Latent low-coordinate titanium imides supported by a sterically encumbering beta-diketiminate ligand

Addition of an equal molar quantity of R- (R = Me, SiMe3) to complex (Nacnac)Ti=NAr(OTf) (Nacnac- =[ArNC(tBu)]2CH, Ar = 2,6-iPr2C6H3) forms the imido alkyl (Nacnac)Ti=NAr(R), which can be readily protonated to afford [(Nacnac)Ti=NAr(L)]+ (L = THF, Et2O, eta1-C6H5NMe2), or treated with B(C6F5)3 to afford the zwitterion (Nacnac)Ti=NAr(micro-CH3)B(C6F5)3.     

Use of DSC and DMA to study crystallization as a possible cause for a glove tear

The Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) is a pressurized suit worn by astronauts during launch and landing phases of Space Shuttle operations. In 2008, a large tear (12.7–25.4 mm long, between the pinky and ring finger) in the ACES left-hand glove made of neoprene latex rubber was found during training for Shuttle flight STS-124. An investigation to help determine the cause(s) of the glove tear was headed by the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. Efforts at JSC to reproduce the actual glove tear pattern by cutting/tearing or rupturing were unsuccessful. Chemical and material property data from JSC such as GC-MS, FTIR, DSC, and TGA mostly showed little differences between samples from the torn and control gloves. One possible cause for the glove tear could be a wedding ring/band worn by an astronaut. Even with a smooth edge, such a ring could scratch the material and initiate the tear observed in the left-hand glove. A decision was later made by JSC to not allow the wearing of such a ring during training or actual flight. Another possible cause for the ACES glove tear is crystallinity induced by strain in the neoprene rubber over a long period of time and use. Neoprene is one among several elastomers known to be susceptible to crystallization, and such a process is accelerated with exposure of the material to cold temperatures plus strain. When the temperature is lowered below room temperature, researchers have shown that neoprene crystallization may be maintained at temperatures as high as 7.2–10 °C, with a maximum crystallization rate near −6.7 to −3.9 °C (Kell et al. J Appl Polym Sci 2(4):8–13, 1959 [1]). A convenient conditioning temperature for inducing neoprene crystallization is a typical freezer that is held near −17.8 °C. For work at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), samples were cut from several areas/locations (pinky/ring finger crotch, index finger and palm) on each of two pairs of unstrained ACES gloves for DSC and DMA thermal analysis testing. The samples were conditioned in a freezer for various times up to about 14 days. Some rectangular conditioned samples were unstrained, while most were subjected to strains up to 250% with the aid of two slotted aluminum blocks and two aluminum clamps per sample. Trends were observed to correlate DSC data (heat of fusion) and DMA data (linear CTE and stress for iso-strain testing) with (a) sample location on each glove; and (b) percent strain during conditioning. Control samples cut “as is” from each glove location were also tested by DSC and DMA.     

Comparison of two methods for determination of tomato paste solids: vacuum oven versus microwave oven

Two analytical procedures used to determine total, soluble, and insoluble solids in tomato paste were evaluated. The microwave oven (MO) method was compared to the vacuum oven (VO) method. The VO method is tedious and measured the three solids fractions in the paste directly, while the MO method measured the total solids directly but used an equation to calculate the water-soluble and -insoluble solids. The MO method was faster and less labor-intensive, and yielded small but statistically significant higher values for total and insoluble solids and lower statistically significant values for soluble solids.     

The Distribution of Reciprocal Pairs Modulo Polynomials over a Finite Field

Given a finite field F_q of order q, a fixed polynomial g in –F_q[X] of positive degree, and two elements u and v in the ring of polynomials in R = F_q [X]/gF_q[X], the question arises: How many pairs (a, 6) are there in R × R so that ab ? 1 mod g and so that a is close to u while b is close to v ? The answer is, about as many as one would expect. That is, there are no favored regions in R × R where inverse pairs cluster. The error term is quite sharp in most cases, being comparable to what would happen with random distribution of pairs. The proof uses Kloosterman sums and counting arguments. The exceptional cases involve fields of characteristic 2 and composite values of g. Even then the error term obtained is nontrivial. There is no computational evidence that inverses are in fact less evenly distributed in this case, however.     

Theoretical study of the vertical electron affinity and ionization potentials of C3

The electron affinity and first three ionization potentials of C₃ are calculated using the multiconfigurational SCF and configuration interaction methods and by Möller-Plesset perturbation theory. Whereas Koopmans' theorem and SCF calculations indicate that the first cation state is ²Π_u, upon inclusion of correlation effects both the ²Σ_u and ²Σ_g cation states are found to lie lower in energy. CI calculations indicate that the ground state (²Π_g) anion is stable by 1.74 eV. Allowing for the error in the calculated electron affinity of the carbon atom, C₃^? is estimated to be stable by 2.0 eV, in excellent agreement with the 2.05 eV value determined from recent photodetachment measurements. No excited anion states are found to be bound at the equilibrium geometry of the neutral molecule.     

The orbit method and the Virasoro extension of Diff(S): I. Orbital integrals

Using the finite dimensional example of , the universal covering of PSU(1,1), as a guide, we revisit the orbit method as it applies to , the universal central extension of . We clarify some aspects of the classification of coadjoint orbits, determine boundedness properties of the natural height function on these orbits, and calculate orbital integrals.