Ground state for point particles interacting through a massless scalar Bose field

We consider a massless scalar Bose field interacting with two particles, one of them infinitely heavy. Neither an infrared nor an ultraviolet cutoff is imposed. In case the charge of the particles is of the same sign and sufficiently small, we prove the existence of a ground state.     

Hydrogen bond formations between pyrazine and formic acid and between pyrazine and trichloroacetic acid

The hydrogen bond formations between pyrazine and formic acids and between pyrazine and trichloroacetic acids were studied through observation of the Raman and infrared spectra for mixture of pyrazine and formic acid and also mixture of pyrazine and trichloroacetic acid at 77 K. It was observed that the mutual exclusion principle held for the Raman and infrared spectra of both mixtures, even for the spectra of the samples whose mixing mole ratio of acids was very low. This fact clearly indicates that the hydrogen bonded molecule does not exist in the form of formic acid-pyrazine or trichloroacetic acid-pyrazine whose geometry belongs to the Cs point group, but exists in the form of formic acid-pyrazine-formic acid or trichloroacetic acid-pyrazine-trichloroacetic acid belonging to the C(i) point group.     

Mechanism of crystallization of enzyme protein thermolysin

The mechanism of crystallization of enzyme protein thermolysin was investigated. The size distribution of thermolysin precipitates was measured by dynamic light scattering during precipitation, and the surface and cross section of the finally obtained precipitate were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The thermolysin precipitates obtained at the initial supersaturation ratio of 8.9 to 164 and pH 7.0 were hexagonal rods having an average size of 9.2×1.5 μm, and were composed of a number of small particles of 15 to 200 nm in diameter. The average size of the small particles was 60 nm in diameter, and the formation of the particles was found to be completed in the early stage of precipitation. Observation of the finally recovered thermolysin precipitate by polarizing microscopy revealed that the precipitate is a crystalline solid. From these data, a possible mechanism of thermolysin crystallization was proposed. The crystallization proceeds through two steps: the first step is the formation of primary particles, and the second step is crystal growth by highly ordered aggregation of the primary particles.     

Determination of limiting ionic mobilities and dissociation constants of some local anaesthetics.

The limiting ionic mobilities and thermodynamic acid dissociation constants were calculated from isotachophoretic experiments for the local anaesthetics procaine, tetracaine, lidocaine, trimecaine, bupivacaine, cinchocaine, diperodone, diocaine, cocaine, psicaine-neu, tropacocaine, amylocaine, beta-eucaine and leucinocaine. The pH values at which the local anaesthetics with very similar limiting ionic mobilities can be isotachophoretically separated were determined from simulated mobility curves. The measuring apparatus employed a high-frequency contactless conductivity detector.     

Characterization of calcium carbonate polymorphs with Ca K edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

Ca K edge X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy was utilized for the characterization and quantification of calcium carbonate polymorphs and their mixtures. The advantage of the XAFS is the small sample quantity required for measurements, and a flexible sample environment. The near-edge XAFS spectra of calcite, aragonite and vaterite were measured with the conversion electron yield (CEY) method, and the obtained spectra showed characteristic features that can be utilized as fingerprints. The quantification of mixed polymorphs was examined by using a linear combination fitting of reference XAFS spectra. Though the quality of the fits was satisfactory, discrepancies in the evaluated values were observed between those with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and XAFS. The nonuniformity of samples may be enhanced by the surface sensitivity of the CEY method.     

Estimation of the thickness or composition of a covering layer on a solid by XPS or AES

A method is proposed for semi-quantitative determination of the thickness or composition of a covering layer on a solid by XPS or by micro-AES using neither a series of standard samples nor argon-ion etching. In the case of XPS, the thickness or relative composition of the covering layer is calculated by means of the intensity ratio between one element and another in a specimen and using physical parameters such as inelastic mean free paths of electrons and photoionization cross-sections.In the case of AES, the physical parameters for the quantification can be eliminated by using the ratio of the relative intensity for two elements in the sample to that in a suitable, comparable reference.     

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic observation of nitrogen-containing gases adsorbed at high pressures on some transition metals

The chemisorbed species formed by reaction of nitrogen-containing gases (NO, N₂O, N₂ and dry air) on some transition metals (Ni, Cu, Ti, Co and Pd) at high pressures (1–200 torr) are examined by XPS. At least four adsorption species are observed on the surface at ambient temperature. They can be assigned to ?NO₃ (407.3 eV), ?NO₂ (404.5 eV), ?NO (400.0 eV) and the nitrogen bound directly to metal, which shows a characteristic energy value for each metal. This feature differs from the reported results of low pressure adsorption experiments. Relative abundances among the chemisorbed species vary with individual metals and gases.     

Refracted X-ray Fluorescence (RXF) on Si single crystal and GaAs

The Refracted X-ray Fluorescence (RXF) method can obtain the information about surfaces and interfaces: for example, surface electron density, chemical condition and surface roughness. We evaluated surfaces and interfaces of ultrathin films by using RXF method, and we measured the average lattice constant of a ultrathin GaAs film, the top-layer of a GaAs substrate and the surface roughness of the Si substrate below a ultrathin GaAs film grown by MBE.     

The role of metallic matrix modifiers in graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

The role of metallic matrix modifiers in AAS is considered; for elements reduced, together with modifier elements, during ashing and the beginning of the atomization process, the thermodynamic activity and melting points of the alloys formed are important. For Mg²⁺, prevention of the effects of halide ions is considered, as is also the behaviour of buffer and/or carrier in emission spectrometric analysis of the other alkali and alkaline earths.