Hydrogen bond studies: 80. A deuteron magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopic study of the water molecule in lithium formate monohydrate,LiHCOO · H2O

A deuteron magnetic resonance and infrared study of the water molecules in lithium formate monohydrate, LiHCOO · H₂O, has been made. The quadrupole coupling constants (e²qQ/h) and asymmetry parameters (η) were found to be 198.7±0.4 and 231.3±0.6 kHz, and 0.060±0.005 and 0.097±0.003, respectively, at 25 ° C.An interpretation is given of the infrared spectra in the OH-stretching region in terms of intra- and intermolecular couplings of the water molecules. It is found that the water molecules are vibrationally distorted by their environments such that the OH-stretching modes consist of independent stretchings of the two O-H bonds.     

Integrability and ergodicity of classical billiards in a magnetic field

We consider classical billiards in plane, connected, but not necessarily bounded domains. The charged billiard ball is immersed in a homogeneous, stationary magnetic field perpendicular to the plane. The part of dynamics which is not trivially integrable can be described by a bouncing map. We compute a general expression for the Jacobian matrix of this map, which allows us to determine stability and bifurcation values of specific periodic orbits. In some cases, the bouncing map is a twist map and admits a generating function. We give a general form for this function which is useful to do perturbative calculations and to classify periodic orbits. We prove that billiards in convex domains with sufficiently smooth boundaries possess invariant tori corresponding to skipping trajectories. Moreover, in strong field we construct adiabatic invariants over exponentially large times. To some extent, these results remain true for a class of nonconvex billiards. On the other hand, we present evidence that the billiard in a square is ergodic for some large enough values of the magnetic field. A numerical study reveals that the scattering on two circles is essentially chaotic.     

Structure and dynamic stability of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes with 1,4-disubstituted bicyclo[2.2.2]octanes

The properties of inclusion complexes of 1,4-di-R-bicyclo[2.2.2]octaves (R = H (1), Me (2), Cl (3), Br (4), and OH (5)) with cyclodextrins have been studied by NMR, microcalorimetry, and force-field computations. The compounds2 and3 (but not the other compounds) give dynamically stable 1:2 guest-host complexes with -cyclodextrin. Microcalorimetry of5 in water indicates a moderately strong 1:1 complex with - but weak complexes with - or -cyclodextrin. The behaviour depends on the subtle interplay size, polarity, hydrophobicity and type of solvent.     

Critical factors for high-performance physically adsorbed (dynamic) polymeric wall coatings for capillary electrophoresis of DNA

Physically adsorbed (dynamic) polymeric wall coatings for microchannel electrophoresis have distinct advantages over covalently linked coatings. In order to determine the critical factors that control the formation of dynamic wall coatings, we have created a set of model polymers and copolymers based on N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA) and N,N-diethylacrylamide (DEA), and studied their adsorption behavior from aqueous solution as well as their performance for microchannel electrophoresis of DNA. This study is revealing in terms of the polymer properties that help create an "ideal" wall coating. Our measurements indicate that the chemical nature of the coating polymer strongly impacts its electroosmotic flow (EOF) suppression capabilities. Additionally, we find that a critical polymer chain length is required for polymers of this type to perform effectively as microchannel wall coatings. The effective mobilities of double-stranded (dsDNA) fragments within dynamically coated capillaries were determined in order to correlate polymer hydrophobicity with separation performance. Even for dsDNA, which is not expected to be a strongly adsorbing analyte, wall coating hydrophobicity has a deleterious influence on separation performance.     

Hydrogen bond studies: Part 118. A deuteron magnetic resonance study of BeSO4· 4D2O and Li2SO4· D2O

The electric field gradient (EFG) tensors at the deuterons in the water molecules in BeSO₄ · 4D₂O at 25°C are reported. The quadrupole coupling constants (e²Q/h) and asymmetry parameters (η) for the two independent deuterons are 181.1(4) and 194.8(3) kHz, and 0.226(4) and 0.123(3), respectively. The EFG tensor corresponding to the smallest e²qQ/h is considerably distorted by the beryllium ion, which causes a high η value as well as a deviation of the y-principal axis by 21.8(6)° from the normal to the water molecule plane. A redetermination of the EFG tensors at the deuterons in the water molecule in Li₂SO₄ · D₂O at 25°C and ?110°C is also reported. The e²Q/h and η values for the two deuterons are 236.6(1.2) and 239.8(1.1) kHz, and 0.091(8) and 0.126(7), respectively, at ?110°C. The corresponding e²qQ/h and η values for the averaged EFG tensor at 25°C are 125.8(1.1) kHz and 0.813(13), respectively. The results are in good agreement with those from the pioneer work by Ketudat and Pound, 20 years ago on the same compound.     

The complete matter sector in a three-generation compactification

We consider a Calabi-Yau compactification paradigm with three light generations and anR-symmetry. From a special form of the Tian-Yau manifold, we also construct a new three-generation model with markedly different phenomenology. Thecomplete spectrum of all light matter fields is obtained in a universal way and moreover in a physically suitable basis, allowing a straightforward analysis of all their couplings. Here we discuss all the renormalizable Yukawa couplings. This computation can equally well be repeated for all compactification models based on Calabi-Yau complete intersections in products of homogeneous spaces.     

Topochemical acetylation of cellulose nanopaper structures for biocomposites: mechanisms for reduced water vapour sorption

Moisture sorption decreases dimensional stability and mechanical properties of polymer matrix biocomposites based on plant fibers. Cellulose nanofiber reinforcement may offer advantages in this respect. Here, wood-based nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) and bacterial cellulose (BC) nanopaper structures, with different specific surface area (SSA), ranging from 0.03 to 173.3 m²/g, were topochemically acetylated and characterized by ATR-FTIR, XRD, solid-state CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR and moisture sorption studies. Polymer matrix nanocomposites based on NFC were also prepared as demonstrators. The surface degree of substitution (surface-DS) of the acetylated cellulose nanofibers is a key parameter, which increased with increasing SSA. Successful topochemical acetylation was confirmed and significantly reduced the moisture sorption in nanopaper structures, especially at RH = 53 %. BC nanopaper sorbed less moisture than the NFC counterpart, and mechanisms are discussed. Topochemical NFC nanopaper acetylation can be used to prepare moisture-stable nanocellulose biocomposites.     

Micellar capillary electrophoresis – Electrochemical detection of neurochemicals from Drosophila

The fruit fly is one of the most heavily studied model organisms for genetics research and has significantly contributed to the molecular, cellular, and evolutionary understandings of human behavior. Recent research in the analytical chemistry of the fruit fly has focused on developing methods to obtain highly sensitive chemical quantification information of Drosophila melanogaster, especially looking at the nervous system. We provide a brief overview of work in the area of CE of the fly head and brain.     

Entangled state quantum cryptography: eavesdropping on the ekert protocol

Using polarization-entangled photons from spontaneous parametric down-conversion, we have implemented Ekert's quantum cryptography protocol. The near-perfect correlations of the photons allow the sharing of a secret key between two parties. The presence of an eavesdropper is continually checked by measuring Bell's inequalities. We investigated several possible eavesdropper strategies, including pseudo-quantum-nondemolition measurements. In all cases, the eavesdropper's presence was readily apparent. We discuss a procedure to increase her detectability.