Trace Metal and Persistent Organochlorine Levels in Wood Bison (Bison bison athabascae) from the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary

Abstract

Tissue samples were collected from ten healthy mature female wood bison (B. bison athabascae) for examination. Livers and kidneys were tested for toxic heavy metals and trace metals considered as essential nutrients for successful reproduction, while fat samples were analyzed for persistent chlorinated hydrocarbons. No elevated levels of toxic heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury) were found and essential trace elements (copper, manganese, selenium, zinc) were within the acceptable ranges established for healthy cattle. All fat samples tested contained trace levels of α-BHC (mean value, 23 ppb) and lindane (mean value, 3 ppb).     

Photon correlation spectroscopy of bulk poly(n-hexyl methacrylate) near the glass transition

Slowly relaxing longitudinal density fluctuations in an optically perfect sample of bulk poly(n-hexyl methacrylate) (PHMA) have been studied by photon correlation spectroscopy in the temperature range 10–36°C. The glass transition temperature for this sample was measured to be T_g = −3°C by differential scanning calorimetry. The optical purity of the sample was verified by Rayleigh-Brillouin spectroscopy and the Landau-Placzek ratio was observed to be 2.3 at 25°C. Light-scattering relaxation functions were obtained over the time range 10⁻⁶-1 s. The shape of the relaxation functions broadened as the temperature was lowered towards the glass transition. Quantitative analysis of the results was carried out using the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) function to obtain average relaxation times, 〈τ〉, and width parameters, β. The width parameter decreased from 0.43 to 0.21 over the temperature interval, as suggested by visual inspection. Average relaxation times shifted with temperature in a manner consistent with previous mechanical studies of the primary glass-rubber relaxation in PHMA. The relaxation functions were also analyzed in terms of a distribution of relaxation rates, G(Γ). The calculated distributions were unimodal at all temperatures. The average relaxation times obtained from G(Γ) were in agreement with the KWW analysis, and the shape of the distribution broadened as the sample was cooled. The rate at which G(Γ) displayed a maximum correlated well with the corresponding frequency of maximum dielectric loss for PHMA. The temperature dependence of these two quantities could be reproduced with an Arrhenius activation energy of 21 Kcal/mol. A consistent picture of the molecular dynamics of PHMA near the glass transition requires a strong secondary relaxation process with a different temperature dependence from the primary glass-rubber relaxation. The present results suggest that the behavior of PHMA is similar to the other poly(alkyl methacrylates). © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Influence of connectivity and porosity on ligand-based luminescence in zinc metal-organic frameworks

Applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) require close correlation between their structure and function. We describe the preparation and characterization of two zinc MOFs based on a flexible and emissive linker molecule, stilbene, which retains its luminescence within these solid materials. Reaction of trans-4,4'-stilbene dicarboxylic acid and zinc nitrate in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) yielded a dense 2-D network, 1, featuring zinc in both octahedral and tetrahedral coordination environments connected by trans-stilbene links. Similar reaction in N,N-diethylformamide (DEF) at higher temperatures resulted in a porous, 3-D framework structure, 2. This framework consists of two interpenetrating cubic lattices, each featuring basic zinc carboxylate vertices joined by trans-stilbene, analogous to the isoreticular MOF (IRMOF) series. We demonstrate that the optical properties of both 1 and 2 correlate with the local ligand environments observed in the crystal structures. Steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements reveal that the stilbene linkers in the dense structure 1 exhibit a small degree of interchromophore coupling. In contrast, the stilbenoid units in 2 display very little interaction in this low-density 3-D framework, with excitation and emission spectra characteristic of monomeric stilbenes, similar to the dicarboxylic acid in dilute solution. In both cases, the rigidity of the stilbene linker increases upon coordination to the inorganic units through inhibition of torsion about the central ethylene bond, resulting in luminescent crystals with increased emission lifetimes compared to solutions of trans-stilbene. The emission spectrum of 2 is found to depend on the nature of the incorporated solvent molecules, suggesting use of this or related materials in sensor applications.     

Improved measurement of Vub with inclusive semileptonic B decays

We report a new measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa parameter Vub made with a sample of 9.7 x 10(6) BB- events collected with the CLEO II detector. Using heavy quark theory, we combine the observed yield of leptons from semileptonic B decay in the end-point momentum interval 2.2-2.6 GeV/c with recent CLEO II data on B-->X(s)gamma to find Vub = (4.08+/-0.34+/-0.44+/-0.16+/-0.24)x10(-3), where the first two uncertainties are experimental and the last two are from theory.     

Microcrystalline and three-dimensional network structure of plasticized poly(vinyl chloride)

Three-dimensional networks can be formed in plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) by chain entanglements and crystallites introduced in the system during the fusion and annealing processes. The fusion conditions influence the mechanical stability of the plasticized polymers, by establishing regions where one-phase systems are observed. During annealing at temperatures of between 170 and 190 °C, for up to 9 minutes, maximum degree of crystallinity of 0.079 was detected for samples plasticized with 20 wt% di-2-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate. Experimental analysis of mechanical properties and analysis of stress relaxation experiments showed that rubber elasticity theories could be applied with some approximation to plasticized PVC to analyze the structure of the three-dimensional networks formed.     

Ferromagnetic resonance and spin wave excitations in metallic glasses: The effects of thermal ageing and long-range magnetic ordering

New ferromagnetic resonance experiments under degenerate resonance conditions are reported for FeNiPB metallic glass ribbons in annealed and polished samples. An interpretation of these experimental results in terms of established theories in Ferromagnetic and Spin Wave Resonance Spectroscopy (FSWR) is proposed. The spin-wave analysis is used to interpret the effects of magnetic anisotropy on the lineshapes of metallic glasses before and after annealing. The conclusion is reached that a model of dipolar-coupled regions which assume a common resonance frequency band is appropriate in ferromagnetic metallic glasses. The role of surface pits scattering, microheterogeneities in chemical composition, clustering processes and long-range magnetic ordering in these systems is discussed in relation to the changes of glass properties by annealing. We also conclude that FSWR techniques are more sensitive than differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray scattering and static, magnetic techniques which are currently used to study structural relaxation in glasses.