Fe-site assignments in Y1Ba2Cu3O7 revisited

A new symmetric Fe³⁺ site (labelled E) (δ=0.28(2) mm/s and Δ=0.15 mm/s) is observed in the R₁Ba₂Cu₃O₇ family of superconductors for R=Y and Eu. The decay and growth of site E are established in two seemingly unrelated experiments, one as a function of room temperature aging for R=Y, and the other as a function of oxygen loading at elevated temperatures and pressures for R=Eu. In each experiment, the results show that site E is genetically related to the well documented chainsites A(Δ=1.9 mm/s), C(Δ=1.1 mm/s) and D(Δ=1.6 mm/s). We propose that site E represents a quasi-octahedral chain-site having pairs of O(1), O(4) and O(5) nearestneighbor oxygen sites. The two remaining doublets, B(Δ≈0.4 mm/s) and B′(Δ=0.78 mm/s) represent Fe³⁺ dopant sites present in the all-important CuO₂ planes, possessing coordination numbers of 6 and 5, respectively.     

Abnormalities of cell packing density and dendritic complexity in the MeCP2 A140V mouse model of Rett syndrome/X-linked mental retardation

Background  

Rett syndrome (RTT), a common cause of mental retardation in girls, is associated with mutations in the MECP2 gene. Most human cases of MECP2 mutation in girls result in classical or variant forms of RTT. When these same mutations occur in males, they often present as severe neonatal encephalopathy. However, some MECP2 mutations can also lead to diseases characterized as mental retardation syndromes, particularly in boys. One of these mutations, A140V, is a common, recurring missense mutation accounting for about 0.6% of all MeCP2 mutations and ranking 21^st by frequency. It has been described in familial X-linked mental retardation (XLMR), PPM- X syndrome (Parkinsonism, Pyramidal signs, Macroorchidism, X-linked mental retardation) and in other neuropsychiatric syndromes. Interestingly, this mutation has been reported to preserve the methyl-CpG binding function of the MeCP2 protein while compromising its ability to bind to the mental retardation associated protein ATRX.     

Protonation of N-heterocyclic carbene ligand coordinated to copper(I): Coordination mode of imidazolium cation as a function of counterion as determined by solid-state structures

Reactions of (IPr)Cu(X) (X = Cl or trifluoromethanesulfonate, IPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene) complexes with the strong acids HOTf or HCl result in protonation of the C2 carbon of the IPr ligand to form imidazolium cations. Coordination of the imidazolium to the resulting Cu^I system depends upon the identity of the two counterions (chloride or triflate). The copper complexes [(IPrH)Cu(OTf)(μ-OTf)]₂ and [IPrH][CuCl₂] as well as the imidazolium salt [IPrH][OTf] have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction studies.     

Standardization for oxygen isotope ratio measurement - still an unsolved problem

Numerous organic and inorganic laboratory standards were gathered from nine European and North American laboratories and were analyzed for their delta(18)O values with a new on-line high temperature pyrolysis system that was calibrated using Vienna standard mean ocean water (VSMOW) and standard light Antartic precipitation (SLAP) internationally distributed reference water samples. Especially for organic materials, discrepancies between reported and measured values were high, ranging up to 2 per thousand. The reasons for these discrepancies are discussed and the need for an exact and reliable calibration of existing reference materials, as well as for the establishment of additional organic and inorganic reference materials is stressed. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Uniform Decay of Local Energy and the Semi-Linear Wave Equation on Schwarzschild Space

We provide a uniform decay estimate for the local energy of general solutions to the inhomogeneous wave equation on a Schwarzschild background. Our estimate implies that such solutions have asymptotic behavior as long as the source term is bounded in the norm . In particular this gives scattering at small amplitudes for non-linear scalar fields of the form for all 2 < p. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Hope Machedon The second author would like thank MSRI and Princeton University, where a portion of this research was conducted during the Fall of 2005. The second author was also supported by a NSF postdoctoral fellowship.     

