Global $\widetilde{SL(2,R)}$ representations of the Schrödinger equation with singular potential

We study the representation theory of the solution space of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation with singular potential V _λ (x) = λx ^?2 as a representation of \(\widetilde{SL(2,\mathbb{R})}\). The subspace of solutions for which the action globalizes is constructed via nonstandard induction outside the semisimple category. By studying the subspace of K-finite vectors in this space, a distinguished family of potentials, parametrized by the triangular numbers is shown to generate a global representation of \(\widetilde{SL(2,\mathbb{R})}\) ? H ₃, where H ₃ is the three-dimensional Heisenberg group.     

Experimental investigation of the effects of the acoustical conditions in a simulated classroom on speech recognition and learning in children

The potential effects of acoustical environment on speech understanding are especially important as children enter school where students' ability to hear and understand complex verbal information is critical to learning. However, this ability is compromised because of widely varied and unfavorable classroom acoustics. The extent to which unfavorable classroom acoustics affect children's performance on longer learning tasks is largely unknown as most research has focused on testing children using words, syllables, or sentences as stimuli. In the current study, a simulated classroom environment was used to measure comprehension performance of two classroom learning activities: a discussion and lecture. Comprehension performance was measured for groups of elementary-aged students in one of four environments with varied reverberation times and background noise levels. The reverberation time was either 0.6 or 1.5 s, and the signal-to-noise level was either +10 or +7 dB. Performance is compared to adult subjects as well as to sentence-recognition in the same condition. Significant differences were seen in comprehension scores as a function of age and condition; both increasing background noise and reverberation degraded performance in comprehension tasks compared to minimal differences in measures of sentence-recognition.     

Bracciano's Lake waters: an experimental survey on the surface layer pollution

The chemical and trophic conditions of the surface waters of the lake Bracciano, near Roma, have been investigated all through the year 2005. Electrical conductivity, pH, alkalinity, hardness, total nitrogen, phosphorus content, chloride, fluoride and sulphate ions were measured. The results were compared with similar analyses formerly carried out by different authors, to achieve a right evaluation of the actual quality of the surface waters of the lake Bracciano all over the year 2005.     

Letter: on the retrosynthetic process of some 2-pyridinecarboxamides in electrospray ionisation conditions

The occurrence of retrosynthetic processes, usually observed in electron ionization conditions, can be considered of interest, giving information of on possible new synthetic routes. Generally, retrosynthesis is typical of odd electron ion species, but in the present case it has been observed for electrospray (ESI) generated [MH]+ species of 2-pyridinecarboxamides. In fact, either in the ESI spectrum or in the MS/MS spectrum of [MH]+ species, a primary water loss is observed, giving rise to the molecular ion of the corresponding imidazolines, employed as synthons for the title compounds. The breakdown curves related to this water loss has been determined, indicating that this process is more favoured for the bromine-containing molecules.     

Deposition measurement of particulate matter in connection with corrosion studies

A new passive particle collector (inert surrogate surface) that collects particles from all directions has been developed. It was used to measure particle deposition at 35 test sites as part of a project that examined corrosion of materials in order that variation in particulate material could be used in development of dose–response functions in a modern multi-pollutant environment. The project, MULTI-ASSESS, was funded by the EU to examine the effects of air pollution on cultural heritage. Passive samplers were mounted rain-protected, and both in wind-protected and wind-exposed positions, to match the exposure of the samples for corrosion studies. The particle mass and its chemical content (nitrate, ammonium, sulfate, calcium, sodium, chloride, magnesium and potassium) were analysed. The loss of light reflectance on the surrogate surface was also measured. Very little ammonium and potassium was found, and one or more anions are missing in the ion balance. There were many strong correlations between the analysed species. The mass of analysed water-soluble ions was fairly constant at 24% of the total mass. The particle mass deposited to the samplers in the wind-protected position was about 25% of the particles deposited to an openly exposed sampler. The Cl⁻/Na⁺ ratios indicate a reaction between HNO₃ and NaCl. The deposited nitrate flux corresponds to the missing chloride. The Ca²⁺ deposition equals the deposition and the anion deficiency. The deposition most likely originates from SO₂ that has reacted with basic calcium-containing particles either before or after they were deposited. The particle depositions at the urban sites were much higher than in nearby rural sites. The deposited mass correlated surprisingly well with the PM₁₀ concentration, except at sites very close to traffic.     

Mono-, di-, and oligonuclear complexes of Cu(II) ions and p-hydroquinone ligands: syntheses, electrochemical properties, and magnetic behavior

Four highly soluble square-planar Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes of siloxy-salens (2SiCu, 2SiNi) and hydroxy-salens (2Cu, 2Ni) have been synthesized. An X-ray crystal structure analysis was performed on 2SiCu, 2SiNi, and 2Ni. The compounds have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis-NIR spectroelectrochemistry, and EPR spectroscopy. According to these results, the monooxidized species [2SiCu]+ and [2SiNi]+ are to be classified as Robin-Day class II and III systems, respectively. Magnetic measurements on the dinuclear (PMDTA)Cu(II) complex 1Cu2 x (PF6)2 with deprotonated 1,4-dihydroxy-2,5-bis(pyrazol-1-yl)-benzene (1) linker revealed antiferromagnetic coupling between the two Cu(II) ions thereby resulting in an isolated dimer compound. Coordination polymers [1Cu]n(H2O)(2n) of Cu(II) ions and bridging p-hydroquinone linkers were obtained from CuSO4 x 5 H2O and 1,4-dihydroxy-2,5-bis(pyrazol-1-yl)benzene. X-ray crystallography revealed linear chains running along the crystallographic a-direction and stacked along the b-axis. Within these chains, the Cu(II) ions are coordinated by two pyrazolyl nitrogen atoms and two p-hydroquinone oxygen atoms in a square-planar fashion.     

Electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometric investigation of phenylpropanoids and secoiridoids from solid olive residue

This work is focused on the recovery and structural characterisation of bioactive compounds from SOR (solid olive residue), a low cost and widely available by-product in the Mediterranean basin. In the light of the interesting biological activities attributed both to secoiridoid and phenylpropanoids, the aim of this work was to carry out a systematic tandem mass spectrometric study for the identification and characterisation of these two class of compounds extracted from SOR derived from Coratina, a cultivar widely diffused in the south of Italy. Five phenylpropanoids, in addition to verbascoside, and two new secoiridoids were identified.     

A comparative evaluation of random and site-specific immobilization techniques for the preparation of antibody-based chiral stationary phases

In this study, one random and four site-directed conjugation strategies were applied to immobilize an mAb, which stereoselectively binds to L-amino acids, onto silica particles. The resulting chiral stationary phases (CSPs) were used for enantiomer separation of the model-analyte D,L-phenylalanine and further examined in frontal affinity chromatography. Although random immobilization of the antibody onto discuccinimidyl carbonate-activated silica resulted in a CSP that enabled baseline separation of the enantiomers of D,L-phenylalanine, the amount of available binding sites was considerably lower compared to the CSPs prepared by site-directed strategies. Immobilization of antibody via its carbohydrate chains, either directly via hydrazone bonds between the support and the protein or indirectly via binding carbohydrate-biotinylated antibody to streptavidin-derivatized silica, resulted in medium column efficiencies. Higher amounts of available active sites were obtained by immobilizing the antibody indirectly through the "crystallizable fragment (Fc)" receptor protein A/G. The best results with regard to amount of available binding sites and column efficiency were obtained by first biotinylating the antibody specifically at its C-termini using carboxypeptidase Y and immobilizing the biotinylated antibody on streptavidin-derivatized silica.