A Nanoparticle Catalyst for Heterogeneous Phase Para‐Hydrogen‐Induced Polarization in Water

Para‐hydrogen‐induced polarization (PHIP) is a technique capable of producing spin polarization at a magnitude far greater than state‐of‐the‐art magnets. A significant application of PHIP is to generate contrast agents for biomedical imaging. Clinically viable and effective contrast agents not only require high levels of polarization but heterogeneous catalysts that can be used in water to eliminate the toxicity impact. Herein, we demonstrate the use of Pt nanoparticles capped with glutathione to induce heterogeneous PHIP in water. The ligand‐inhibited surface diffusion on the nanoparticles resulted in a ¹H polarization of P=0.25 % for hydroxyethyl propionate, a known contrast agent for magnetic resonance angiography. Transferring the ¹H polarization to a ¹³C nucleus using a para‐hydrogen polarizer yielded a polarization of 0.013 %. The nuclear‐spin polarizations achieved in these experiments are the first reported to date involving heterogeneous reactions in water.     

Strain distribution within compressed circular cylinders

A theoretical solution has been obtained for the stress distribution throughout a cylindrical specimen loaded in compression, which takes into account different degrees of friction at the end surfaces. To check the solution experimentally, a cylindrical model was constructed from epoxy sheets, with electrical-resistance strain gages embedded between the sheets and also bonded to the cylindrical surface. With the specimen under axial compression, strain measurements were recorded within the elastic range of the epoxy. Reasonable agreement with the theoretical solution was observed for the two types of end conditions. In one case the cylinder was in direct contact with the platens of the testing machine, in the other case a Teflon sheet was placed between the two surfaces.     

Adaptive reduction‐based AMG

With the ubiquity of large‐scale computing resources has come significant attention to practical details of fast algorithms for the numerical solution of partial differential equations. Included in this group are the class of multigrid and algebraic multigrid algorithms that are effective solvers for many of the large matrix problems arising from the discretization of elliptic operators. Algebraic multigrid (AMG) is especially effective for many problems with discontinuous coefficients, discretized on unstructured grids, or over complex geometries. While much effort has been invested in improving the practical performance of AMG, little theoretical understanding of this performance has emerged. This paper presents a two‐level convergence theory for a reduction‐based variant of AMG, called AMGr, which is particularly appropriate for linear systems that have M‐matrix‐like properties. For situations where less is known about the problem matrix, an adaptive version of AMGr that automatically determines the form of the reduction needed by the AMGr process is proposed. The adaptive cycle is shown, in both theory and practice, to yield an effective AMGr algorithm. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deeply virtual compton scattering off the neutron

The present experiment exploits the interference between the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) and the Bethe-Heitler processes to extract the imaginary part of DVCS amplitudes on the neutron and on the deuteron from the helicity-dependent D(e,e'gamma)X cross section measured at Q2=1.9 GeV2 and xB=0.36. We extract a linear combination of generalized parton distributions (GPDs) particularly sensitive to E_{q}, the least constrained GPD. A model dependent constraint on the contribution of the up and down quarks to the nucleon spin is deduced.     

Controlled Activity Polymers with Pendently Bound Herbicides

Abstract

Controlled activity or controlled release polymeric systems are becoming increasingly important in a variety of pharmaceutical, medical, and agricultural applications. The macromolecular nature of these delivery systems allows for control of rate of delivery, mobility, and period of effectivness for the biologically active component.     

Water-Soluble Copolymers. XLI. Copolymers of Acrylamide and Sodium 3-Acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate

Copolymers of acrylamide (AM, M ₁) with sodium 3-acrylamido-3-methylbutanoate (NaAMB, M ₂) synthesized in 1 M NaCl (the ABAM2 series) are compared to those synthesized in deionized water (the ABAM1 series). At fixed feed ratios, higher incorporation rates were found for NaAMB with increasing ionic strength of the polymerization solvent. Reactivity ratios calculated by the methods of Kelen-Tüdös changed from r ₁ = 1.23 and r ₂ = 0.50 in deionized water to r ₁ = 1.00 and r ₂ = 0.64 in 1 M NaCl. This change is in accord with a decrease in electrostatic repulsion between the macroradical and unreacted NaAMB. Dilute solution properties, examined as a function of composition and added electrolytes, indicate differences in microstructure for the ABAM1 and ABAM2 copolymers.     

Optical microscopic, synchrotron X-ray topographic and reticulographic study of homoepitaxial CVD diamond

Surface topography and crystal-lattice perfection of homoepitaxial layers deposited by microwave plasma CVD on (0 0 1) and near-(0 0 1) facets polished on HPHT synthetic diamond are described. Optical micrographic techniques included birefringence, Nomarski and 2-beam interference. The synchrotron X-ray experiments comprised Laue topography plus a recently developed sensitive misorientation-measuring technique, reticulography. Two special circumstances enhanced information yield from the experiments. First, the substrate crystal was unusually strain-free and had a very low dislocation content. Second, epilayer growth had taken place in two stages, depositing thicknesses of 10 μm and 30–34 μm, respectively. This double deposition complicated the observations, but added features of scientific and practical interest. Epilayer cracking finally present had occurred almost entirely before the second growth stage. With assistance from quantitative data provided by reticulography, the X-ray diffraction properties of the substrate and epilayers are analysed. Lattice misorientations on the untreated lower surface of the substrate were only 1 arcsec except close to growth-sector boundaries and dislocation outcrops. The final epilayer growth surface above areas where cracking in the first epilayer was absent or sparse exhibited near-perfect-crystal diffraction behaviour.     

Scaling tests of the cross section for deeply virtual Compton scattering

We present the first measurements of the e[over -->]p-->epgamma cross section in the deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) regime and the valence quark region. The Q(2) dependence (from 1.5 to 2.3 GeV(2)) of the helicity-dependent cross section indicates the twist-2 dominance of DVCS, proving that generalized parton distributions (GPDs) are accessible to experiment at moderate Q(2). The helicity-independent cross section is also measured at Q(2)=2.3 GeV(2). We present the first model-independent measurement of linear combinations of GPDs and GPD integrals up to the twist-3 approximation.