Interpretation of the water surface vibrational sum-frequency spectrum

We propose a novel interpretation of the water liquid-vapor interface vibrational sum-frequency (VSF) spectrum in terms of hydrogen-bonding classes. Unlike an absorption spectrum, the VSF signal can be considered as a sum of signed contributions from different hydrogen-bonded species in the sample. We show that the recently observed positive feature at low frequency, in the imaginary part of the signal, is a result of cancellation between the positive contributions from four-hydrogen-bonded molecules and negative contributions from those molecules with one or two broken hydrogen bonds. Spectral densities for each of these subgroups span the entire relevant spectral range. Three-body interactions within our newly developed E3B water simulation model prove to be critical in describing the proper balance between different hydrogen-bonded species, as (two-body) SPC/E, TIP4P, and TIP4P/2005 models fail to reproduce the positive feature. The results clarify the molecular origin of the VSF signal, and highlight the importance of many-body interactions for water in heterogeneous situations.     

The Iwasawa Main Conjectures for GL2

We prove the one-, two-, and three-variable Iwasawa-Greenberg Main Conjectures for a large class of modular forms that are ordinary with respect to an odd prime p. The method of proof involves an analysis of an Eisenstein ideal for ordinary Hida families for GU(2,2).     

Copper and arsenate co-sorption at the mineral-water interfaces of goethite and jarosite

The co-sorption reaction products of arsenate (As(V)) and copper (Cu(II)) on goethite (alpha-FeOOH) and natro-jarosite (Na(3)Fe(3)(SO(4))(2)(OH)(6)) were investigated with extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy to determine if Cu(II) and As(V) would form precipitates or compete with each other for surface sites. The reaction products were prepared by mixing 250 microM Cu(SO(4)) with 10, 25, or 50 microM Na(2)HAsO(4) at pH 5.65 and allowing the mixture to react in 10 m(2) L(-1) goethite or jarosite suspensions for 12 days. In addition, EXAFS data of Cu(SO(4)) and As(V) sorbed on goethite and jarosite were collected as control species. All reaction conditions were under-saturated with respect to common copper bearing minerals: tenorite (CuO), brochantite (Cu(4)(OH)(6)SO(4)), and hydrated clinoclase (Cu(3)(AsO(4))(2)2H(2)O). The extents of the As(V) and Cu(II) surface adsorption reactions showed a strong competitive effect from Cu(II) on As(V) adsorption for a nominal Cu:As mole-ratio of 25:1. With increasing nominal As(V) concentration, As(V) sorption on goethite and jarosite increased without diminishing the amount of Cu(II) sorption. In the absence of either co-sorbate, As(V) and Cu(II) formed the expected surface adsorption species, i.e., bidentate binuclear and edge-sharing surface complexes, consistent with previously published results. In each other's presence, the local bonding environments of As(V) and Cu(II) showed that the co-sorbates form a precipitate on the goethite and jarosite surface at nominal concentrations of 10:1 and 5:1. At nominal Cu:As mole-ratios of 25:1, Cu(II) did not form significantly different surface complexes on goethite or jarosite from those in the absence of As(V), however, As K-edge EXAFS results distinctly showed Cu(II) atoms in As(V)'s local bonding environment on the goethite surface. The structures of the two precipitates were different and depended on the anion-layer structure and possibly the presence of structural oxyanions in the case of jarosite. On goethite, the copper-arsenate precipitate was similar to hydrated clinoclase, while on jarosite, a euchroite-like precipitate (Cu(2)[AsO(4)](OH)3H(2)O, P 2(1)2(1)2(1)) had formed. Despite under-saturated solution conditions, the formation of these precipitates may have occurred due to a seed-formation effect from densely surface adsorbed Cu(II) and As(V) for which the "new" saturation index was significantly lower than homogeneous values would otherwise suggest. Synergistic reactions between two co-sorbates of fundamentally different surface adsorption behaviour can thus be achieved if the number of available sites for surface adsorption is limited.     

High frequency induction of CC to TT tandem mutations in DNA repair-proficient mammalian cells

The CC to TT tandem mutation is induced by UV radiation exposure, though at relatively low frequencies when compared with the more commonly induced C to T mutation. Induction of the tandem mutation by UV is enhanced in mammalian cells with certain genetic deficiencies; however, conditions have not been described in which the frequency of this mutation is enhanced in DNA repair-proficient mammalian cells. For this study, an integrated construct that detects C to T and CC to TT mutations at a single codon in mouse Aprt was used to examine UVB mutagenesis under various conditions. Oxidative stress, in the form of intracellular hydrogen peroxide, increased the frequency of UVB-induced CC to TT mutations. Surprisingly, exposure of the cells to two antioxidants (N-acetylcysteine and trolox), either alone or in combination, also enhanced UVB induction of CC to TT tandem mutations. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that the frequency of UVB-induced CC to TT tandem mutations can be enhanced dramatically in DNA repair-proficient mammalian cells, and suggest that the enhancing effect does not require direct damage to DNA.     

