Gamma induced changes in Makrofol/CdSe nanocomposite films

We applied an ex-situ casting procedure to prepare a nanocomposite (NCP) from Makrofol polycarbonate (PC) and CdSe nanoparticles. The CdSe nanoparticles were prepared by a thermolysis procedure in the presence of N₂ gas flow. Rietveld refinement of x-ray data illustrated that the CdSe adopts a cubic zinc blend structure of 6.057 Å lattice parameter and 2 nm typical grain size. Samples from the prepared NCP were exposed to γ dosages (20 kGy-250 kGy). The modifications induced in the NCP films owing to γ dosages have been studied. The γ irradiation (50 kGy-250 kGy) causes crosslinks that reduce the optical bandgap from 4.15 eV to 3.81 eV, associated with an increase in dielectric parameters and refractive index. This is attributed to an increase in the mass fraction of the disordered regions as specified by x-ray diffraction. The PC-CdSe NCP was found to have a reaction to color modification which makes it suitable for saleable reproduction on a printing press.     

Dependence of forward deuteron photodisintegration on the D state

The cross section for forward produced protons in deuteron photodisintegration is shown to be moderately sensitive to the % D state of the deuteron. A 4.58% D state model has about half the discrepancy from experiment of a 7.53% model.     

Proton capture by 176Yb in the giant dipole resonance region

The proton capture cross section for the reaction ¹⁷⁶Yb(p, γ)¹⁷⁷Lu has been measured for incident proton energies between 6 and 24 MeV. The excitation function for this deformed nucleus agrees remarkably well with the results of previous studies on spherical nuclei, e.g. ¹⁴²Ce(p, γ)¹⁴³Pr. The results indicate that the giant dipole resonance (GDR) is strongly excited as predicted by the direct-semidirect (DSD) model. It is found that the model describes reasonably well the excitation function. In the low-energy proton range, where the excitation function increases rapidly with proton energy, the observed cross section is significantly higher than the DSD predictions. The difference can only partly be explained by compound nucleus contributions. In the high-energy end, the predicted cross section tends to be too high primarily due to an increasing contribution of direct capture to orbitals with large angular momenta.     

Frequency dependent complex refractive indices of supercooled liquid water and ice determined from aerosol extinction spectra

Complex refractive indices of supercooled liquid water at 240, 253, 263, and 273 K, and ice at 200, 210, and 235 K in the mid infrared from 460 to 4000 cm(-1) are reported. The results were obtained from the extinction spectra of small (micron-size) aerosol particles, recorded using the cryogenic flow tube technique. An improved iterative procedure for retrieving complex refractive indices from extinction measurements is described. The refractive indices of ice determined in the present study are in good agreement with data reported earlier. The temperature region and range of states covered in the present work are relevant to the study of upper tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols and clouds.     

Metal bis[trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]amide complexes: highly efficient Friedel-Crafts acylation catalysts

A range of metal bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]amide complexes, including many unreported ones, have been synthesised, most of which have been found to be excellent Friedel-Crafts acylation catalysts in the absence of solvent; these reactions have also been carried out in ionic liquids, which allow the catalysts to be recycled and reused.     

Quasiconformal variation of slit domains

We use quasiconformal variations to study Riemann mappings onto variable single slit domains when the slit is the tail of an appropriately smooth Jordan arc. In the real analytic case our results answer a question of Dieter Gaier and show that the function in Löwner's differential equation is real analytic.

     

Diet Planning in the Third World by Linear and Goal Programming

The use of linear programming to select diets to meet specific nutritional requirements frequently results in an over-supply of certain nutrients. Nutritional balance is difficult to achieve in diets selected by linear programming owing to the complex inter-relationships of the constraints. Goal programming is presented as a method of achieving nutritional balance in selected diets. An example demonstrating the goal programming approach is followed by a report of an application of the technique to the selection from 150 food raw materials to satisfy the daily nutritional requirements of Thais. The nutritional balance of the raw materials selected by goal programming showed a marked improvement over that selected by linear programming.