture of CF's with the valley degree of freedom.     

Microlens formation in microgel/gold colloid composite materials via photothermal patterning

We report on the nature of photothermally patterned regions inside self-assembled hydrogel nanoparticle materials containing coassembled colloidal Au. These composite materials are prepared from approximately 226-nm diameter particles composed of the environmentally responsive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm). Upon centrifugation to achieve a proper volume fraction, these close-packed assemblies display a sharp Bragg diffraction peak in the midvisible region of the spectrum and can be reversibly converted into a nondiffracting glassy material as the temperature is raised above the characteristic phase transition temperature of the polymer. The addition of 16-nm colloidal Au prior to centrifugation allows the homogeneous distribution of metal nanoparticles throughout the close-packed material. Localized heating is then possible upon excitation of the Au plasmon absorption with a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser (lambda = 532 nm). Such localized heating events lead to patterned regions of ordered crystalline phases inside of bulk glassy phases. We illustrate that the nature of the locally patterned area results in the formation of a microlens due to density/refractive index gradient in the patterned crystalline region. The Gaussian power distribution of the incident beam is thought to be a contributing factor in the microlens formation. Microlens formation is shown by observing interference patterns similar to Newton's rings, which change over time as the region is formed. A true hallmark of the lens is also demonstrated by focusing an image through the patterned structure.     

First observation of the sigma(*+)(c) baryon and a new measurement of the sigma(*+)(c) mass

Using data recorded with the CLEO II and CLEO II.V detector configurations at the Cornell Electron Storage Rings, we report the first observation and mass measurement of the Sigma(*+)(c) charmed baryon, and an updated measurement of the mass of the Sigma(+)(c) baryon. We find M(Sigma(*+)(c))-M(Lambda(+)(c)) = (231.0+/-1.1+/-2.0) MeV, and M(Sigma(+)(c))-M(Lambda(+)(c)) = (166.4+/-0.2+/-0.3) MeV, where the errors are statistical and systematic, respectively.     

Spin-singlet clusters in the ladder compound NaV2O5

The space group of alpha(')-NaV2O5 turns below T(c) = 34 K from Pmmn with all V sites equivalent, into Fmm2 with three independent vanadium sites per layer. This is incompatible with models of charge ordering into V4+ and V5+. Our structure determination indicates that the phase transition consists of a charge ordering with three distinct valence states, formally V4+, V4.5+, and V5+. The singlet formation is not associated with dimerization on the spin ladder, but with the formation of spin clusters. Finally, we ascribe the quadrupling of the c axis to the large polarizability of the V2O5 skeleton.