On some properties of linear and nonlinear waves in pair-ion plasmas

It is pointed out that the observation of the electrostatic ion acoustic wave frequency can be a suitable check to determine whether the produced plasma is a pure pair-ion plasma or whether it comprises some concentration of electrons. A theoretical model for the pair-ion plasma dynamics is presented along with a new electrostatic mode which can exist only in such systems. It can become unstable in the presence of shear flow and it can give rise to vortex structures in the nonlinear regime. The possibility of shocks and solitons, due to nonlinear drift waves in a pair-ion plasma comprising electrons, is also discussed. The relevance of this investigation to both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas is pointed out.     

An electrolytic device for preparation of hydrogen and oxygen from water for isotopic analysis

An electrolytic device for decomposition of water has been developed which readily gives hydrogen and oxygen for isotopic measurement with a mass spectrometer. A 20-mul sample can be decomposed quantitatively in 10 min with good reproducibility. The results produced are comparable with those obtained by reduction with uranium.     

Soft-laser scanning densitometry performed on a 35-mm slide illustrating SDS-PAGE separation of adenovirion polypeptides

Virion polypeptides (35 S), methionine-labeled and purified by CsCl gradient centrifugation, were separated by SDS-gel electrophoresis. Analysis of their band pattern was performed by scanning the images of the SDS-gels shown on a 35-mm slide. The densitometric tracings revealed the presence of 17 protein bands, although only 15 of them were visible to the naked eye. The high sensitivity and resolving capacities of the soft-laser scanning densitometer enabled us to detect trace amounts of protein bands separated in SDS-gels and to obtain a resolution compatible to that of electrophoresis. Fourfold electronic amplification of the densitometric tracings, produced by a computer, generated new information regarding the pattern of the electrophoregram. The facility to amplify peaks of importance is particularly advantageous when faint or overlapping protein bands revealed on a gel are assessed.     

Synthesis and structure of fluorotricyanomethane

Fluorotricyanomethane is prepared from potassium tricyanomethanide and perchlorylfluoride. The crystal structure of this compound (orthorhombic, space group P2₁2₁2₁, with a=6.270, b=6.734, c=11.776 Å) has been determined by X-ray analysis. The results are discussed in relation to those of (NC)₃C? X (X=? CH₃, ? Cl, ? Br or ? CN).     

Characterization of the short-chain branches in poly(vinyl chloride)s by γ irradiation of the reduced polymers

The volatile products from the γ irradiation of samples of poly(vinyl chloride) prepared under different conditions and reduced to the corresponding polyethylenes have been measured quantitatively and compared with those for low- and high-density polyethylenes and copolymers of ethylene with small amounts of α-olefins. The presence of methyl branches is clearly demonstrated and there is also evidence for ethyl and butyl branches, although these had not been considered significant in previous [¹³C] NMR studies. The method is shown to be extremely sensitive to small quantities of residual trialkyl tin hydride reductant occluded in, and possibly also reacted with, the polymer, and to residual chlorine (<0.5%). The yields of alkanes are higher than expected from the branch frequencies determined by i.r. and [¹³C] NMR and results for ethylene-α-olefin copolymers. This difference is apparently due to sensitisation of the radiation degradation by residual chlorine and reductant. Quantitative determinations of branch frequencies by the radiolytic method are unlikely to be obtained until these problems are overcome.     

Ground state correlation energy of the Be-sequence forZ=4–20 in MCDF approximation

The ground state (J=0) electronic correlation energy of the 4-electron Be-sequence is calculated in the Multi-Configuration Dirac-Fock approximation forZ=4–20. The 4 electrons were distributed over the configurations arising from the 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p and 3d orbitals. Theoretical values obtained here are in good agreement with experimental correlation energies.     

Dynamics of kink-soliton solutions of the $$(2+1)$$ -dimensional sine-Gordon equation

Theoretical and Mathematical Physics - We study the dynamics of explicit solutions of the $$(2+1)$$ -dimensional (2D) sine-Gordon equation. The Darboux transformation is applied to the associated...     

Adsorption of gadolinium on activated charcoal from electrolytic aqueous solution

Adsoprtion of gadolinium on activated charcoal has been studied as a function of shaking time, pH, concentration of adsorbate and temperature. Gadolinium adsorption obeys the Langmuir isotherm. H^o and S^o were calculated from the slope and intercept of the In K_D 1/T plot. The influence of different cations and anions on gadolinium adsorption has been examined. The adsorption of other metal ions on activated charcoal has been studied under optimum conditions to check the selectivity of gadolinium adsorption. Consequently, gadolinium was removed from Ni, V, Zn, Cu, Rb, Sr and Mn. More than 97% of the adsorbed gadolinium on activated charcoal can be recovered with 35 ml of 3M HNO₃ solution. Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used for measuring gadolinium concentration.     

Stereochemical control of reductions. 9. Haptophilicity studies with 1,1-disubstituted 2-methyleneacenaphthenes

A series of 1-methyl-2-methyleneacenaphthenes has been synthesized, bearing an additional variable substituent (R) at the 1-position. These compounds have been hydrogenated in ethanol over a 5% Pd/C catalyst under standardized conditions in order to assess the haptophilicity of R, its ability to enforce addition of hydrogen from its own face of the molecule by coordination to the catalyst surface. The order of decreasing haptophilicity, assessed as the product epimer ratio, for the groups studied was R = CH(2)NH(2), CH(2)NMe(2), CH(2)OH, CHNOH, CH(2)OMe, CHO, CONH(2), CH(2)NHCOMe, COOK, COMe, CN, CONHOH, COOH, COOMe, COONa, COOLi. Because knowledge of group haptophilicities offers potential for stereochemical control in such reductions, comparisons are provided with haptophilic orders found in other molecular systems. It is shown that absolute haptophilicities can be manipulated by varying the dielectric constant of the solvent employed.