Contrasting melting behavior of zinc stearate and zinc oleate

The influence of a double bond in the middle of an otherwise flexible hydrocarbon chain on the melting of such assemblies has been investigated by comparing the melting behavior of zinc stearate and zinc oleate. By monitoring features in the infrared spectra that are characteristic of the global conformation of the hydrocarbon chain, it is shown that the double bond effectively decouples the thermal evolution of conformational disorder in the chain segments on either side of the double bond and the melting of each of these segments in the assembly occurs as independent events.     

Shuttling of nickel oxidation states in N4S2 coordination geometry versus donor strength of tridentate N2S donor ligands

Seven bis-Ni(II) complexes of a N(2)S donor set ligand have been synthesized and examined for their ability to stabilize Ni(0), Ni(I), Ni(II) and Ni(III) oxidation states. Compounds 1-5 consist of modifications of the pyridine ring of the tridentate Schiff base ligand, 2-pyridyl-N-(2'-methylthiophenyl)methyleneimine ((X)L1), where X = 6-H, 6-Me, 6-p-ClPh, 6-Br, 5-Br; compound 6 is the reduced amine form (L2); compound 7 is the amide analog (L3). The compounds are perchlorate salts except for 7, which is neutral. Complexes 1 and 3-7 have been structurally characterized. Their coordination geometry is distorted octahedral. In the case of 6, the tridentate ligand coordinates in a facial manner, whereas the remaining complexes display meridional coordination. Due to substitution of the pyridine ring of (X)L1, the Ni-N(py) distances for 1~5 < 3 < 4 increase and UV-vis λ(max) values corresponding to the (3)A(2g)(F)→(3)T(2g)(F) transition show an increasing trend 1~5 < 2 < 3 < 4. Cyclic voltammetry of 1-5 reveals two quasi-reversible reduction waves that correspond to Ni(II)→Ni(I) and Ni(I)→Ni(0) reduction. The E(1/2) for the Ni(II)/Ni(I) couple decreases as 1 > 2 > 3 > 4. Replacement of the central imine N donor in 1 by amine 6 or amide 7 N donors reveals that complex 6 in CH(3)CN exhibits an irreversible reductive response at E(pc) = -1.28 V, E(pa) = +0.25 V vs saturated calomel electrode (SCE). In contrast, complex 7 shows a reversible oxidation wave at E(1/2) = +0.84 V (ΔE(p) = 60 mV) that corresponds to Ni(II)→Ni(III). The electrochemically generated Ni(III) species, [(L3)(2)Ni(III)](+) is stable, showing a new UV-vis band at 470 nm. EPR measurements have also been carried out.     

Arithmetic properties of cubic and overcubic partition pairs

The Ramanujan Journal - Let b(n) denote the number of cubic partition pairs of n. We affirm a conjecture of Lin by proving that $$\begin{aligned} b(49n+37)\equiv 0 \pmod {49} \end{aligned}$$for all...     

A note on Iwasawa µ-invariants of elliptic curves

Suppose that E ₁ and E ₂ are elliptic curves defined over ℚ and p is an odd prime where E ₁ and E ₂ have good ordinary reduction. In this paper, we generalize a theorem of Greenberg and Vatsal [3] and prove that if E ₁[p ⁱ ] and E ₂[p ⁱ ] are isomorphic as Galois modules for i = μ(E ₁), then μ(E ₁) ≤ μ(E ₂). If the isomorphism holds for i = μ(E ₁) + 1, then both the curves have same μ-invariants. We also discuss one numerical example.     

The Zoo Connection: A Cooperative Project Between Formal and Informal Educational Institutions

This project was a cooperative effort between university faculty, elementary school teachers, and members of the Education Department at the Indianapolis Zoo. The purpose of this project was to develop, evaluate, and disseminate a set of fourteen K-6 science lessons that could be used in conjunction with field trips to the zoo. These lessons, titled The Zoo Connection, follow the Learning Cycle teaching model. In addition to following the model, the development of the lessons was based on the premise that teachers should focus on a specific science concept or set of related concepts when visiting a zoo. Workshop sessions were conducted to introduce teachers to the materials and to provide them with strategies for implementing the materials in their science instruction. An evaluation was conducted for each workshop session to determine teachers' perceptions of the materials and to determine whether they felt prepared to use them with their students. The materials were also field-tested in several elementary schools to assess their effectiveness for presenting science concepts to elementary school children. Results indicate that teachers felt the workshops adequately prepared them to use the materials and that the materials were effective for presenting science concepts.     