Vibrational energy relaxation of the bend fundamental of dilute water in liquid chloroform and d-chloroform

The population lifetimes of the bend fundamental of dilute water in liquid chloroform (8.5 ps) and d-chloroform (28.5 ps) display an interesting solvent isotope effect. As the lowest excited vibrational state of the molecule, the water bend fundamental relaxes directly to the ground state with about 1600 cm-1 of energy released to the other degrees of freedom. The strong solvent isotope effect along with the large energy gap indicates the participation of solvent vibrational modes in this vibrational energy relaxation process. We calculate the vibrational energy relaxation rates of the water bend in chloroform and d-chloroform using the Landau-Teller formula with a new potential model developed and parametrized self-consistently to describe the chloroform-water interaction. The computed values are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results, and the trend for the isotope effect is correct. It is found that energy transfer to the solvent vibrations does indeed play an important role. Nevertheless, no single dominant solvent accepting mode can be identified; the relaxation appears to involve both the bend and the C-Cl stretches, and frequency changes of all of these modes upon deuteration contribute to the observed solvent isotope effect.     

An O2 smart plastic film for packaging

The preparation and characterisation of a novel, water-proof, irreversible, reusable, UV-activated, O(2) sensitive, smart plastic film is described. A pigment, consisting of a redox dye, methylene blue (MB), and a sacrificial electron donor, DL-threitol, coated onto an inorganic support with semiconductor functionality, TiO(2), has been extruded in low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The blue-coloured indicator is readily photobleached in <90 s using UVA light (4 mW cm(-2)), whereby MB is converted to its colourless, leuco form, leuco-methylene blue (LMB). This form persists in the absence of oxygen, but is re-oxidised to MB in ~2.5 days in air under ambient conditions (～21 °C, ~65% RH) within the O(2) smart plastic film. The rate of recovery is linearly dependent upon the ambient level of O(2). At the lower temperature of 5 °C, the kinetics of the photobleaching activation step is largely unchanged, whereas that of recovery is markedly reduced to t(1/2) = 36 h at 5 °C (cf. 9 h at 21 °C); the activation energy for the recovery step was calculated as 28 kJ mol(-1). The O(2)-sensitive recovery step was found to be moderately dependent upon humidity at 21 °C, but not significantly dependent upon humidity at 5 °C. The possible application of this type of indicator in food packaging is illustrated and discussed briefly.     

Room temperature sonochemical initiation of thiol-ene reactions

Thiol-ene 'click' reactions have been initiated for a range of primary alkenes using ultrasound in both toluene and water. The method is particularly effective in aqueous solutions in the presence of air.     

Chemical speciation of nanoparticles surrounding metal-on-metal hips

Spectromicroscopy of tissue surrounding failed CoCr metal-on-metal hip replacements detected corroded nanoscale debris in periprosthetic tissue in two chemical states, with concomitant mitochondrial damage. The majority of debris contained Cr(3+), with trace amounts of oxidised cobalt. A minority phase containing a core of metallic chromium and cobalt was also observed.     

Characterization of UV-transparent capillaries for CEC and CE

This short communication describes features of UV-transparent capillaries employed for CEC and CE. A waveguide effect was observed when using UV-transparent capillaries. Through imaging with SEM, the UV-transparent coating was found to be highly porous unlike polyimide coating, which did not exhibit any porosity at all. Prolonged exposure to several commonly employed solvents with elevated pH caused abrasion of the coating at the capillary tip but no swelling of the UV-transparent coating was observed. Lastly, four different cutting techniques were compared to obtain smooth capillary tips.     

Vibrational spectral diffusion of azide in water

Vibrational spectral diffusion denotes the time-dependent fluctuations of a solute's vibrational frequencies due to local environmental dynamics. Vibrational line shapes are weakly sensitive to spectral diffusion, whereas three-pulse vibrational echoes are much more sensitive. We report here on theoretical studies of spectral diffusion of the asymmetric stretch of the azide anion in heavy water. We run a classical molecular dynamics simulation of rigid azide in rigid water, and at every time step we calculate the azide's anharmonic asymmetric stretch frequency using an optimized quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics method developed earlier. This generates a frequency trajectory, which we use to calculate the absorption line shape and integrated three-pulse echo intensity. Our results for both the line width and the integrated echo intensity are in excellent agreement with experiment. Our calculated frequency time-correlation function is in excellent agreement with experiment for long times (greater than 250 fs) but differs considerably from experiment at short times; our theoretical correlation function has a very pronounced oscillation, presumably due to intermolecular azide-water hydrogen-bond stretching dynamics.