Investigation of a pulsed waveguide piezoelectric pressure sensor

The problem of pulsed mechanical action on a stepped acoustic waveguide with a sensitive piezoceramic element in the presence of a perfectly rigid boundary is considered. The dependence of the stress generated by the piezoelectric element on time, measuring circuit parameters, and external perturbing action is obtained analytically. A calibration of the waveguide piezoceramic sensor of the proposed design, which is intended for measuring the pressure of shock waves incident on a solid obstacle, is performed by the thumper method.     

Diffusion model of internal friction in nanocrystalline materials

The stress normal and tangenital components arise in grain-boundary segments differently oriented with respect to an external periodic load, causing the fluxes of vacancies and impurity atoms between neighboring segments. By solving the diffusion problem, one can find the velocity of mutual displacement of grains, the stress distribution in the segments with allowance for stress adjustment, and the amount of internal friction. The frequency dependence of the internal friction shows peaks associated with the redistribution of impurity atoms over the segments, grain sliding, and a high-temperature background.     

Copolymerization of 2-Hydroxy.(2,3-epoxypropoxy)benzophenone with Phthalanhydride Catalyzed by Tertiary Amine

The copolymerization of an epoxide, 2-hydroxy-4-(2,3-epoxy-propoxy)benzophenone, with cyclic anhydride catalyzed by tertiary amine in different solvents was studied. The copolymerization curves are sigmoidal in character with an induction period. In the region following the induction period, the loss in epoxide or anhydride may be correlated with the kinetic equation of the first order reaction provided the monomers are present in equimolar ratio or anhydride is in excess with respect to epoxide. The rate constant found experimentally after the induction period depends on the first power of the concentrations of amine, epoxide, and anhydride. The activation energy of copolymerization in o-xylene is 58.2 kJ/mole (13.9 kcal/mole) and log A = 3.6. The rate of copolymerization depends on polarity of the solvent and increases with dielectric constant. A reaction scheme has been proposed for the copolymerization of epoxides with cyclic anhydrides catalyzed by tertiary amines which involves the formation of a catalytic center of ionic character by isomerization of epoxide into a derivative of allyl alcohol and its subsequent interaction with tertiary amine and anhydride in equilibrium reactions, In this way, an active center of the carboxylic anion type is formed which reacts with epoxide to give alkoxide anion. This alkoxide anion reacts with anhydride to yield carboxylic anion. By interchange of these reactions, an alternating copolymer-polyester arises. The termination involves the decay of the active center into tertiary amine and carboxylic or hydroxylic endgroups. The kinetic solution of this scheme is in agreement with the experimental results of kinetic measurements and the rate of copolymerization is governed by the equation: -d[epoxide] /dt = k_p [amine] ₀ [epoxide]₀ [anhydride]₀ [epoxide].     

Determination of levetiracetam in human plasma by online heart‐cutting liquid chromatography: Application to therapeutic drug monitoring

Levetiracetam is an antiepileptic drug for the treatment of psychiatric patients. In this study, a selective, straightforward, and rapid online heart‐cutting liquid chromatography method was developed for the therapeutic drug monitoring of levetiracetam. This method allows for the determination of levetiracetam in human plasma without complex sample preparation. The mobile phases consisted of 30 mM aq. orthophosphoric acid solution/methanol (70:30) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min for the first system and 10 mM aq. orthophosphoric acid solution/methanol (55:45) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min for the second system. The first separation was carried out on a GL Sciences Intersil ODS‐3 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 3 µm) and the second separation was carried out on a Restek Ultra PFPP column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 5 µm). The detection was carried out at 205 nm for both systems. The method was validated for selectivity and linearity, which were in the 6–60 µg/mL range. Intra‐ and interassay accuracies were <112.6%, and the intra‐ and interassay precisions were <6.4% for all quality control samples. The lower limit of quantitation was 6 µg/mL. The developed method was successfully applied for therapeutic drug monitoring of plasma samples from patients.     

