Thermal expansion of La3S4 at low temperatures

The thermal expansion of the superconductor La₃S₄ has been investigated on a single crystal by a capacitive method between 1.6 and 14 K. The relative length change shows a well pronounced second order phase transformation near 8.05 K, which is caused by the superconducting transition. From the calculated linear thermal expansion coefficient we determine the pressure coefficient of the transition temperature and of the thermodynamic critical field as well as the thermodynamic critical field itself. Furthermore we estimate the electronic, phononic and total Grüneisen parameters. These parameters have been used to discuss on the basis of the McMillan equation the reason for the increase of the transition temperature under pressure.     

The mann test for divisible difference sets

Generalizing a result of Jungnickel for affine difference sets, we present an existence test for arbitrary divisible difference setsD which is analogous to the well-known and powerful test of Mann for ordinary difference sets. Several applications show that this approach is of interest also in the general case.Research partially supported by NSA grant # MDA 904-87-H-2018 and by an Alexandervon-Humboldt fellowship. The author would like to thank the Mathematisches Institut der Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen for its hospitality during the time of this research.     

Ueber die Verbindung der Eiweissk?rper mit Kupferoxyd

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

On abelian difference sets with multiplier — 1

Archiv der Mathematik -     

Optical conductivity of CePd3, YPd3 and PrPd3

The optical conductivity of intermediate valence CePd₃ at 300 K exhibits a maximum near 16 meV, which is absent in the reference materials YPd₃ and PrPd₃. Using a modified Drude model with a memory function ansatz this anomaly has been identified as a resonant electron-electron scattering process of conduction electrons at the localized 4f states near the Fermi level E_F. The model fit gives estimates of the width of the 4f states, of their separation from E_F and of the f-d hybridization energy. Intra-4f transitions of CePd₃ are stronger compared to those of PrPd₃ due to the stronger f-d hybirdization. 4d→4f transition energies of CePd₃ are reduced due to an electron-hole Coulomb binding energy.     

Thermal expansion and specific heat of intermediate valent YbCuAl

The specific heat, thermal expansion and resistivity was measured for the intermediate valence compound YbCuAl and its reference compound LuCuAl between 1.5 and 400 K. All quantities show strong anomalies. The entropy of the specific heat anomaly is found to be nearR·ln9, the value expected for the entropy of a high temperature mixture of Yb-ions in the ratio dictated by the degeneracies of the Hund's rule groundstates of 4f ¹⁴ and 4f ¹³. TheT ³ coefficient of the low temperature specific heat of YbCuAl contains a large electronic contribution. The integrated thermal expansion anomaly indicates a shift of the valence by at least 3.5% towards 3⁺ between 1.5 and 310 K.     

Nanoscale coordination polymers for platinum-based anticancer drug delivery

Pt-containing nanoscale coordination polymer (NCP) particles with the formula of Tb2(DSCP)3(H2O)12 (where DSCP represents disuccinatocisplatin), NCP-1, were precipitated from an aqueous solution of Tb3+ ions and DSCP bridging ligands via the addition of a poor solvent. SEM and TEM images showed that as-synthesized NCP-1 exhibited a spherical morphology with a DLS diameter of 58.3 +/- 11.3 nm. NCP-1 particles were stabilized against rapid dissolution in water by encapsulation in shells of amorphous silica. The resulting silica-coated particles NCP-1' exhibited significantly longer half-lives for DSCP release from the particles (a t1/2 of 9 h for NCP-1' with 7 nm silica coating vs t1/2 of 1 h for as-synthesized NCP-1). In vitro cancer cell cytotoxicity assays with the human colon carcinoma cell line (HT-29) showed that internalized NCP-1' particles readily released the DSCP moieties which were presumably reduced to cytotoxic Pt(II) species to give the Pt-containing NCPs anticancer efficacy superior to the cisplatin standard. The generality of this degradable nanoparticle formulation should allow for the design of NCPs as effective delivery vehicles for a variety of biologically and medically important cargoes such as therapeutic and imaging agents.