Comparison of velvet- and cesium iodide-coated carbon fibercathodes

Presents results of an experimental comparison of a velvet cathode- and a carbon fiber cathode-coated with cesium iodide (CsI) salt. Each cathode had a planar geometry, with similar emission areas. The cathodes were tested at electric field strengths of 50 kV/cm at anode-cathode (A-K) gaps of 4.0 cm. The applied voltage had a 1-μs duration and the pulser was operated at up to a 1-Hz repetition rate. The system had a low base pressure (<1.0×10^-7 torr). This paper reports the results and comparisons of experiments on each cathode. We address the current and voltage characteristics, the shot-to-shot reproducibility, the pressure evolution of the diode under 1-Hz operation, and the lifetime of the cathodes     

Lithium cluster anions: photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

Structural and energetic properties of small, deceptively simple anionic clusters of lithium, Li(n)(-), n = 3-7, were determined using a combination of anion photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The most stable isomers of each of these anions, the ones most likely to contribute to the photoelectron spectra, were found using the gradient embedded genetic algorithm program. Subsequently, state-of-the-art ab initio techniques, including time-dependent density functional theory, coupled cluster, and multireference configurational interactions methods, were employed to interpret the experimental spectra.     

Approximate and exact photon-maxwellian electron cross-sections and a Monte Carlo sampling scheme

Fast and accurate approximate methods for computing temperature-corrected photon-Maxwellian electron cross-sections, using distribution averaged electron energies and scattering angles, are presented. Use is made of the covariant (frame independent) picture of scattering for relativistic electrons. The schemes are motivated and detailed, predictions are obtained and compared with exact values, and appropriate limiting forms that retain the Thomson and Klein-Nishina cross-section structure are also recovered. A two-parameter fit to the total cross-sections in a Klein-Nishina picture is detailed using an invariant scattering kernel. This particular fit is useful in extending existing sampling schemes which employ the static probability density. Extensions of Kahn's technique (for sampling the Klein-Nishina density) arepresented for a temperature-corrected set of probability densities obtained from the fitted cross-sections. The methods are amenable to further pointwise (Monte Carlo) or multigroup (S_n) cross-section processing. An exact numerical scheme employing adaptive quadrature techniques, as implemented in the production code module MAXWELL is also described.     

Annealing of polypropylene films crystallized from a highly extended melt

Thin films of isotactic polypropylene were drawn from the melt at a very high rate of extension. Transmission electron micrographs of this material reveal fibrous crystals lying along the draw direction. The chain axis and fiber axis are identical. Dark field micrographs show a dark/light modulation along the fiber axis. Annealing at temperatures below 110°C produces no qualitative change in the electron microscope observations. Annealing between 110 and 150°C produces gradual dominance of lamellar crystals, oriented normal to the draw direction. Small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) data exhibit a strong streaking normal to the fiber axis, in broad agreement with the observed fibrosity. A Bragg peak along the draw directions shows that the modulation observed microscopically is a density modulation. The absence of second-order maxima and the dependence of the SAXS peak on treatment temperature strongly suggest that the axial modulation is a spinodal decomposition of the material into crystalline and amorphous regions.     

Synthesis and characterization of multimeric salicylaldimine thiosemicarbazones and their Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes

A series of di- and trithiosemicarbazone ligands as well as their Pd(II) and Pt(II) 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA) complexes have been synthesised using templated reactions between various substituted salicylaldimine thiosemicarbazone ligands and metal precursors of the general formula cis-[M(PTA)₂Cl₂], where M = Pd or Pt. Characterization of these complexes was achieved using various analytical and spectroscopic techniques: elemental analysis, ESI-MS, FT-IR, and NMR (¹H, ¹³C{¹H} and ³¹P{¹H}) spectroscopy. The data revealed tridentate (O-N-S) coordination of the thiosemicarbazone moieties via the imine nitrogen, thiolato sulfur and phenolic oxygen to each metal center. In vitro biological evaluation of selected compounds was conducted against WHCO1 oesophageal cancer cells. Some of the multimeric compounds display some promising biological activity.     

