Monte Carlo simulations of low background detectors

An implementation of the Electron Gamma Shower 4 code (EGS4) has been developed to allow convenient simulation of typical gamma ray measurement systems. Coincidence gamma rays, beta spectra, and angular correlations have been added to adequately simulate a complete nuclear decay and provide corrections to experimentally determined detector efficiencies. This code has been used to strip certain low-background spectra for the purpose of extremely low-level assay. Monte Carlo calculations of this sort can be extremely successful since low background detectors are usually free of significant contributions from poorly localized radiation sources, such as cosmic muons, secondary cosmic neutrons, and radioactive construction or shielding materials. Previously, validation of this code has been obtained from a series of comparisons between measurements and blind calculations. An example of the application of this code to an exceedingly low background spectrum stripping will be presented.Pacific Northwest Laboratory is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the US Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-76RLO 1830.     

Photochemical reactions of substituted cyclobutadieneiron tricarbonyl complexes with acetylenes

When mixtures of monosubstituted cyclobutadieneiron tricarbonyl complexes and propyne are irradiated, substituted toluenes are obtained. The composition of the isomeric mixture is influenced by the nature of the substituent in the metal complex. Electron-withdrawing groups produce mixtures containing a very large percent of the ortho isomer while electron-releasing groups yield mixtures rich in the para isomer. Complex mixtures of isomeric benzene compounds are obtained when substituted acetylenes are allowed to react with methyl- or isopropylcyclobutadieneiron tricarbonyl.     

Resolutions of monomial almost complete intersections and generalizations

Let S=K[x₁,…,x_n] be a polynomial ring over a field kand let / be a monomial ideal of S. The main result of this paper is an explicit minimal resolution of kover R= S/Iwhen / is a monomial almost complete intersection ideal of S. We also compute an upper bound on the multigraded resolution of k over a generalization of monomial almost complete intersection ring.     

A Chemiluminescent Probe for HNO Quantification and Real‐Time Monitoring in Living Cells

Azanone (HNO) is a reactive nitrogen species with pronounced biological activity and high therapeutic potential for cardiovascular dysfunction. A critical barrier to understanding the biology of HNO and furthering clinical development is the quantification and real‐time monitoring of its delivery in living systems. Herein, we describe the design and synthesis of the first chemiluminescent probe for HNO, HNOCL‐1 , which can detect HNO generated from concentrations of Angeli's salt as low as 138 nm with high selectivity based on the reaction with a phosphine group to form a self‐cleavable azaylide intermediate. We have capitalized on this high sensitivity to develop a generalizable kinetics‐based approach, which provides real‐time quantitative measurements of HNO concentration at the picomolar level. HNOCL‐1 can monitor dynamics of HNO delivery in living cells and tissues, demonstrating the versatility of this method for tracking HNO in living systems.     

Transition‐Metal‐Free Reductive Hydroxymethylation of Isoquinolines

A transition‐metal‐free reductive hydroxymethylation reaction has been developed, enabling the preparation of tetrahydroisoquinolines bearing C4‐quaternary centers from the corresponding isoquinolines. Deuterium labelling studies and control experiments enable a potential mechanism to be elucidated which features a key Cannizzaro‐type reduction followed by an Evans–Tishchenko reaction. When isoquinolines featuring a proton at the 4‐position are used, a tandem methylation‐hydroxymethylation occurs, leading to the formation of 2 new C?C bonds in one pot.     

Thermal crosstalk modelling of thin film resistor arrays

This paper describes the thermal modelling results for a thin film resistor array which can have applications in infrared scene projection. In this design, the array consists of two parallel rows of resistor elements. A central aluminium busbar which forms a common electrical connection for all resistor elements, also provides thermal isolation between the two rows through thermal connection to the array substrate. It is shown that the thickness of the aluminium busbar of the order of 2 m is sufficient to provide good thermal isolation, thus allowing an increase in the pixel fill factor.     

Improving the effectiveness of interfacial trapping in removing single-walled carbon nanotube bundles

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) bundles are selectively removed from an aqueous dispersion containing individually suspended carbon nanotubes coated with gum Arabic via interfacial trapping. The suspensions are characterized with absorbance, fluorescence, and Raman spectroscopy as well as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and rheology. The resulting aqueous suspensions have better dispersion quality after interfacial trapping and can be further improved by altering the processing conditions. A two-step extraction process offers a simple and fast approach to preparing high-quality dispersions of individual SWNTs comparable to ultracentrifugation. Partitioning of SWNTs to the liquid-liquid interface is described by free energy changes. SWNT bundles prefer to reside at the interface over individually suspended SWNTs because of greater free energy changes.     

A concise synthesis of butylcycloheptylprodigiosin

A short and efficient total synthesis of the tripyrrole alkaloid butylcycloheptylprodigiosin is described. Key to the brevity of the approach is a two-step synthesis of macrocyclic formylpyrrole 4 from cyclononenone 6.