Analysis of light element compounds by means of proton elastic scattering

A non-destructive method sensitive above all to atoms of light elements is proposed for the analysis of compounds. Preliminary results to the analysis of organic substances and boron compounds are presented. The target was cooled to the temperature of liquid nitrogen. A proton beam with an energy of 3.2 MeV was obtained with a Van de Graaff accelerator.     

Rapid determination of coal ash content by means of X-ray fluorescence and scattering

Determination of the ash content of coal by measuring secondary radiation of samples in three different energy ranges is presented. A simple equipment with proportional counter and a²³⁸Pu source of primary X-rays was used. The experiments were carried out using 72 coal samples from various deposits. A mean standard deviation of about 2.5% of ash content was achieved.     

Surface analysis by means of reflection, fluorescence and diffuse scattering of hard X-ray

Summary Layered structures play a fundamental role in modern technology. The characterization of these layers includes their composition, composition profile and their geometry. The structure of external and internal interfaces is of special interest. At grazing incidence, all X-ray techniques become surface and interface sensitive. This is the basis for a number of novel analytical tools which will be presented in this paper: X-ray reflection, fluorescence and diffuse scattering. Analytical expressions for these three quantities are given. The influence of interface roughness is included. The information obtained from these techniques is the thickness of the layers, their density, the interface roughness both perpendicular and parallel to the interface, and the depth profile of the individual atomic species. A number of examples will illustrate the capability of the techniques. Comparisons with results from other techniques will show their advantages and drawbacks.     

Fragility by elastic incoherent neutron scattering

The present work furnishes an operative definition for the fragility degree by using elastic incoherent neutron scattering (EINS). Such a definition is based on the relation between viscosity, a macroscopic quantity, and the atomic mean-square displacement, which refers to a nanoscopic property. This procedure has been used to analyze a set of glass-forming systems and it allows to obtain a linear dependence of the fragility parameter M, obtained by EINS, on the fragility parameter m, obtained by viscosity measurements.     

Estimating the influence of finite instrumental resolution on elastic neutron scattering intensities from proteins

Recent experimental and simulation studies show that the fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process describes well the single particle motions in internal protein dynamics. Here the authors use this model to estimate the influence of finite instrumental resolution on elastic neutron scattering intensities from hydrated protein powders. They give, in particular, an estimation of the attenuation factor for the observed atomic position fluctuations, assuming a Gaussian and a triangular resolution function.     

Analysis of metal-containing proteins by gel electrophoresis and synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence

For the analysis of metal-containing proteins, sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) has been combined with synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (SRXRF). In a pilot study the applicability of this combined method was tested in the analysis of metalloaded apoazurin and of the selenoproteins in rat testis homogenate. It was shown that it can be applied in the determination of the major stable binding forms of trace elements. After further improvement of the limits of detection the method will allow the analysis of trace element-containing proteins present in the samples at low concentrations. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Analysis of the nucleation and growth of amorphous CaCO3 by means of time-resolved static light scattering

The formation of amorphous calcium carbonate particles from supersaturated aqueous solution is relevant to many processes in nature and industry. The present work introduces time-resolved static light scattering as a new tool to investigate the initial stage of this process. The process is initiated by mixing a solution of Na(2)CO(3) with a CaCl(2) solution or, alternatively, by mixing solutions of the dimethyl ester of carbonic acid and CaCl(2) with solutions of NaOH. Particle formation was analyzed by recording scattering curves as a function of time. Scattering data indicate the formation of compact spheres with diameters close to 360 nm. In the case of particle formation induced by ester hydrolysis, nucleation sets in after a certain lag time. Particle size is homogeneous, and the growth mechanism corresponds to an addition of ions or small constituent particles to a constant number of growing spheres. An increase of the NaOH concentration, which triggers ester hydrolysis, decreases the lag period prior to the onset of particle formation. An increase of the solution temperature also decreases this lag period. The temperature and NaOH dependent duration of the lag time could successfully be interpreted in terms of the kinetics of the ester hydrolysis. The work establishes time-resolved static light scattering as an efficient tool to investigate the particle formation process of amorphous calcium carbonate.     

藉L-半胱氨酸包覆的ZnS纳米粒子的共振光散射定量分析蛋白质

合成和表征了功能性L-半胱氨酸包覆的ZnS纳米粒子。在pH5．12的NaAc-HAc溶液介质中,L-半胱氨酸包覆ZnS纳米粒子于波长308．0nm处出现共振光散射峰。一定量蛋白质的加入能明显增强体系的共振光散射,且峰强度增加值与蛋白质浓度间存在良好线性关系,据此建立了一种灵敏的测定微量蛋白质的方法。用L-半胱氨酸包覆ZnS纳米粒子作为探针,不仅克服了有机染料可能出现的光漂白等缺点,而且本身不具毒性。该法用于人血清试样中总蛋白的测定,其结果与临床数据一致。     

Controllable immobilization of proteins in quenched spherical polyelectrolyte brushes as observed by fluorescence spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering

