Local structure is critical for superoxide dismutase activity in copper complexes: Relationship between EPR parameters, structure and activity in some sterically hindered copper(II) bis(hydrazono-triazine) complexes

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometry and molecular mechanics force field calculations have been performed on some sterically hindered copper(II) complexes with hydrazonotriazine ligands, in order to gain further insight into the relationship between their bonding, structures and biological activity. As was the case with Cu(II) bis(hydrazono-triazine) complexes studied previously, the most stable configuration for all of the complexes involves coordination of two nitrogen and two oxygen atoms (2N2O) in a distorted tetragonal arrangement. With the present complexes, however, the superoxide radical scavenging activities were very low, a result which may be explained by their inability to form a (nearly) square planar structure, which facilitates the copper redox cycling during superoxide dismutation.     

High stereocontrol in the allylation of chiral non-racemic α-alkoxy and α-amino nitrones

The stereocontrolled addition of allylic metals to chiral non-racemic nitrones promoted by the addition of Lewis acids is described. Whereas for α-alkoxy nitrones the stereocontrol depends on the Lewis acid used as an activator, for α-amino nitrones the diastereofacial course of the reaction depends on the protection of the α-amino group. The successful implementation of the methodology is represented by the enantiodivergent synthesis of d- and l-allylglycine.     

Visualizing elements of order two in the Weil-Châtelet group

Let E be an elliptic curve over an infinite field K with characteristic ≠2, and σ∈H¹(G_K,E)[2] a two-torsion element of its Weil-Châtelet group. We prove that σ is always visible in infinitely many abelian surfaces up to isomorphism, in the sense put forward by Cremona and Mazur in their article (J. Exp. Math. 9(1) (2000) 13). Our argument is a variant of Mazur's proof, given in (Asian J. Math. 3(1) (1999) 221), for the analogous statement about three-torsion elements of the Shafarevich-Tate group in the setting where K is a number field. In particular, instead of the universal elliptic curve with full level-three-structure, our proof makes use of the universal elliptic curve with full level-two-structure and an invariant differential.     

Estimation of curl in paper using a combination of shape measurement and least-squares modelling

Curl is a quality problem that makes paper less suitable for printing. A paper sheet that has structural variations in its thickness such as gradients of fibre orientation, density and filler content, will curl and hence assume a cylindrical shape when its humidity content is changed. We propose a method to measure curl that can be used for automated analysis of the paper quality. The shape of the curled paper is measured using a stereoscopic camera system, which is capable of viewing a random pattern that is projected onto the specimen. The shape of the object is found by calculating the perspective difference in the camera set-up using digital image correlation. The quality parameters that are searched for are the magnitude of curl, which is defined as the inverse of the radius of curvature and the orientation of the curled paper. These parameters are estimated by performing a least-squares fit of a cylindrical shape to the three-dimensional measurement data. The least-squares model is non-linear and an iterative technique based on the Gauss–Newton algorithm is used.     

Sticking efficiency of nanoparticles in high-velocity collisions with various target materials

In order to find reliable collector surfaces for the Mesospheric Aerosol – Genesis, Interaction and Composition (MAGIC) sounding rocket experiment, intended to collect atmospheric nanoparticles, the sticking efficiency of nanoparticles was measured on several targets of different materials. The nanoparticles were generated by a molecular beam apparatus in Jena, Germany, by laser ablation (Al₂O₃ particles, diameter 5–50 nm) and by laser pyrolysis (carbon particles, diameter 10–20 nm). In a vacuum environment (>10⁻⁵ mbar) the particles condensed from the gas phase, formed a particle beam, and were accelerated to ∼ ∼1 km/s. The sticking efficiency on the target materials carbon, gold and grease was measured by a microbalance. Results demonstrate moderate to high sticking probabilities. Thus, the capture and retrieval of atmospheric nanoparticles was found to be quantitatively feasible.     

