Critical points in the Bragg glass phase of a weakly pinned crystal of Ca3Rh4Sn13

New experimental data are presented on the scan rate dependence of the magnetization hysteresis width ΔM(H) (∞ critical current densityJ _c(H)) in isothermalMH scans in a weakly pinned single crystal of Ca₃Rh₄Sn₁₃, which displays second magnetization peak (SMP) anomaly as distinct from the peak effect (PE). We observe an interesting modulation in the field dependence of a parameter which purports to measure the dynamical annealing of the disordered bundles of vortices injected through the sample edges towards the destined equilibrium vortex state at a givenH. These data, in conjunction with the earlier observations made while studying the thermomagnetic history dependence inJ _c(H) in the tracing of the minor hysteresis loops, imply that the partially disordered state heals towards the more ordered state between the peak field of the SMP anomaly and the onset field of the PE. The vortex phase diagram in the given crystal of Ca₃Rh₄Sn₁₃ has been updated in the context of the notion of the phase coexistence of the ordered and disordered regions between the onset field of the SMP anomaly and the spinodal line located just prior to the irreversibility line. A multi-critical point and a critical point in the (H,T) region of the Bragg glass phase have been marked in this phase diagram and the observed behavior is discussed in the light of recent data on multi-critical point in the vortex phase diagram in a single crystal of Nb.     

Regiochemistry of the addition of mercury salts to bornylene

The dependence of the regiochemistry of the mercuration of bornylene on the nature of the mercurating reagent and on the solvent has been found. The structures of the intermediate and transition state in these reactions have been proposed.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 501–505, March, 1994.     

聚乙炔的CH面外振动红外光谱研究

采用从头计算方法，计算了反式和顺式聚乙炔的氢原子在垂直于聚乙炔分子面方向振动的红外光谱，计算表明，Gibson等用红外吸收实验所测得的谱线的确是聚乙炔的CH面外振动产生的谱线，经100℃长时间加热后，顺式聚乙炔变为反式聚炔，但波数为740cm^-1的谱级仍保留5％的强度。     

Ce偶-偶同位素低激发态性质的IBM2描述

通过考虑同类核子相干对间的四极相互作用，在IBM2中对Ce偶－偶同位素^128Ce-^138Ce的低激发态能谱和E2跃迁几率及分支比进行了理论分析，计算结果有效地改善了IBM中这些核的γ带能谱的Staggering现象描述，与实验观察到的低激发态结果基本一致。     

Second row transition metal mixed hydride-halide triatomic molecules

Summary The ground state structures and bond energies have been obtained for the triatomic MHX systems where M is the entire sequence of second row transition metal atoms and X is a halide. The most interesting results of this study appear when these systems are compared to the triatomic MH₂ and MX₂ systems. It turns out that the structure of the MHX systems are quite similar to the corresponding MH₂ systems in general. Most of the MHX systems to the right thus have bent low-spin ground states, indicating large covalent contributions to the bonding. RuHX is a special case and has a high-spin linear ground state. For the systems to the left ionicity dominates the bonding. An important result, with implications for halide ligand effects on carbonyl and olefin insertion into M-H and M-R bonds, is that the M-H bonds for the systems to the right have a different character and are significantly weaker for the MHX than for the MH₂ systems. A similar effect is noted when the M-Cl bond strengths of MCl₂ are compared to the ones in MHCl. Both these effects can be explained by a more cationic metal with mores ⁰-state character when halide ligands are present.     

Elastic incoherent neutron scattering studies on glass forming hydrogen-bonded systems

Neutron incoherent elastic scattering data have been collected on homologues disaccharides (trehalose, maltose, sucrose)/H₂O mixtures as a function of temperature. The results show a dynamical transition at T238 K, T235 K and T233 K for trehalose, maltose and sucrose/H₂O mixtures, respectively, marking a cross-over in molecular fluctuations between harmonic and non-harmonic dynamical regimes, proving a higher ‘rigidity’ of trehalose mixture with respect to maltose and sucrose mixtures. This finding accounts for the higher cryptobiotic effectiveness of trehalose, namely a capability to encapsulate biostructures in a more rigid environment.     

