Cavitation in superfluid helium-4 at low temperature

We have studied the nucleation of bubbles in pure superfluid helium-4 at temperatures down to 65 mK. We have found that the nucleation is a stochastic process, and that at temperatures below 600 mK the nucleation rate is independent of temperature. These results are consistent with the assumption that the nucleation takes place via quantum tunneling. Received: 15 November 1997 / Received in final form: 19 December 1997 / Accepted: 22 January 1998     

Increased speed of steroid analysis by capillary GC and GC-MS; effects of sample pretreatment and sample introdution

Quantitative analysis of steroids and their metabolites in urine samples calls for increased speed of sample clean-up, of the derivatization procedure, and of separation. A fast procedure for sample pretreatment, which can be performed within 8 hours, is introduced and evaluated. It is shown that use of fast pretreatment in combination with narrow bore columns, which are compatible with existing instrumentation, can considerably increase, laboratory throughput. The effect of different sample introduction techniques (e.g. splitless, on-column, and moving needle) on column efficiency and resolution is demonstrated and discussed.     

An efficient step size control for continuation methods

In solving a nonlinear equation by the use of a continuation method one of the crucial problems is the choice of the step sizes. We present a model for the total computational cost of a standard numerical continuation process and solve the problem of optimal step size control for this model. Using the theoretical results as a basis, we develop an adaptive step size algorithm for Newton's method. This procedure is computationally inexpensive and it gives quite satisfactory results compared to some other numerical experiments found in the literature.     

Electric-field-induced symmetry breaking of angular momentum distribution in atoms

We report the experimental observation of alignment to orientation conversion in the 7D3/2 and 9D3/2 states of Cs in the presence of an external dc electric field and without the influence of magnetic fields or atomic collisions. Initial alignment of angular momentum states was created by two-step excitation with linearly polarized laser radiation. The appearance of transverse orientation of angular momentum was confirmed by the observation of circularly polarized light. We present experimentally measured signals and compare them with the results of a detailed theoretical model based on the optical Bloch equations. The effect is odd under time reversal and should be taken into account in ever more sensitive searches for an electron electric dipole moment.     

Molecular recognition of chiral conformers: a rotational study of the dimers of glycidol

Two homochiral dimers of glycidol, deriving from two different conformers, have been characterized by rotational spectroscopy in a supersonic expansion.     

Building Giant Carbocycles by Reversible C−C Bond Formation

We describe a simple way to build giant macrocyclic hydrocarbons by the reversible formation of carbon–carbon bonds. Specifically, extended spirobifluorene‐substituted derivatives of Wittig's hydrocarbon were synthesized and found to undergo oligomerization, giving the largest hydrocarbon that has been crystallized and characterized by X‐ray diffraction to date.     

Co-Treatment of Purified Annatto Oil (Bixa orellana L.) and Its Granules (Chronic®) Improves the Blood Lipid Profile and Bone Protective Effects of Testosterone in the Orchiectomy-Induced Osteoporosis in Wistar Rats

This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of co-treatment with purified annatto oil (PAO) or its granules (GRA, Chronic^®) with that of testosterone on the orchiectomy-induced osteoporosis in Wistar rats. After surgery, rats were treated from day 7 until day 45 with testosterone only (TES, 7 mg/kg, IM) or TES + PAO or GRA (200 mg/kg, p.o.). The following parameters were evaluated: food/water intake, weight, HDL, LDL, glucose, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), alkaline phosphatase levels, blood phosphorus and calcium contents, femur weight, structure (through scanning electron microscopy), and calcium content (through atomic absorption spectrophotometry). Our results show that orchiectomy could significantly change the blood lipid profile and decrease bone integrity parameters. Testosterone reposition alone could improve some endpoints, including LDL, TC, bone weight, and bone calcium concentration. However, other parameters were not significantly improved. Co-treatment with PAO or GRA improved the blood lipid profile and bone integrity more significantly and improved some endpoints not affected by testosterone reposition alone (such as TG levels and trabeculae sizes). The results suggest that co-treatment with annatto products improved the blood lipid profile and the anti-osteoporosis effects of testosterone. Overall, GRA had better results than PAO.