Influence of Coriolis coupling on inelastic scattering of deuterons

Influence of Coriolis coupling on excitation of some Nilsson states in¹⁵⁵Gd,¹⁵⁷Gd and¹⁶⁷Er by inelastic scattering of 12·1 MeV deuterons is analysed. Expanded Nilsson potential with hexadecapolar deformation is used for the model calculations. Theoretical values of reduced transition probability,B(E2) are compared with experimental ones.     

Work-hardening of Fe,Fe-0·5 wt% Si and Fe-0·9 wt% Si single crystals

Work-hardening curves of single crystals of iron and its alloys with 0·5 and 0·9 wt.% Si and paths of the tensile axis of specimens during deformation were investigated. Single crystals oriented for single glide were deformed in tension at temperatures 113, 201, 295 and 403 K at a nominal strain rate of 5·5×10^?5 sec^?1. It appears that with increasing silicon content (a) the transition between the high-temperature regime of plastic deformation (characterized by three-stage work-hardening) and the low-temperature regime is shifted to lower temperatures, (b) stage I-hardening is enhanced and (c) the flow stress level increases. These observations are explained by strong solution hardening of iron by silicon atoms which suppresses the differences between mobilities of screw and non-screw dislocations, increases the flow stress level and consequently the density of primary dislocations. As a result of this the latent hardening in the secondary slip system increases and stage I extends to a large strain.     

Temperature dependence of development of slip bands and of strain hardening in AgCl crystals

The dependence of the flow stress and the slip band density on the plastic strain has been measured at 201 K, 293 K and 363 K. The growth of deformation concentrated in an average slip band has been stated. The types of obstacles acting against the rise and development of a slip band and the temperature dependence of the strain hardening in AgCl crystals are discussed. An equation stating the dependence of the flow stress on the slip band density is presented. The hardening in AgCl crystals is classified as the stage III — hardening.     

Magnetic structures of R(Cu,Ni)2 compounds (R = heavy rare earth) studied by neutron diffraction

Magnetics structures of powdered orthorhombic R(Cu, Ni)₂ compounds (R = heavy rare earth) determined by neutron diffraction are described. The influence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy and exchange interactions on the type of magnetic ordering is discussed.Dedicated to Academician Vladimír Hajko on the occasion of his 65th brithday.We would like to express our thanks to Professor P. Luká for continual interest and encouragement and to . Zajac and V. Sechovský for many fruitfull discussions.     

Electrical properties of some crystalline salts of adenine

In the present paper we report the first experimental results on ac and dc conductivity and permittivity of adenine hemisulphate hydrate and adenine sulphate measured at atmospheric and high hydrostatic pressures. For both materials ac conductivity is of ^s type, where:s 1·1· Room temperature dc conductivity of adenine hemisulphate hydrate equals approximately 5×10^{–15 –1} cm^–1 with an activation energy of 0·86 eV; dc conductivity of adenine sulphate is less than 10^–16 cm^–1. On the basis of these measurements and those carried out at high pressure, it is concluded that conductivity of adenine hemisulphate hydrate is of electronic type.The authors wish to thank Dr. J. Zachová for the preparation of adenine salts single crystals.     

Treatment of spent NTA-based decontamination solutions

This study deals with potential treatment of spent NTA-containing decontamination solutions for final disposal. The method proposed is based on the degradation of organic substances followed by the separation of radionuclides. The influence of various parameters (pH value, irradiation time, temperature, catalyst amount, type and various combinations of catalysts) on photocatalytic degradation of NTA has been studied. Photo-Fenton reagent (Fe³⁺/H₂O₂) as a homogenous catalyst was found to be much more efficient than the TiO₂-based heterogeneous catalyst Degussa P25. Under optimum conditions NTA in a simulant of a spent decontamination solution without or with hydrazine could be degraded within 5 or 9 hours, respectively. The study of sorption properties of a series of absorbers revealed that radiostrontium and radiosilver can be effectively removed from the simulant of a spent decontamination solution even in the presence of NTA, while total NTA degradation is necessary for effective radiocobalt separation.     