Synthesis of aluminum oxides from the products of the rapid thermal decomposition of hydrargillite in a centrifugal flash reactor: II. Structural and textural properties of aluminum hydroxide and oxide obtained from the product of the centrifugal thermal activation of hydrargillite (CTA product)

The basic properties of aluminum hydroxide compounds, namely, the flash product and the centrifugal thermal activation (CTA) product both before and after heat treatment at 400–1100°C are considered. The hydration conditions for obtaining 100% pseudoboehmite from the CTA product are determined. The structure, morphology, and texture of pseudoboehmite aluminum hydroxide synthesized from the CTA product and of the aluminum oxides obtained from this hydroxide in the temperature range 600–1100°C are described.     

Quantum Hall effect-insulator transition in the InAs/GaAs system with quantum dots

The InAs/GaAs structures consisting of quantum-dot layers with electronic properties typical of two-dimensional systems are investigated. It is found that, at a low concentration of charge carriers, the variable-range-hopping conductivity is observed at low temperatures. The localization length corresponds to characteristic quantum-dot cluster sizes determined using atomic-force microscopy (AFM). The quantum Hall effect-insulator transition induced by a magnetic field occurs in InAs/GaAs quantum-dot layers with metallic conductivity. The resistivities at the transition point exceed the resistivities characteristic of electrons in heterostructures and quantum wells. This can be explained by the large-scale fluctuations of the potential and, hence, the electron density.     

Evolution of the crystal structure during phase working of titanium nickelide

Using x-ray diffraction we have measured the dynamic and static atomic displacements and the unit cell parameters of monoclinic martensite in the intermetallide 50.1 at. %Ti-Ni, during thermal cycling through the interval of the martensitic transition (280 to 400 K). It is shown that along with a change in the sequence of transitions from B2→B19′ to B2→R→B19′, there is also a change in the atomic displacements from predominantly dynamic on the first cycles to static displacements during the later ones. The martensite unit cell has a larger volume on cooling than on heating, and cycling leads to a lowering of its monoclinic angle. Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Production, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences.     

Polyvinyl- and polyphenylsilsesquioxanes and their films: an investigation by X-ray diffractometry, positron diagnostics, and 29Si NMR spectroscopy

Polyvinyl- and polyphenylsilsesquioxanes (RSiO_1,5) _n were synthesized by hydrolytic polycondensation. The cross section surface areas of the polymer chain were measured and the sizes of ??traps?? of the free and ordered volumes and the ratio of the T₂ and T₃ units in (RSiO_1,5) _n were determined by time positron diagnostics, ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometry. The density of polyvinyl- and polyphenylsilsesquioxanes was determined picnometrically and from the X-ray phase analysis data, and the content of hydroxyl groups was found by thermogravimetry. The cross section surface area of the silsesquioxane chains containing vinyl and phenyl radicals at Si were calculated by the Miller-Boyer method. The elementary volumes of the chain segments determined by different methods were compared. The geometric models for ??traps?? of the free volume were proposed. The optical properties and morphology of the polyvinylsilsesquioxane films were studied by atomic force microscopy and UV spectroscopy.     

Mimicking the role of the antenna in photosynthetic photoprotection

One mechanism used by plants to protect against damage from excess sunlight is called nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). Triggered by low pH in the thylakoid lumen, NPQ leads to conversion of excess excitation energy in the antenna system to heat before it can initiate production of harmful chemical species by photosynthetic reaction centers. Here we report a synthetic hexad molecule that functionally mimics the role of the antenna in NPQ. When the hexad is dissolved in an organic solvent, five zinc porphyrin antenna moieties absorb light, exchange excitation energy, and ultimately decay by normal photophysical processes. Their excited-state lifetimes are long enough to permit harvesting of the excitation energy for photoinduced charge separation or other work. However, when acid is added, a pH-sensitive dye moiety is converted to a form that rapidly quenches the first excited singlet states of all five porphyrins, converting the excitation energy to heat and rendering the porphyrins kinetically incompetent to readily perform useful photochemistry.     

Spectroscopic properties of DNA-acridine orange biopolymer films

Using electronic absorption, luminescence, and vibrational spectroscopy, we study the properties of DNA-acridine orange biopolymer films. The conformational structure of DNA molecules in the film is examined at different levels of the relative humidity, and the state of dye molecules incorporated into the structure of the biopolymer is estimated. These structures were formed according to the “guest-host” principle and the dye molecule acts as the “guest” and the “host” is the intercalative DNA binding sites. In such system dye molecules demonstrate high luminescence capability and are the uniform optical centers and their fluorescence spectrum doesn’t depend on excitation wavelength.