Isolation of NO(3)(-)-N as 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) for measurement of delta(15)N

The conversion of nitrate (NO(3)(-)) to 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (Sudan-1) has been examined as a method for natural abundance measurement of delta(15)N of NO(3)(-). The reaction results in dilution of NO(3)(-)-N with only one reagent-derived N and the product is readily concentrated from dilute samples by reverse phase chromatography. There is systematic isotopic fractionation during the reaction, but this can be allowed for by analysing known NO(3)(-) standards along with each sample set. Sudan-1 prepared from surface water samples containing approximately 50 &mgr;g NO(3)(-)-N can be analysed by automated continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry with a precision of 0.2 per thousand (one standard deviation) and the accuracy is not affected by interference from other nitrogenous species in the sample or reagents. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DNA vaccine containing the mycobacterial hsp65 gene prevented insulitis in MLD-STZ diabetes

Background  

Our group previously demonstrated that a DNA plasmid encoding the mycobacterial 65-kDa heat shock protein (DNA-HSP65) displayed prophylactic and therapeutic effect in a mice model for tuberculosis. This protection was attributed to induction of a strong cellular immunity against HSP65. As specific immunity to HSP60 family has been detected in arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes, the vaccination procedure with DNA-HSP65 could induce a cross-reactive immune response that could trigger or worsen these autoimmune diseases.     

Wave attenuation model for dephasing and measurement of conditional times

Inelastic scattering induces dephasing in mesoscopic systems. An analysis of previous models to simulate inelastic scattering in such systems is presented and a relatively new model based on wave attenuation is introduced. The problem of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations in conductance of a mesoscopic ring is studied. We show that the conductance is symmetric under flux reversal and the visibility of AB oscillations decays to zero as a function of the incoherence parameter, signaling dephasing. Further the wave attenuation model is applied to a fundamental problem in quantum mechanics, that of the conditional (reflection/transmission) times spent in a given region of space by a quantum particle before scattering off from that region.     

Ion-pair states in the complexes of iodine molecule with rare gases

The luminescence excitation spectra and the luminescence spectra of the I₂ + Rg (Rg = He, Ar, Xe; p _Rg = 2–20 Torr) mixtures measured at room temperature by the method of double optical resonance in the spectral range corresponding to the population of the I₂(f0 _g ⁺, v _f = 8.9) levels and in its vicinity are analyzed in this work. The experimental data and their interpretation, according to which these spectra can be explained by the energy transfer in the intermediate I₂(B0 _u ⁺) and final I₂(f0 _g ⁺) states of the free iodine molecule rather than by the optical population, luminescence, and predissociation of the ion-pair RgI₂(IP) complexes, are discussed. It is shown that these data can be explained only with account taken of the optical population of the RgI₂(IP) complexes. Original Russian Text ? M.E. Akopyan, S.S. Lukashov, S.A. Poretsky, A.M. Pravilov, 2009, published in Zhurnal Fizicheskoi Khimii, 2009, Vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 132–141.     

Experimental and theoretical study of the electronic states and spectra of PbLi

Gas phase emission spectra of the hitherto unknown free radical PbLi have been measured in the NIR range with a Fourier-transform spectrometer. The emissions were observed from a fast flow system in which lead vapor in argon carrier gas was passed through a microwave discharge and mixed with lithium vapor in an observation tube. Five electronic transitions have been found in the wavenumber range 3800-10 000 cm⁻¹. Bands from two excited states to the ground state were measured at high spectral resolution such that rotational analyses could be performed and accurate molecular parameters derived. In order to aid in the analysis of the experimental data, a series of relativistic configuration interaction calculations has been carried out to obtain potential curves for the low-lying states of PbLi and also electric dipole transition moments connecting them. As in the lighter molecules of this group, CLi and SiLi, the ground state of PbLi is found to be 3/2) with a spin splitting of about 2000 cm⁻¹. The first excited state is (A 1/2), and two observed band systems are assigned to the transitions A→X₁ and A→X₂. Two more excited states, (B 3/2) and C 1/2, are identified from the observed spectra with the help of the computed data, and their spectroscopic constants are determined. In contrast to PbH and PbF, the ab initio results indicate a very complicated low-energy electronic structure for the PbLi radical, with 19 bound electronic states calculated to lie below 3 eV.     

How Fast can a Subharmonic Function Decay Along a Ray?

Much is known about the connection between the growth and decayof subharmonic functions. The results indicate that there isa general principle: asubharmonic function cannot decay ‘toofast’ relative to its growth.Three theorems are provedwhich, together with work previously published elsewhere, givea fairly complete account of how this principle works out fora subharmonic function having extremal decay along a ray. 1991Mathematics Subject Classification: 30D20, 31A05.