Spectra and Distributions in a Unitarized Model of Quasi-Two-Body Contributions to Single Pion Production by Mesons

We study the general properties of single pion production processes in boson-nucleon collisions in the hypothesis that any couple of the final particles may undergo a resonant final state interaction. The aim is to supply the experimentalists with a tool apt to interpret Dalitz-plots and distributions as they stand, as an alternative to the normal method of selecting samples of events to study one particular quasi-two-body process. General expressions of spectra and distributions are obtained.     

Kinetics and mechanisms of the permanganate oxidation of L-valine in neutral aqueous solutions

The permanganate oxidation of L-valine has been studied by visible spectrophotometry in neutral aqueous solutions. Under these conditions, both the zwitterionic and anionic forms of the amino acid are oxidized, the reaction being autocatalyzed by soluble colloidal manganese dioxide. Kinetic data for both the uncatalyzed and autocatalytic reaction pathways have been obtained, and reaction sequences consistent with the experimental findings are proposed.     

Using Process Control Chart Techniques to Analyse Crime Rates in Houston,Texas

In this paper we use ARIMA time series models and statistical process control techniques to determine if changes occurred in the process that generated a series of observations. The procedure is applied to eight crime time series for the city of Houston, Texas: total crime, murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft. The objective of our analysis is to determine if, after the institution of an overtime programme by the Houston Police Department, the different series show some statistical evidence of a change. Our results show that the categories of total crime, robbery, burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft decreased significantly. Murder and rape remained statistically unchanged, while aggravated assault continued to increase.     

Magnesium monoperoxyphtalate: A new reagent for the oxidative ring opening of furans to cis-enediones

Ring opening of furans can be accomplished with the title reagent to afford cis-enediones stereospecifically, with great advantages over the hazardous MCPBA.     

Structure and bonding in binuclear metal carbonyls from the analysis of domain averaged Fermi holes. I. Fe2(CO)9 and Co2(CO)8

The nature of the bonding in the above carbonyls was studied using the analysis of domain averaged Fermi holes (DAFH). The results straightforwardly confirm the conclusions of earlier theoretical studies in which the existence of direct metal-metal bond, anticipated for the above carbonyls on the basis of 18-electron rule, was questioned. In addition to indicating the lack of direct metal-metal bond, the DAFH analysis also allowed to characterize the nature of the electron pairs involved in the bonding of the bridging ligands. The analysis has shown that because the number of available electron pairs is not sufficient for the formation of ordinary localized 2c-2e bonds between terminal M(CO)(3) fragments and the bridging ligands, the bonding in both carbonyls exhibits typical features of electron deficiency and one bonding electron pair is effectively involved in multicenter 3c-2e bonding. Because of the symmetry of the complexes the bridging ligands are not distinguishable and all M-C-M bridges have a partial 3c-2e nature via resonance of the localized structures.     

Fabrication and gas separation properties of polybenzimidazole (PBI)/nanoporous silicates hybrid membranes

Composites of polybenzimidazole (PBI) with proton-exchanged AMH-3 and swollen AMH-3 were prepared, characterized by electron microscopy and X-ray scattering and tested for hydrogen/carbon dioxide ideal selectivity. Proton-exchanged AMH-3 was prepared under mild conditions by the ion exchange of Sr and Na cations in the original AMH-3 using aqueous solution of dl-histidine. Swollen AMH-3 was prepared by sequential intercalation of dodecylamine following the ion exchange in the presence of dl-histidine. Both silicate materials were introduced into a continuous phase of PBI as a selective phase. Mixed matrix nanocomposite membranes, prepared under certain casting conditions, with only 3 wt% of swollen AMH-3 present substantial increase of hydrogen/carbon dioxide ideal selectivity at 35 °C, i.e., more than by a factor of 2 compared to pure PBI membranes (40 vs. 15). Similar ideal selectivity was observed using higher loadings (e.g., 14%) of proton-exchanged AMH-3 particles suggesting that transport of hydrogen is faster than carbon dioxide in AMH-3-derived silicates. However, the ideal selectivity of mixed matrix membranes approaches that of pure polymer as the operating temperature increases to 100 °C and 200 °C. The composite membranes with AMH-3-derived materials were compared with MCM-22/PBI membranes. Composite membranes incorporating MCM-22 plate-like crystals show no selectivity enhancements possibly due to the presence of larger pores in MCM-22.