Zur Taktizität anionisch hergestellter Poly-α-methylstyrole

α-Methylstyrene has been polymerized with lithium, sodium and potassium naphthalene in tetrahydropyran, tetrahydrofuran and 1.2-dimethoxyethane at ?30°. The tacticity of the polymers was determined by NMR. spectroscopy. Within the limits of reliability no influence of the cation on the tacticity was observed. With growing polarity of the solvent a slight but definite trend towards higher stereospecifity was noticed. The distribution of isotactic and syndiotactic links is purely statistical. The considerable dependence of tacticity upon the polymerization mechanism is ascribed to differences in the steric configuration of carbanions and carbonium ions due to different hybridization.     

Structural and magnetic properties of electrodeposited Cobalt nanowire arrays

Ordered magnetic nanowires have tremendous potential in future magnetic storage and high frequency magnetic logic devices. Here, we present the fabrication of ordered arrays of Cobalt nanowires by electrodeposition through porous polycarbonate membranes. Vertically and horizontally aligned nanowires were produced in presence of an external bias field during post deposition etching of the polycarbonate membrane. Structural and compositional analyses have been carried out to establish the material and structural purity. The magneto-optical Kerr effect was employed to measure the magnetic hysteresis loops for the nanowires assembled in the substrate plane. A good magneto-optical signal to noise ratio is observed with clean ferromagnetic hysteresis loops. The loops measured with external magnetic field applied parallel and perpendicular to the axis of the nanowires show a clear difference in the shape and the coercive field, indicating the effect of shape anisotropy in these samples. Micromagnetic simulations were performed to understand the experimental results and to obtain insight to the magnetization reversal mechanism in magnetic nanowires.     

Photoemission study of the (1 0 0) surface of Ni2MnGa and Mn2NiGa ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

The (1 0 0) surface of Ni₂MnGa and Mn₂NiGa ferromagnetic shape memory alloys have been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction (LEED). It is shown that by sputtering and annealing, it is possible to obtain a clean, ordered and stoichiometric surface that shows a four-fold 1 × 1 LEED pattern at room temperature. For both Ni₂MnGa and Mn₂NiGa, the surface becomes Ni-rich and Mn deficient after sputtering. However, as the annealing temperature is increased Mn segregates to the surface and at sufficiently high annealing temperature the Mn deficiency caused by sputtering is compensated. The (1 0 0) surface of Ni₂MnGa is found to have Mn-Ga termination. The valence band spectra of both Ni₂MnGa and Mn₂NiGa exhibits modifications with surface composition. For the stoichiometric surface, the origin of the spectral shape of the valence band is explained by calculations based on first principles density functional theory.     

An optical study of vacuum evaporated amorphous Ge<Subscript>20</Subscript>Te<Subscript>80−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Bi<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> thin films using transmission and reflection spectra

The present paper reports the effect of Bi addition on the optical behavior (optical band gap and refractive index) of Ge₂₀Te_80?x Bi _x (where x=0, 1.5, 2.5, 5.0) glassy alloys by analyzing the transmission and reflection spectra of their thin films in the 900–2400 nm range. Films are deposited on glass substrate using a thermal evaporation technique under vacuum. Various optical parameters viz. refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, optical band gap, etc. are determined and the effect of Bi incorporation on these parameters is studied. The refractive index has been found to increase with increasing Bi content over the entire spectral range and this behavior is due to the increased polarizability of the larger Bi atomic radius (1.46 Å) compared to Te atomic radius (1.36 Å). Dispersion energy, E _d , average energy gap, E ₀ and static refractive index, n ₀ is calculated using Wemple–DiDomenico model. Optical band gap is estimated using Tauc’s extrapolation and is found to decrease from 0.86 to 0.73 eV with the Bi addition. This behavior of the optical band gap is interpreted in terms of the electronegativity difference of the atoms involved and the cohesive energy of the system.     

Structural features of the La-Sr-Fe-Co-O system

A structural study has been performed on the La_0.8Sr_0.2Fe_xCo_1-xO₃ (x = 0.025 to 0.3) system displaying large magnetoresistance (MR) at room temperature. A detailed analysis of the crystal structure and microstructure was done by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM). The atomic resolution TEM images and the appearing superreflections in the corresponding SAED patterns revealed that a superstructure is formed due to the presence of iron. The correlation between the ordered microstructure and the observed large MR ratio is discussed. ⁵⁷Fe M?ssbauer spectroscopy was utilized to gain information on the valence state of iron in the sample with x = 0.3. The lattice parameters of Fe- doped La_0.8Sr_0.2Fe_xCo_1-xO₃ compounds were found to increase monotonously with increasing Fe content. The valence state of iron was found to be Fe³⁺. Received 22 January 2001