GABRIELA setup for nuclear spectroscopy of the transfermium element isotopes at the VASSILISSA separator

The JINR (Dubna)-IN2P3 (France) Collaboration project aimed at the α, β γ, spectroscopy of the transfermium element isotopes using heavy-ion beams of the U-400 cyclotron and the modernized recoil separator VASSILISSA was launched at Dubna. During the first full-scale experiment in September–October 2004, nobelium and lawrencium isotopes produced in the ⁴⁸Ca + ^207,208Pb → ^255,256No* and ⁴⁸Ca + ²⁰⁹Bi → ²⁵⁷Lr* reactions were studied. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

First results for the measurement of double-electron capture of 106Cd in the experiment TGV II

Present status of the experiment TGV II which is devoted to the measurement of double-beta decay of ¹⁰⁶Cd is given. The low background spectrometer TGV II is installed in the Modane Underground Laboratory and has been running from February 2005 with approx 10 grams of ¹⁰⁶Cd enriched at 75%. After an analysis of 3736 hours of experimental data the new improved half-life limit for 2νEC/EC decay of ¹⁰⁶Cd (0 _g.s. ⁺ → 0 _g.s. ⁺ ) is given as T ₁ ^2/2ν > 4.8 × 10¹⁹ years (90% CL). The search for 2νEC/EC decay of ¹⁰⁶Cd to the excited states of ¹⁰⁶Pd allows to determine the limits of the half-lives T ₁ ^2/2ν (0 _g.s. ⁺ → 2 ₁ ⁺ ) > 3.9 × 10¹⁹ years (90% CL) and T ₁ ^2/2ν (0 _g.s. ⁺ → 0 ₁ ⁺ ) > 5.8 × 10¹⁹ years (90% CL). Presented by I. Štekl at the Workshop on calculation of double-beta-decay matrix elements (MEDEX’05), Corfu, Greece, September 26–29, 2005.     

Symplectic Generating Functions and Moyal Products

We introduce an affine-invariant version of generating functions of symplectic transformations of affine symplectic spaces, together with a generalization for other symmetric symplectic spaces. The composition of these functions has a nice connection with the Moyal product.     

Fatty acid binding site of mitochondrial uncoupling protein UCP2 as probed by EPR spectroscopy of spin-labeled fatty acids

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of spin-labeled fatty acids was used to investigate their interaction withEscherichia coli-expressed human mitochondrial uncoupling protein UCP2 refolded from inclusion bodies in nonaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C₁₂E₉) micelles. 5-DOXYL-stearic acid and 4-PROXYL-palmitic acid bound to UCP2 exhibited additional clearly separated h_+1I, h_?1I “immobile” peaks in the low- and high-field region, respectively, separated by 42 and 44 Gauss, and extensively reduced h_+1M, h_?1M “mobile” peaks, separated by about 30 G, whereas with 7-DOXYL-stearic acid the I and M peaks were smoothed together into one wide peak. Competition of 4-PROXYL-palmitic acid with added palmitic acid, arachidonic acid, and all-cis-8,11,14-eicosatrienoic acid and of 7-DOXYL-stearic acid with arachidonic acid was indicated by the disappearance of the h_+1I, h_?1I “immobile” peaks, whereas redistribution in micelles without protein was indicated by the rising of the h_+1M, h_?1M “mobile” peaks. In conclusion, a competition of palmitic, arachidonic, and eicosatrienoic acid within a putative fatty acid binding site was observed for mitochondrial uncoupling protein UCP2. This finding together with the observation of EPR spectra of highly immobilized probes exclusively in the presence of the recombinant UCP2 suggest the existence of a fatty acid binding site on UCP2 which is a prerequisite of the fatty acid cycling mechanism as previously postulated for UCP1.