Crystal morphology, composition, and dissolution behavior of carbonated apatites prepared at controlled pH and temperature

A range of carbonated apatites was prepared by aqueous precipitation at 37, 60, and 85°C and at controlled pH values varying from 6.00–9.50 in 0.25 increments. The products were analyzed for Ca, P, Sr, Mg, Na, F, and carbonate. Their initial dissolution rates were measured in a pH 4.5, 0.01 mol · liter⁻¹ acetate buffer. Information about crystal morphologies and crystal defects was obtained by x-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The molar ratios of the products, together with their Sr and Mg contents, increased with increasing pH. Initial dissolution rates of the products, when adjusted for carbonate content, were in the order 37 > 60 > 85°C whereas apparent particle sizes determined by TEM and x-ray diffraction were ordered 37 < 60 < 85°C. Carbonated apatites precipitated at pHs of 7.0 or less were observed to have planar defects parallel to (100) that were identified as unit-cell-thick intergrowths of octacalcium phosphate. Carbonated apatites precipitated at higher pHs and noncarbonated apatites did not have these defects. A crystal growth mechanism is proposed to account for the presence of the (100) defects.     

Phase transitions in tungsten trioxide at low temperatures

Capacitance and electrical resistivity measurements have been made on stoichiometric and on oxygen-deficient tungsten trioxide crystals from 4.2 to 300°K. X ray oscillation and rotation photographs were made on single crystals of both materials near 200°K and near 300°K. Capacitance and resistivity anomalies identify phase transitions near 40, 65, 130, 220, and 260°K in stoichiometric WO₃. Resistivity anomalies occur near 80, 130, 220, and 260°K in oxygen-deficient tungsten trioxide. Capacitance measurements suggest that the transformation at 130°K of a low-temperature phase to a high-temperature phase of stoichiometric WO₃ is associated with a doubling of thec-parameter of the unit cell. Resistivity measurements establish probable conduction mechanisms in each phase of stoichiometric and of oxygen-deficient tungsten trioxide, and show that oxygen-deficient tungsten trioxide undergoes a semiconductor-to-metal transition near 220°K. Electronic phenomena that do not appear to be associated with structural phase transformations are observed near 16°K in stoichiometric WO₃.     

Double electron transfer reactions of CO22+ ions

Time-of-flight techniques have been used to measure fast neutral CO₂ products from double electron transfer reactions of CO₂²⁺ ions with 4.0–7.0 keV impact energies. Double electron transfer cross sections have been determined to be in the range of (1.1–12.5) × 10^?16 cm² for reactions of CO₂²⁺ ions with CO₂, CO, N₂, Ar and O₂.     

Preionization kinetics of an X-ray preionized XeCl gas discharge laser

The influence of preionization conditions on the performance of a XeCl gas discharge laser preionized by a short, high intensity x-ray pulse, has been studied. The laser output energy and optical pulse temporal characteristics have been used to determine the roles of initial electron density and of electron attachment to HCl and to impurities. Although the short pulse preionization technique functions well for XeCl when the laser voltage pulse has a short risetime (?20 ns), it is less well suited to XeCl lasers using slowly rising voltage pulses (>50 ns), or to F₂ containing gas mixtures (KrF and XeF lasers).     

Ramachandran-type plots for glycosidic linkages: Examples from molecular dynamic simulations using the Glycam06 force field

The goals of this article are to (1) provide further validation of the Glycam06 force field, specifically for its use in implicit solvent molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, and (2) to present the extension of G.N. Ramachandran's idea of plotting amino acid phi and psi angles to the glycosidic phi, psi, and omega angles formed between carbohydrates. As in traditional Ramachandran plots, these carbohydrate Ramachandran-type (carb-Rama) plots reveal the coupling between the glycosidic angles by displaying the allowed and disallowed conformational space. Considering two-bond glycosidic linkages, there are 18 possible conformational regions that can be defined by (alpha, phi, psi) and (beta, phi, psi), whereas for three-bond linkages, there are 54 possible regions that can be defined by (alpha, phi, psi, omega) and (beta, phi, psi, omega). Illustrating these ideas are molecular dynamic simulations on an implicitly hydrated oligosaccharide (700 ns) and its eight constituent disaccharides (50 ns/disaccharide). For each linkage, we compare and contrast the oligosaccharide and respective disaccharide carb-Rama plots, validate the simulations and the Glycam06 force field through comparison to experimental data, and discuss the general trends observed in the plots.