The immobilization of lysozymes (pI = 11) onto anionic spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB) which consist of a solid polystyrene core and a densely grafted poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) shell was systematically studied by fluorescence spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. Results show that the capture of lysozyme by PSS brush is a dynamic process, which involves a quick agglomeration stage and a slow rearrangement one. And lysozyme inclines to immobilize in the inner layer of the brush, and saturation of lysozyme adsorption onto the SPB is gradually reached as the protein concentration increases, proceeding from the inside to the outside of the brush layers. As increasing the pH and ionic strength, the lysozyme previously adsorbed will be partially released and migrate from the inner to the outer layer of SPB. Last competitive adsorption tests between lysozyme and BSA or β-glucosidase were performed, indicating that besides electrostatic interaction counterion release force also plays an important role in protein adsorption. SPB was proved to be ideal candidate for controllable immobilization of protein, which can be extended into various applications, such as drug delivery and protein separation. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 1577–1588     

Large-angle elastic scattering of 59.54keV photons by Kr and Xe

Large-angle elastic scattering of 59.54 keV photons by Kr and Xe is investigated. For Kr, the measured differential cross sections are in good agreement with predictions based on the second-order S-matrix of QED. In case of Xe, the measured cross sections are systematically larger than the predicted ones.     

Selective surface modification of polymers by means of hydrogen and oxygen plasmas

An ESCA investigation has been made of the changes in surface functionalization for a series of polymers effected by means of low-powered inductively coupled rf plasmas excited in hydrogen and oxygen. Reactions in each case are confined to the outermost surfaces of the polymer films and the use of oxygen plasmas leads to extensive oxidative functionalization. Bisphenol-A polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate exhibit similar overall reactivities to both oxygen and hydrogen plasmas, while polystyrene is shown to be substantially more reactive than high-density polyethylene to the plasma treatments of interest in this work. Comparison has been made of the effects of straight hydrogen and oxygen plasmas and of sequential hydrogen/oxygen and oxygen/hydrogen plasma treatments.     

Near-infrared excitation of Raman scattering by chromophoric proteins

Fourier-transformed Raman spectra of bacteriorhodopsin, the photosynthetic reaction center, and myoglobin in aqueous solution excited at 1064 nm are presented. These proteins are representative of three important classes of chromophoric proteins. The observed vibrational modes are assigned and discussed based on the known resonance Raman spectra of these proteins. In each case, chromophore vibrations dominate the Raman scattering, with little or no contribution from other protein vibrations. However, the limitations encountered in resonance Raman studies of chromophoric proteins due to sample fluorescence or sample photolability are circumvented. The relative intensities in the bacteriorhodopsin Raman spectrum excited at 1064 nm are nearly identical to the relative intensities previously observed by resonance excitation. The Raman spectrum of the reaction center of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides excited at 1064 nm contains contributions from both bacteriochlorophyll and bacteriopheophytin pigments, with possible preresonance enhancement of bacteriochlorophyll modes. The 1064-nm-excited Raman spectrum of myoglobin displays several marker bands that have been characterized previously in resonance Raman investigations with excitation in both the Soret and Q-band regions.     

The elastic constants and related properties of beta-HMX determined by Brillouin scattering

By scattering from a variety of acoustic phonons, a complete stiffness tensor has been determined for crystalline beta-HMX. The results are compared with recent experimental and theoretical determinations of the elastic constants and bulk modulus. Reasons for disagreement are discussed in terms of experimental limitations and anharmonic effects. The observed ordering of stiffness constants, C(11) (18.4 GPa), C(22) (14.4 GPa), and C(33) (12.4 GPa), is qualitatively associated with physical phenomena including cleavage planes, patterns in crystal growth, and molecular packing. This interpretation is further corroborated by the linear compressibilities plotted in three crystallographic planes. The Voigt-Reuss-Hill bulk and shear moduli were found to be 9.9 and 3.7 GPa, respectively. The elasticity of beta-HMX is also discussed in relation to proposed mechanisms for the initiation of detonation.     

High-efficiency fluorescence quenching of conjugated polymers by proteins

The fluorescence of the water-soluble anionic conjugated polymer, poly[lithium 5-methoxy-2-(4-sulfobutoxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MBL-PPV), is quenched in dilute aqueous solution by cytochrome c, a small, naturally occurring electron-transfer protein. The large value obtained for the Stern-Volmer constant (K(sv) = 3.2 x 10(8) at pH 7.4, and approximately 10(9) in acidic solutions) is attributed to a combination of two factors: (1) facile ET between the luminescent semiconducting polymer and the protein and (2) the Columb attraction between the oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. This system shows significant potential for biosensor applications.     

Study of the conformation of polyelectrolytes in dilute solutions by elastic neutron scattering

Experiments using small angle neutron scattering have been performed on dilute solutions of polyelectrolytes without added salt; they allow to show that this method is very suitable for measuring the radius of gyration and determining the conformation of polyions in solution.     

Microchemical analysis of thin films by elastic scattering of3He

Summary An instrument has been developed and tested for the microchemical analysis of thin films by elastic scattering of³He through large angles. Various spectra from different films on different substrates are presented. They can be used to detect the presence of different elements in the films or on their surface and to determine their relative quantities.

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Zusammenfassung Ein Gerät zur Mikroanalyse dünner Filme durch Besprühen mit³He unter großem Einfallswinkel wurde entwickelt und geprüft. Diverse Spektren verschiedener Filme auf unterschiedlichen Substraten wurden beschrieben. Sie lassen sich zum Nachweis verschiedener Elemente in solchen Filmen bzw. auf deren Oberfläche sowie zu deren Bestimmung verwenden.