Cooperativity of multiple kinesin-1 motors mechanically coupled through a shared load

Recent experiments using single-molecule techniques have characterized the mechanical properties of single kinesin molecules in vitro at a range of loads and ATP concentrations. These experiments have shown that kinesin moves processively along microtubules by alternately advancing each of its motor domains in a hand-over-hand fashion, using Brownian motion and the energy from ATP hydrolysis. We have extended the theoretical analysis of kinesin through a mechanistic model that is capable of describing transient and steady-state behavior. Transient dynamics are needed to describe the effect of external perturbations (e.g. interactions with other kinesin molecules). Quantitative metrics are tailored to characterize the synchronization of nonlinear, nonsmooth systems such as kinesin. These metrics are employed to analyze the simulation results and to quantify the effect of the cargo linker stiffness, the load, and the difference in intrinsic velocity on the synchronization of two coupled motor proteins. Herein, the mechanistic model and the new analysis techniques are demonstrated for the case of two coupled kinesin motors.     

Reactivity of lithium exposed graphite surface

Lithium as a plasma-facing component has many attractive features in fusion devices. We investigated chemical properties of the lithiated graphite surfaces during deposition using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy. In this study we try to address some of the known issues during lithium deposition, viz., the chemical state of lithium on graphite substrate, oxide layer formation mechanisms, Li passivation effects over time, and chemical change during exposure of the sample to ambient air. X-ray photoelectron studies indicate changes in the chemical composition with various thickness of lithium on graphite during deposition. An oxide layer formation is noticed during lithium deposition even though all the experiments were performed in ultrahigh vacuum. The metal oxide is immediately transformed into carbonate when the deposited sample is exposed to air.     

Synthesis and structural characterization of binuclear palladium(II) complexes of salicylaldimine dithiosemicarbazones

A series of binuclear palladium(II) salicylaldiminato dithiosemicarbazone complexes have been synthesized and characterized. The palladium complexes were obtained by the reaction of various ethylene- and phenylene-bridged dithiosemicarbazones with Pd(PPh₃)₂Cl₂. The free salicylaldimine ligands and their palladium complexes were characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopies, ESI-mass spectrometry, elemental analyses and for two representative complexes also by X-ray diffraction. In both metal complexes, the solid-state structures show the two palladium centers to be coordinated in a slightly distorted square-planar geometry, which gives rise in each case to five- and six-membered chelate rings. The salicylaldimine thiosemicarbazone ligands coordinate to palladium in a tridentate manner, through the phenolic oxygen, imine nitrogen and thiolate sulfur atoms.     

Mechanistic mathematical model of kinesin under time and space fluctuating loads

Kinesin-1 is a processive molecular motor that converts the energy from ATP hydrolysis and Brownian motion into directed movement. Single-molecule techniques have allowed the experimental characterization of single kinesins in vitro at a range of loads and ATP concentrations, and shown that each kinesin molecule moves processively along microtubules by alternately advancing each of its motor domains in a hand-over-hand fashion. Existing models of kinesin movement focus on time and space invariant loads, and hence are not well suited to describing transient dynamics. However, kinesin must undergo transient dynamics when external perturbations (e.g., interactions with other kinesin molecules) cause the load on each motor to change in time. We have developed a mechanistic model that describes, deterministically, the average motion of kinesin under time and space varying loads. The diffusion is modeled using a novel approach inspired by the classical closed form solution for the mean first-passage time. In the new approach, the potential in which the free motor domain diffuses is time varying and updated at each instant during the motion. The mechanistic model is able to predict experimental force-velocity data over a wide range of ATP concentrations (1 μM–10 mM). This mechanistic approach to modeling the mechanical behavior of the motor domains of kinesin allows rational and efficient characterization of the mechanochemical coupling, and provides predictions of kinesin with time-varying loads, which is critical for modeling coordinated transport involving several kinesin molecules.