Annular billiards with position-dependent mass

We present exact solutions for the position-dependent mass Schrödinger equation (PDMSE) in an annular billiard with impenetrable walls where the mass is allowed to depend on the radial position, i.e., μ=μ(r)$\mu =\mu \left(r\right)$. Exact wavefunctions are calculated explicitly for four mass distributions.     

Photo-physical and structural interactions between viologen phosphorus-based dendrimers and human serum albumin

This work deals with photo-physical and structural interactions between viologen phosphorus dendrimers and human serum albumin (HSA). Viologens are derivatives of 4,4′-bipyridinium salts. Aiming to rationalize the parameters governing such interactions eight types of these polycationic dendrimers in which the generation, the number of charges, the nature of the core and of the terminal groups vary from one to another, were designed and used. The influence of viologen-based dendrimers' on human serum albumin has been investigated. The photo-physical interactions of the two systems have been monitored by fluorescence quenching of free l-tryptophan and of HSA tryptophan residue. Additionally, using circular dichroism (CD) the effect of dendrimers on the secondary structure of albumin was measured. The obtained results show that viologen dendrimers interact with human serum albumin quenching its fluorescence either by collisional (dynamic) way or by forming complexes in a ground state (static quenching). In some cases the quenching is accompanied by changes of the secondary structure of HSA.     

MSE-MRI sequence optimisation for measurement of bi- and tri-exponential T2 relaxation in a phantom and fruit

The transverse relaxation signal from vegetal cells can be described by multi-exponential behaviour, reflecting different water compartments. This multi-exponential relaxation is rarely measured by conventional MRI imaging protocols; mono-exponential relaxation times are measured instead, thus limiting information about of the microstructure and water status in vegetal cells. In this study, an optimised multiple spin echo (MSE) MRI sequence was evaluated for assessment of multi-exponential transverse relaxation in fruit tissues. The sequence was designed for the acquisition of a maximum of 512 echoes. Non-selective refocusing RF pulses were used in combination with balanced crusher gradients for elimination of spurious echoes. The study was performed on a bi-compartmental phantom with known T₂ values and on apple and tomato fruit. T₂ decays measured in the phantom and fruit were analysed using bi- and tri-exponential fits, respectively. The MRI results were compared with low field non-spatially resolved NMR measurements performed on the same samples.     

Second Order Integrability Conditions for Difference Equations: An Integrable Equation

Integrability conditions for difference equations admitting a second order formal recursion operator are presented and the derivation of symmetries and canonical conservation laws are discussed. In a generic case, some of these conditions yield nonlocal conservation laws. A new integrable equation satisfying the second order integrability conditions is presented and its integrability is established by the construction of symmetries, conservation laws and a 3 × 3 Lax representation. Finally, via the relation of the symmetries of this equation to the Bogoyavlensky lattice, an integrable asymmetric quad equation and a consistent pair of difference equations are derived.     

Effect of hemp surface modification on the morphological and tensile properties of linear medium density polyethylene (LMDPE) composites

This work investigates different hemp surface modifications (mercerization, maleated polyethylene (MAPE) addition in solution or in melt blending) to improve the properties of linear medium density polyethylene (LMDPE). From the composites produced, a complete morphological and tensile characterization was performed for a fixed hemp content (30% wt.). The morphological analysis showed that both the direct (melt blending) and solution modifications were able to significantly improve the composites interface quality and therefore the tensile properties (151% increase in modulus and 36% increase in strength over the neat matrix) within the range of conditions tested.     

Beta decay of22O

The beta-gamma spectroscopic study of²²O is presented. This nucleus, produced as a projectile-like fragment from the interaction of a 60 MeV/n⁴⁰Ar beam with a Be target, has been separated by the LISE spectrometer. Several gamma rays from²²O decay have been observed, from which a half-life of (2.25±0.15)s has been determined. Accurate excitation energies have been deduced for several states in²²F. A partial beta decay scheme of²²O has been established. Experimental results have been compared with shell model calculations.     

Observation of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry in lead-lead collisions at sqrt[S(NN)] =2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

By using the ATLAS detector, observations have been made of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry in the collisions of lead ions at the Large Hadron Collider. In a sample of lead-lead events with a per-nucleon center of mass energy of 2.76 TeV, selected with a minimum bias trigger, jets are reconstructed in fine-grained, longitudinally segmented electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters. The transverse energies of dijets in opposite hemispheres are observed to become systematically more unbalanced with increasing event centrality leading to a large number of events which contain highly asymmetric dijets. This is the first observation of an enhancement of events with such large dijet asymmetries, not observed in proton-proton collisions, which may point to an interpretation in terms of strong jet energy loss in a hot, dense medium.     

Reversible photomechanical switching of individual engineered molecules at a metallic surface

We have observed reversible light-induced mechanical switching for individual organic molecules bound to a metal surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used to image the features of individual azobenzene molecules on Au(111) before and after reversibly cycling their mechanical structure between trans and cis states using light. Azobenzene molecules were engineered to increase their surface photomechanical activity by attaching varying numbers of tert-butyl (TB) ligands ("legs") to the azobenzene phenyl rings. STM images show that increasing the number of TB legs "lifts" the azobenzene molecules from the substrate, thereby increasing molecular photomechanical activity by decreasing molecule-surface coupling.     

GISAXS study of carbon nanotubes grown by CVD

We report a quantitative Grazing Incidence Small Angle X‐ray Scattering (GISAXS) study of a dense film of mutually oriented carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by a catalytically‐activated DC HF CCVD process after dispersion of metallic catalytic (Co) islands on SiO₂/Si(100) substrates. The GISAXS pattern analysis is expanded to non‐correlated surface science systems and is based on CNTs density, characteristic lengths, atomic Co dispersion throughout the CNTs and roughnesses of uncorrelated particles. The results are closely compared to SEM and TEM observations. The GISAXS patterns, even dominated by envelope features of disordered objects, provide significant complementary quantitative data about CNTs films. The results underline that cobalt continuously fills the nanotube in the course of the growth and that the CNTs experience a large tendency toward mutual alignment. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)