Spin-transition in nearly cubic site in [FeII(L)3][PF6]2

The spin-transition (¹A₁?⁵T₂) behaviour of a new mononuclear iron(II) compound [Fe^II(L)₃][PF₆]₂[L = 2-[3-(2′-pyridyl)pyrazole-1-ylmethyl]pyridine] has been investigated by ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Analysis of the Mössbauer spectra revealed low value of the quadrupole splitting of the high-spin state which reflects iron(II) to be in nearly cubic lattice site. Mössbauer spectra under light show the light-induced excited spin state trapping effect and the observed quadrupole splitting of the metastable high-spin state is found little sensitive to the high-spin fraction value. DFT calculations are in progress to document the almost cubic nature of the ligand-field acting on the iron atom.     

Prediction of entrance length and mass suction rate for a cylindrical sucking funnel

Conservation equations for mass, momentum and energy have been solved numerically for a cylindrical funnel with louvers (lateral openings on the side wall of the cylindrical funnel through which air can come into it) to compute the suction rate of air into the funnel. The nozzle placed centrally at the bottom of the cylinder ejects high‐velocity hot gaseous products so that atmospheric air gets sucked into the funnel. The objective of the work is to compute the ratio of the rate of mass suction to that of the mass ejected by the nozzle for different operating conditions and geometrical size of the funnel. From the computation it has been found that there exists optimum funnel diameter and optimum funnel height for which the mass suction is the highest. The protruding length of the nozzle into the funnel has almost no effect on the mass suction rate after a certain funnel height. The louvers opening area has a very high impact on the mass suction rate. The entrance length for such a sucking funnel is strikingly much lower compared with a simple cylindrical pipe having uniform flow at the inlet at same Reynolds number. A new correlation has been developed to propose the entrance length for a sucking pipe, the rate of mass suction into it and the exhaust plume temperature over a wide range of operating parameters that are normally encountered in a general funnel operations of naval or merchant ship. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel confocal optical pulse stretcher for laser pulses

We present an analytical and experimental study of a novel confocal optical pulse stretcher (COPS). The simple and passive pulse stretcher consists of two concave mirrors and a scraper beam-splitter and its optical configuration ensures a perfect spatial overlapping of laser pulses at the beam-splitter. The pulse stretcher is compact and suitable for laser pulses of large divergences. The confocal optical pulse stretcher is demonstrated on a pulsed copper vapour laser to convert a 40 ns (1/e² % points) pulse into a 55 ns with reduction of peak power by a factor of 1.375 without loss of pulse energy.     

Phospholipid/protein cones

The presence of protein in tubule-forming solutions of the diacetylenic phospholipid 1,2-bis(10,12-tricosadiynoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine results in the formation of hollow cones rather than the expected hollow cylinders. Differential phase-contrast video microscopy reveals that cones grow from proteinaceous nodules in a fashion similar to cylindrical tubule growth from spherical vesicles. Spatially resolved electron-beam energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy shows the protein to be associated with the cone wall. Small-angle X-ray scattering shows that, like the protein-free cylinders, the cones are multilamellar with essentially identical interlamellar spacing.     

Coplanar Waveguide Characterization with Thick Metal Coating

Coplanar waveguides (CPW) used in microwave integrated circuits are significantly dispersive. An analytical approximation to the frequency dependence of both _eff and _c of CPW with finite metallisation thickness and conductivity is discussed. The effect of increasing loss tangent on dielectric constant is also presented.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of n-acetyl l-cysteine by 2,6-dichloroindophenol in methanol–water medium

The principal reactants interact in a molar ratio of 2:1 forming dihydroindophenol and the corresponding disulfide. The order of reaction is unity with respect to each reactant, namely, N-acetyl L-cysteine and indophenol. The rate shows an inverse linear relation with hydroxyl ions. It is not influenced by the variation in the initial concentration of indophenol. The rate increases on adding the salts possessing a cholinergic effect and the neutral electrolytes, as well as on increasing the dielectric constant of the medium. The products, namely, N-acetyl L-cystine (disulfide) and the leuco dye, do not influence the rate. A low energy and a highly negative entropy of activation (4.11 kcal/mol and -60.49 e.u., respectively) suggest the formation of an outer sphere complex as the rate-determining step.