Polarization of protons from the C(d,p)C reaction

The polarization of protons from the ¹²C(d, p)¹³C reaction has been measured for deuteron bombarding energies between 3.9 and 5.8 MeV. Angular distributions of the polarization for protons leaving ¹³C in its ground state have been measured for laboratory angles between 10° and 135° at several energies in the vicinity of a resonance at 4 MeV in order to determine the effect of that resonance on the polarization. Additional measurements were made at 0.4 MeV intervals throughout the energy range. These measurements demonstrate that the compound-nuclear resonances observed in the cross section do not significantly alter the polarization angular distributions except at back angles. The shape of the observed polarization angular distributions at all energies is quite similar to previous results obtained for deuteron bombarding energies up to 15 MeV.     

Determination of the thickness of an electrodeposited thorium film with SiC alpha detectors

Alpha spectroscopy can be used to quantify actinide (e.g., U, Pu) concentration in a molten salt electrorefining environment. One could electroplate actinide samples directly onto a semiconductor alpha particle detector to obtain representative isotopic concentrations from a measured alpha particle energy spectrum. In this work, we fabricated a SiC Schottky device that can be partially biased to a depletion depth of 8.8 µm that is able to measure the energy spectrum of 4.012 MeV alpha particles emitted from a thorium film with a thickness. We also present a method in calculating the thickness of a medium thick alpha source with a dE/dx detector.     

Molecular distribution of some commercial nonylphenol ethoxylates using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) belong to a group of nonionic surfactants that are collectively referred to as alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs). APEs find widespread use in heavy-duty commercial and household cleaning formulations, shampoos, and industrial processing, i.e. textile manufacture. Their environmental impact depends on the molecular distribution and the extent of their biodegradation in municipal sewage systems, waterways and rivers. We have established two sample preparation methods that have enabled the determination of the molecular distributions of six commercial nonylphenol ethoxylates using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). In both methods, alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, dissolved in acetonitrile/tetrahydrofuran, was used as the matrix. In one set of experiments, the NPEs were dissolved in an acetonitrile/tetrahydrofuran solvent system prior to mixing with the matrix solution, and the resulting MALDI-TOF mass spectra produced mostly sodiated molecules [M + Na](+). The NPEs, all having the formula 4-(C(9)H(19))-C(6)H(4)-(OCH(2)CH(2))(n)-OH, are Surfonic (R)N-95, N-100, N-102, N-120, N-150 and N-300. Surfonic N-95 and N-100 gave n values of 5-20; Surfonic N-102, N-120, N-150, and N-300 gave n values of 5-21, 5-22, 8-25 and 15-40, respectively. In order to develop a sample preparation method that could be used with less polar NPEs, we dissolved the NPEs (except N-300) in pentane prior to mixing with the matrix solution, and found that the MALDI spectral quality was unaffected by the solvent systems. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ultrasonic backscatter coefficient quantitative estimates from high-concentration Chinese Hamster Ovary cell pellet biophantoms

Previous work estimated the ultrasonic backscatter coefficient (BSC) from low-concentration (volume density <3%) Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO, 6.7-μm cell radius) cell pellets. This study extends the work to higher cell concentrations (volume densities: 9.6% to 63%). At low concentration, BSC magnitude is proportional to the cell concentration and BSC frequency dependency is independent of cell concentration. At high cell concentration, BSC magnitude is not proportional to cell concentration and BSC frequency dependency is dependent on cell concentration. This transition occurs when the volume density reaches between 10% and 30%. Under high cell concentration conditions, the BSC magnitude increases slower than proportionally with the number density at low frequencies (ka<1), as observed by others. However, what is new is that the BSC magnitude can increase either slower or faster than proportionally with number density at high frequencies (ka>1). The concentric sphere model least squares estimates show a decrease in estimated cell radius with number density, suggesting that the concentric spheres model is becoming less applicable as concentration increases because the estimated cell radius becomes smaller than that measured. The critical volume density, starting from when the model becomes less applicable, is estimated to be between 10% and 30% cell volume density.