The first single-crystal X-ray structural refinement of the superconducting phase Li0.2(1) ZrNCl derived by intercalation

The single crystals of the superconducting Li_0.2(1)ZrNCl have been derived from the single crystals of β-ZrNCl by intercalation of lithium using an n-butyllithium solution in hexane. The crystal structure has been refined on the basis of the single-crystal X-ray data: the space group R-3m, a=3.591(1) Å, c=27.839(6) Å, Z=6, R1=0.0749 for 196 reflections and 12 variables. β-ZrNCl is isotypic with SmSI, while the structure of Li_0.2(1)ZrNCl can be described as the Li intercalated YOF type, a stacking variant of the SmSI type. The tightly bound slabs with a Cl-Zr-N-N-Zr-Cl sequence of close-packed layers are stacked rhombohedrally along the c-axis, with the van der Waals gaps between the chlorine layers hosting Li ions. This is the first single-crystal study on the Li intercalated phase. The structural changes from the pristine single crystals were precisely determined.     

Mesostructured organosilica with a 9-mesityl-10-methylacridinium bridging unit: photoinduced charge separation in the organosilica framework

Polycondensation of 9-mesityl-10-methylacridinium-bridged organosilane in the presence of a nonionic surfactant yielded a mesostructured organosilica solid with a functional framework that exhibited long-lived photoinduced charge separation.     

Unifying treatment of nonequilibrium and unstable dynamics of cold bosonic atom system with time-dependent order parameter in Thermo Field Dynamics

The coupled equations which describe the temporal evolution of the Bose–Einstein condensed system are derived in the framework of nonequilibrium Thermo Field Dynamics. The key element is that they are not the naive assemblages of assumed equations, but are the self-consistent ones derived by appropriate renormalization conditions. While the order parameter is time-dependent, an explicit quasiparticle picture is constructed by a time-dependent expansion. Our formulation is valid even for the system with a unstable condensate, and describes the condensate decay caused by the Landau instability as well as by the dynamical one.     

Disk-type Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic lasers pumped by arc-metal-halide-lamp

We observed the lasing of highly sensitized Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic disks that use artificial solar radiation pumping. The disk material can be used for high power multi-stage amplifiers pumped by lamplight or sunlight because of its scalability and ability to handle high power densities. A maximum output power of 86 mW was experimentally obtained, and this value correlated well with the calculated results. A small signal gain of 1.9 was obtained, and the estimated stored energy was 0.6 J/cm³, which is three or four times higher than that from a Nd:YAG medium.     

Effect of measurement volume size on turbulent flow measurement using ultrasonic Doppler method

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the effects of measurement volume size on the mean velocity profile and the Reynolds stress for fully developed turbulent pipe flows. The study employs the ultrasonic velocity profile method, which is based on the ultrasonic Doppler method. The ultrasonic Doppler method offers many advantages over conventional methods for flow rate measurement in the nuclear power plant piping system. This method is capable of measuring the instantaneous velocity profile along the measuring line and is applicable for opaque liquids and opaque pipe wall materials. Furthermore, the method has the characteristic of being non-intrusive. Although it is applicable to various flow conditions, it requires a relatively large measurement volume. The measurement volume of the present method has a disk-shape determined by the effective diameter of the piezoelectric element and the number of the wave cycles of the ultrasonic pulse. Considering this disk-shaped measurement volume and expressing the time-averaged velocity in a truncated Taylor series expansion around the value at the center of the measuring control volume, the value of the velocity can be obtained. The results are then compared with the data obtained from DNS and LDA measurements. The result shows that the effect of the measurement volume size appears in the buffer region and viscous sublayer.     

Electrochemical genosensors for the detection of Bonamia parasite. Selection of single strand-DNA (ssDNA) probes by simulation of the secondary structure folding

A post-PCR nucleic acid work by comparing experimental data, from electrochemical genosensors, and bioinformatics data, derived from the simulation of the secondary structure folding and prediction of hybridisation reaction, was carried out in order to rationalize the selection of ssDNA probes for the detection of two Bonamia species, B. exitiosa and B. ostreae, parasites of Ostrea edulis.Six ssDNA probes (from 11 to 25 bases in length, 2 thiolated and 4 biotinylated) were selected within different regions of B. ostreae and B. exitiosa PCR amplicons (300 and 304 bases, respectively) with the aim to discriminate between these parasite species. ssDNA amplicons and probes were analyzed separately using the “Mfold Web Server” simulating the secondary structure folding behaviour. The hybridisation of amplicon-probe was predicted by means of “Dinamelt Web Server”. The results were evaluated considering the number of hydrogen bonds broken and formed in the simulated folding and hybridisation process, variance in gaps for each sequence and number of available bases. In the experimental part, thermally denatured PCR products were captured at the sensor interface via sandwich hybridisation with surface-tethered probes (thiolated probes) and biotinylated signalling probes. A convergence between analytical signals and simulated results was observed, indicating the possibility to use bioinformatic data for ssDNA probes selection to be incorporated in genosensors.