High-energy electron pair production on oxygen

Electron-positron pair production cross sections are calculated for 50-MeV electrons incident on an oxygen nucleus. The symmetric coplanar cross sections are emphasized. Neglecting exchange, the spectra of forward-scattered projectile electrons is numerically calculated. In the extreme relativistic and nonrelativistic limits for the produced pair kinetic energies, calculated cross sections are similar to those of Bhabha.     

Determination of zearalenone and ochratoxin A in soil

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites, formed by the action of fungi on agricultural crops in the field or during storage. These metabolites are highly toxic to animals and humans and high levels have been measured in agricultural crops. In order to evaluate human risks due to ingestion of mycotoxin-contaminated food different methods have been developed for analysis of mycotoxins in cereals and maize. In this project the focus was on mycotoxins in agricultural soil and the fate of these toxins in the soil-water-plant system. Two different mycotoxins were selected in the study: zearalenone (ZON) produced by species of Fusariumor Aspergillusand ochratoxin A (OTA) produced by species of Penicillium. We developed a method for analysis of these toxins in soil. Soil samples were extracted with methanol-water (9:1) and purified by solid-phase extraction (SPE, C8-columns). The final extract was analysed using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. A Phenyl Hexyl column was used to separate the toxins. The detection limits obtained were 0.1 and 1.0 microg kg(-1) dry weight (dw) for OTA and ZON, respectively. The developed method has been used for analysis of different soils in connection with growth chamber experiments. The soil types used in the growth chamber experiments were a sandy soil, a sandy clay soil, and a soil with high content of organic matter. The recovery was determined as 85.8 and 93.4% and the repeatability to 5.1 and 12.8% for OTA and ZON, respectively. The reproducibility obtained was 8.5 and 15.0% for soil samples, representing concentration levels from 0.2-30 microg kg(-1) dw (OTA) and from 1.0-100 microg kg(-1) dw (ZON).     

Center-of-mass motion of a system of relativistic Dirac particles

The relativistic center-of-mass motion for a system ofN fermions can be exactly separated because of the linearity of the Dirac operators in momenta which is not possible for quadratic Klein-Gordon particles. The covariant equations derived from Maxwell-Dirac field theory are considered. The center-of-mass equation is still a 4 ^N -component spinor equation. We solve these equations for two- and three-body systems, as well as the relative motion for the non-interacting case, and discuss the quantum numbers and identification of eigenstates and eigenvalues. The results apply for both bound and scattering states. Dedicated to the Third Centenary of the Publication of Principia: Corollary IV.... and therefore the common center of gravity of all bodies acting upon each other (excluding external actions and impediments) is either at rest, or moves uniformly in a right line. Is. Newton, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (S. Pepys, Julii 5, 1686, Londini)     

Plasma fluorination of polyolefins

ESCA and contact angle measurements were used to characterize the surfaces of Polyethylene and polypropylene films exposed to SF₆, CF₄, and C₂F₆ plasmas. None of these gases polymerized in the plasma. However, all plasma treatments grafted fluorinated functionalities directly to the polymer surfaces. SF₆ plasmas graft fluorine atoms to a polyolefin surface. CF₄ plasmas also react by a mechanism dominated by fluorine atoms, but with some contribution from CF_x-radical reactions. Although C₂F₆ does not polymerize, the mechanism of grafting is still dominated by the reactions of CF_x radicals. For all gases studied, the lack of polymerization is attributed to competitive ablation and polymerization reactions occurring under conditions of ion bombardment.     

205Tl NMR methods for the characterization of monovalent cation binding to nucleic acids

Monovalent cations play an important role in many biological functions. The guanine rich sequence, d(G4T4G4), requires monovalent cations for formation of the G-quadruplex, d(G4T4G4)2. This requirement can be satisfied by thallium (Tl+), a potassium (K+) surrogate. To verify that the structure of d(G4T4G4)2 in the presence of Tl+ is similar to the K+-form of the G-quadruplex, the solution structure of the Tl+-form of d(G4T4G4)2 was determined. The 10 lowest energy structures have an all atom RMSD of 0.76 +/- 0.16 A. Comparison of this structure to the identical G-quadruplex formed in the presence of K+ validates the isomorphous nature of Tl+ and K+. Using a 1H-205Tl spin-echo difference experiment we show that, in the Tl+-form of d(G4T4G4)2, small scalar couplings (<1 Hz) exist between 205Tl and protons in the G-quadruplex. These data comprise the first 1H-205Tl scalar couplings observed in a biological system and have the potential to provide important constraints for structure determination. These experiments can be applied to any system in which the substituted Tl+ cations are in slow exchange with the bulk ions in solution.     

Crystal growth and electrical properties of lithium,rubidium, and cesium molybdenum oxide bronzes

Crystals of Li_0.33 MoO₃ (blue), Rb_0.23MoO₃ (blue) and Cs_0.31MoO₃ (red) were grown by electrolysis from MoO₃M₂MoO₄ melts (M =alkali metal) with composition 70–77 mole% MoO₃. Melts richer in M₂MoO₄ produced MoO₂ only. Correlation is made between bronze formation and the coordination of Mo in the melt and in the equilibrium solid phase M₂Mo₄O₁₃. Li_0.33MoO₃ and Cs_0.31MoO₃ are semiconductors with high-temperature-range activation energies 0.16 and 0.12 eV. Rb_0.23MoO₃ has an electrical behavior similar to that of blue K_xMoO₃ with a semiconductor-metal transition at (170 ± 5) K. ESR spectra observed in Li_0.33MoO₃ and Rb_0.23MoO₃ single crystals at 4.2 K show extensive delocalization of the 4d¹ electron associated with Mo(V) centers. Attempts to grow molybdenum bronzes containing Ca or Y were unsuccessful.     

Relativistic quarks bound with a one-body tensor potential

A dipole fit to electromagnetic form factors is used to determine a quark density in the nucleon. A radial tensor potential is used to bind the quarks into states of goodJ, J _z, and parity. The tensor potential radial component is taken to satisfy the equationT = T ₀, whereT ₀ is a parameter of the model. This linear divergence equation can be simultaneously solved with the Dirac equation for the bound quark wave functions. A self-consistent solution is possible where the mass density used as the source for the binding potential is the same as that determined from the solution for the quark wave functions.