Z = 50 shell gap near 100Sn from intermediate-energy Coulomb excitations in even-mass 106-112Sn isotopes

Rare isotope beams of neutron-deficient 106,108,110Sn from the fragmentation of 124Xe were employed in an intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation experiment. The measured B(E2,0(1)(+)-->2(1)(+)) values for 108Sn and 110Sn and the results obtained for the 106Sn show that the transition strengths for these nuclei are larger than predicted by current state-of-the-art shell-model calculations. This discrepancy might be explained by contributions of the protons from within the Z = 50 shell to the structure of low-energy excited states in this region.     

Total Syntheses of 11-Acetoxy-4-deoxyasbestinin D, 4-Deoxyasbestinin C,Asbestinin-10, -20, -21 and -23

Six members of the asbestinin family of marine diterpene natural products have been synthesized in an efficient and stereoselective manner from a single oxa-bridged intermediate. Five of these natural products have not been synthesized previously and the structures of four of them have been confirmed as those proposed originally or following revisions to the original structures. The fifth natural product—asbestinin-21—has been shown to be a diastereomer of the compound that had been proposed previously.     

Selective Monofunctionalization Enabled by Reaction‐History‐Dependent Communication in Catalytic Rotaxanes

Selective monofunctionalization of substrates with distant, yet equally reactive functional groups is difficult to achieve, as it requires the second functional group to selectively modulate its reactivity once the first functional group has reacted. We now show that mechanically interlocked catalytic rings can effectively regulate the reactivity of stoppering groups in rotaxanes over a distance of about 2 nm. Our mechanism of communication is enabled by a unique interlocked design, which effectively removes the catalytic rings from the substrates by fast dethreading as soon as the first reaction has taken place. Our method not only led to a rare example of selective monofunctionalization, but also to a “molecular if function”. Overall, the study presents a way to get distant functional groups to communicate with each other in a reaction‐history‐dependent manner by creating linkers that can ultimately perform logical operations at the molecular level.     

Experiments with a symbolic programming system for complex analysis

The paper reports the results of work on the construction of LISP programs for various symbolic operations in complex analysis, including the evaluation of integrals around closed contours by the use of Cauchy's Theorem. It is concluded that the only difficulty in the way of the preparation of programs for all of the important and useful textbook calculations in complex analysis is that large amounts of fast storage in the computer are needed.     

The transition from direct to delayed ionisation of C 60

The timescale for the coupling of electronic and vibrational excitation in isolated fullerenes is determined by recording positive ion time-of-flight mass spectra on excitation with ultrashort laser pulses at 790 nm of the same fluence but different pulse durations. The coupling leads to the onset of a delayed ionisation “tail” on the parent fullerene ion peak. This occurs for a pulse duration of 500-1000 fs, depending on laser fluence. Received 20 October 2000     

Integrating 3D images using laboratory‐based micro X‐ray computed tomography and confocal X‐ray fluorescence techniques

The application of non‐destructive imaging to characterizing samples has become more important as the costs of samples increase. Imaging a sample via X‐ray techniques is preferable when altering or even touching the sample affects its properties, or when the sample is fielded after characterization. Two laboratory‐based X‐ray techniques used at Los Alamos include micro X‐ray computed tomography (MXCT) and confocal micro X‐ray fluorescence (confocal MXRF). Both methods create a 3D rendering of the sample non‐destructively. MXCT produces a high‐resolution (sub‐µm voxel) rendering of the sample based upon X‐ray absorption; the resulting model is a function of density and does not contain any elemental information. Confocal MXRF produces an elementally specific 3D rendering of the sample, but at a lower (30 × 30 × 65 µm) resolution. By combining data from these two techniques, scientists provided a more comprehensive method of analysis. We will describe a MATLAB routine written to render each of these data sets individually and/or within the same coordinate system. This approach is shown in the analysis of two samples: an integrated circuit surface mounted resistor and a machined piece of polystyrene foam. The samples chosen provide an opportunity to compare and contrast the two X‐ray techniques, identify their weaknesses and show how they are used in a complementary fashion. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bases for rings of coinvariants

We study the multiplicative structure of rings of coinvariants for finite groups. We develop methods that give rise to natural monomial bases for such rings over their ground fields and explicitly determine precisely which monomials are zero in the ring of coinvariants. We apply our methods to the Dickson, upper triangular and symmetric coinvariants. Along the way, we recover theorems of Steinberg [17] and E. Artin [1]. Using these monomial bases we prove that the image of the transfer for a general linear group over a finite field is a principal ideal in the ring of invariants. This research is supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada     

A multipoint quasi-distributed optical fiber pH sensor

This paper reports the development and characterisation of a multipoint quasi-distributed optical fiber sensor for pH measurement. The system is based on a 170 m length of 200 μm core diameter plastic cladding silica fiber where sections of cladding have been removed and replaced with dye immobilised sol-gel glass to form sensing points. Evanescent wave excitation of a dye, immobilised within 2 mm long sections of cladding, enables the pH value of any spillage material to be determined by optical time domain reflectometry along the length of the fiber. The results suggest a spatial resolution of better than 2.5 meters for this fiber system and indicate that this arrangement could form the basis of a practical sensor/actuator system for chemical spillage, provided that suitable dye/analyte combinations are available.     

Stability and Bifurcation Analysis of a Nonlinear DDE Model for Drilling

We discuss several examples of synchronous dynamical phenomena in coupled cell networks that are unexpected from symmetry considerations, but are natural using a theory developed by Stewart, Golubitsky, and Pivato. In particular we demonstrate patterns of synchrony in networks with small numbers of cells and in lattices (and periodic arrays) of cells that cannot readily be explained by conventional symmetry considerations. We also show that different types of dynamics can coexist robustly in single solutions of systems of coupled identical cells. The examples include a three-cell system exhibiting equilibria, periodic, and quasiperiodic states in different cells; periodic $2n\times 2n$ arrays of cells that generate $2^n$ different patterns of synchrony from one symmetry-generated solution; and systems exhibiting multirhythms (periodic solutions with rationally related periods in different cells). Our theoretical results include the observation that reduced equations on a center manifold of a skew product system inherit a skew product form.     

In situ neutron diffraction study (300-1273 K) of non-stoichiometric strontium ferrite SrFeOx

The high-temperature cubic phase of non-stoichiometric strontium ferrite SrFeO_x (2.5≤x≤3.0) has been studied by in situ neutron powder diffraction in air over the temperature range 300-1273 K. The composition of SrFeO_x changes within the range 2.56≤x≤2.81 from 1273 to 673 K, respectively.Rietveld refinements of the diffraction patterns show that the high-temperature cubic phase of SrFeO_x is consistent with a face-centred Fm3c structure. This structure leads to agreement with previous density measurements. This cell allows the high-temperature structure of SrFeO_x to be described in terms of a solid solution of the composition end members. Cubic SrFeO_x at high temperature is found to closely obey Vegard's law. The density of cubic SrFeO_x is also found to exhibit a linear relationship with composition.