Geometrical restrictions of water diffusion in aqueous protein systems. A study using NMR field-gradient techniques

Geometrical restrictions of water diffusion in different aqueous protein systems were studied using two versions of the NMR field gradient technique. The samples were aqueous systems of bovine serum albumin, gelatin and horse myoglobin at concentrations ranging from diluted solutions to almost dry powders being only partly hydrated. Hydrated protein aerogels were produced by the aid of a special preparation procedure and studied in addition. The experiments referred to the, temperature and concentration dependences of the water diffusion coefficient above and below the free-water freezing temperature. The diffusion coefficient within clusters of overlapping hydration shells is reduced by one order of magnitude compared with that of bulk water. Geometrical restrictions manifest themselves (a) by the obstruction effect observed at low protein concentrations, (b) by the topologically two-dimensional diffusion in the network of overlapping hydration shells, (c) by the percolation threshold appearing at about 15%_b.w. water and (d) by the anomalous diffusion behaviour concluded from the protein aerogel study.     

Ablation of an optically homogeneous absorbing medium by scattered pulsed laser radiation

We have studied the ablation of an aqueous CuCl₂ solution in a pulsed Nd:YAG laser field featuring a speckle-patterned structure characterized by spatial radiation energy fluence fluctuations. This leads to a nonuniform distribution of the energy absorbed in the bulk of the sample being irradiated and causes local overheating centers to form, wherein ablation is observed to take place at laser energy fluences below the threshold value found in experiments with a homogeneous laser beam. This effect should be manifest in the laser irradiation of biotissues which, as a rule, scatter light strongly.     

Thermoplastic polymers quality control

A technique is proposed for improving the accuracy of the heat of fusion of semicrystalline polymers by DSC. The results of three commercially available instruments are compared.     

Even denominator filling factors in the thermoelectric power of a 2DEG

We have investigated the interaction of phonons with a 2DEG in the FQH regime with phonon drag thermoelectric power (TEP). We find that the TEP at filling factors with the same even denominator is identical and at other even denominator filling factors they differ only by a constant. Assuming these states to be Composite Fermions (CF), we can explain our observations by extending a zero magnetic field theory for phonon drag to the CF-phonon interaction. This analysis is further corroborated by the observed T⁴ dependence of the CF TEP.     

1,3-dipolar cycloaddition as a method for synthesis of fullerene C60 derivatives containing heterocyclic moieties

We generalize literature data and our own experimental data on using 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions for synthesis of fullerene C₆₀ derivatives containing annelated heterocyclic moieties.M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119899, Russia. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 291–297, March, 1998.     

Structure of thin block copolymer films studied by X-ray reflectivity

Summary X-ray reflectivity may be used to determine the internal structure of thin polymer films. An electron density difference of 10% for polystyrene and polyisoprene is sufficient to distinguish between a random distribution of lamellae, complete orientation parallel to the substrate surface and a surface induced formation of lamellae. The disappearance of the lamellar Bragg-peaks, with heating of the film, shows the transition into the disordered state.     

Thermal and acoustic effects in optical phase conjugation in Rhodamine 6G solutions with nanosecond pulses

Thermally induced phase conjugation by degenerate four-wave mixing in solutions of Rhodamine 6G in ethanol in the weak absorption region, low-reflectivity regime, and nonosecond time domain is reported. Evidence of oscillatory acoustic modes in the nonlinear medium is presented and existing theories are shown to explain satisfactorily the experimental results.     

Crossing of shears bands in196Pb

High-spin states in¹⁹⁶Pb have been populated using the reaction¹⁷⁰Er(³⁰Si,4n). The previously observed shears bands in this nucleus have been extended and some of their transitions have been reordered. They now form regular bands with band crossings. One of the bands splits into two pathways at high spin.     

X-ray diffraction study of 'side-on fixed' homopolysiloxanes from nematic to smectic C phases

The X-ray patterns for the nematic phase in a series of side-on fixed polysiloxanes show different kinds of diffuse elements which imply complex short range ordering. A systematic structural study of the evolution of the patterns versus two molecular parameters, namely the spacer length and the length of the terminal aliphatic tails, suggests the possible occurrence of a smectic C phase for certain values of these parameters. Taking into account these tendencies, new synthesis led to a nematic-smectic C polymorphism observed for the first time in side-on fixed polysiloxanes.