Elevation of the glass transition temperature in flexible‐chain semicrystalline polymers

In the idealized two‐phase model of a semicrystalline polymer, the amorphous intercrystalline layers are considered to have the same properties as the fully‐amorphous polymer. In reality, these thin intercrystalline layers can be substantially influenced by the presence of the crystals, as individual polymer molecules traverse both crystalline and amorphous phases. In polymers with rigid backbone units, such as poly(etheretherketone), PEEK, previous work has shown this coupling to be particularly severe; the glass transition temperature (T_g) can be elevated by tens of degrees celsius, with the magnitude of the elevation correlating directly with the thinness of the amorphous layer. However, this connection has not been explored for flexible‐chain polymers, such as those formed from vinyl‐type monomers. Here, we examine T_g in both isotactic polystyrene (iPS) and syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS), crystallized under conditions that produce a range of amorphous layer thicknesses. T_g is indeed shown to be elevated relative to fully‐amorphous iPS and sPS, by an amount that correlates with the thinness of the amorphous layer; the magnitude of the effect is severalfold less than that in PEEK, consistent with the minimum lengths of polymer chain required to make a fold in the different cases. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1198–1204, 2007     

Classical Coulomb fluids in a confined geometry

It has already been argued that a classical (three-dimensional) Coulomb fluid confined between two parallel walls exhibits ideal gas features when the distance between the walls becomes small; this is confirmed in the present paper. Two-dimensional models of Coulomb fluids (with a logarithmic interaction), confined in a strip, are also studied. These models do not become ideal gases in the narrow strip limit. The correlation functions are also studied. There is a special temperature at which exact results are obtained. At that temperature, the two-dimensional, two-component plasma (two-dimensional Coulomb gas), which is a conductor when unconfined, becomes a dielectric as soon as it is confined in a strip of noninfinite width. This can be understood as a displacement of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition by the confinement.     

Rheological and diffusion properties of a dextran-con A polymer in the presence of Insulin and Magnesium

Previous work carried out in our laboratories has focused on the formation and investigation of a dextran and concanavalin A (con A) based gel, which has the ability to alter its conformational structure in the presence and absence of free and terminal glucoses such that a gel–sol phase transition occurs. Here we report the diffusion and rheological investigations in to the effects of the addition of insulin and varyingconcentrations of magnesium chloride hexahydrate (Mg₂Cl₂6H₂O) at 20 and 37 °C. Rheological examination of glucose-sensitive (dextran-con A) gels were conducted using a cone and plate viscometer used in continual rotation and oscillatory modes. The results are interpreted in terms of the structure of the gel network and suggest rheological assessment provides an effective method of assessing the properties of gel systems. The subsequent testing of such formulations in in-vitro diffusion experiments revealed a reduction in the rate of diffusivity in the insulin marker, poly R-478 dye. The performance of this self-regulating drug delivery system has been examined and the addition of insulin and magnesium chloride may alter the way in which the gel operates as a drug delivery device and in the delivery of insulin. This may have implications for other ligands.     

Molecular modeling study on surface,thermal, mechanical and gas diffusion properties of chitosan

The motivation of this work is to provide reliable and accurate modeling studies of the physical (surface, thermal, mechanical and gas diffusion) properties of chitosan (CS) polymer. Our computational efforts have been devoted to make a comparison of the structural bulk properties of CS with similar type of polymers such as chitin and cellulose through cohesive energy density, solubility parameter, hydrogen bonding, and free volume distribution calculations. Atomistic modeling on CS polymer using molecular mechanics (MM) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations has been carried out in three dimensionally periodic and effective two dimensionally periodic condensed phases. From the equilibrated structures, surface energies were computed. The equilibrium structure of the films shows an interior region of mass density close to the value in the bulk state. Various components of energetic interactions have been examined in detail to acquire a better insight into the interactions between bulk structure and the film surface. MD simulation (NPT ensemble) has also been used to obtain polymer specific volume as a function of temperature. It is demonstrated that these V–T curves can be used to locate the volumetric glass transition temperature (T_g) reliably. The mechanical properties of CS have been obtained using the strain deformation method. Diffusion coefficients of O₂, N₂, and CO₂ gas molecules at 300 K in CS have been estimated. The calculated properties of CS are comparable with the experimental values reported in the literature. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1260–1270, 2007