Bi‐arc graphs and the complexity of list homomorphisms

Given graphs G, H, and lists L(v) ? V(H), v ε V(G), a list homomorphism of G to H with respect to the lists L is a mapping f : V(G) → V(H) such that uv ε E(G) implies f(u)f(v) ε E(H), and f(v) ε L(v) for all v ε V(G). The list homomorphism problem for a fixed graph H asks whether or not an input graph G, together with lists L(v) ? V(H), v ε V(G), admits a list homomorphism with respect to L. In two earlier papers, we classified the complexity of the list homomorphism problem in two important special cases: When H is a reflexive graph (every vertex has a loop), the problem is polynomial time solvable if H is an interval graph, and is NP‐complete otherwise. When H is an irreflexive graph (no vertex has a loop), the problem is polynomial time solvable if H is bipartite and H is a circular arc graph, and is NP‐complete otherwise. In this paper, we extend these classifications to arbitrary graphs H (each vertex may or may not have a loop). We introduce a new class of graphs, called bi‐arc graphs, which contains both reflexive interval graphs (and no other reflexive graphs), and bipartite graphs with circular arc complements (and no other irreflexive graphs). We show that the problem is polynomial time solvable when H is a bi‐arc graph, and is NP‐complete otherwise. In the case when H is a tree (with loops allowed), we give a simpler algorithm based on a structural characterization. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 61–80, 2003     

Gravitomagnetism in Metric Theories: Analysis of Earth Satellites Results, and Its Coupling with Spin

Employing the PPN formalism the gravitomagnetic field in different metheories is considered in the analysis of the LAGEOS results. It will be shown that there are several models that predict exactly the same effect that general relativity comprises. In other words, these Earth satellites results can be taken as experimental evidence that the orbital angular momentum of a body does indeed generate space–time geometry, nevertheless they do not endow general relativity with an outstanding status among metric theories. Additionally the coupling spin–gravitomagnetic field is analyzed with the introduction of the Rabi transitions that this field produces on a quantum system with spin 1/2. Afterwards, a continuous measurement of the energy of this system is introduced, and the consequences upon the corresponding probabilities of the involved gravitomagnetic field will be obtained. Finally, it will be proved that these proposals allows us, not only to confront against future experiments the usual assumption of the coupling spin–gravitomagnetism, but also to measure some PPN parameters and to obtain functional dependences among them.     

Spectrum of the Magnetic Schrödinger Operator in a Waveguide with Combined Boundary Conditions

We consider the magnetic Schrödinger operator in a two-dimensional strip. On the boundary of the strip the Dirichlet boundary condition is imposed except for a fixed segment (window), where it switches to magnetic Neumann {For the definition of magnetic Neumann boundary conditions see Section 2, Eq. (2.2)}. We deal with a smooth compactly supported field as well as with the Aharonov-Bohm field. We give an estimate on the maximal length of the window, for which the discrete spectrum of the considered operator will be empty. In the case of a compactly supported field we also give a sufficient condition for the presence of eigenvalues below the essential spectrum.submitted 11/05/04, accepted 21/09/04     

Ultrasoft magnetic films investigated with Lorentz tranmission electron microscopy and electron holography.

As a tribute to the scientific work of Professor Gareth Thomas in the field of structure-property relationships this paper delineates a new possibility of Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM) to study the magnetic properties of soft magnetic films. We show that in contrast to the traditional point of view, not only does the direction of the magnetization vector in nano-crystalline films make a correlated small-angle wiggling, but also the magnitude of the magnetization modulus fluctuates. This fluctuation produces a rapid modulation in the LTEM image. A novel analysis of the ripple structure in nano-crystalline Fe-Zr-N film corresponds to an amplitude of the transversal component of the magnetization deltaMy of 23 mT and a longitudinal fluctuation of the magnetization of the order of deltaMx = 30 mT. The nano-crystalline (Fe99Zr1)1-xNx films have been prepared by DC magnetron reactive sputtering with a thickness between 50 and 1000 nm. The grain size decreased monotonically with N content from typically 100 nm in the case of N-free films to less than 10 nm for films containing 8 at%. The specimens were examined with a JEOL 2010F 200 kV transmission electron microscope equipped with a post column energy filter (GIF 2000 Gatan Imaging Filter). For holography, the microscope is mounted with a biprism (JEOL biprism with a 0.6 microm diameter platinum wire).