sp hybridization in free carbon nanoparticles--presence and stability observed by near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

The presence and stability of sp hybridized atoms in free carbon nanoparticles was investigated by NEXAFS spectroscopy. The experiments show that a predominant fraction of carbon atoms is found in linear sp-chains and that conversion into sp(2) structures proceeds already at low temperature and in the gas phase.     

Fatty acid neutral losses observed in tandem mass spectrometry with collision‐induced dissociation allows regiochemical assignment of sulfoquinovosyl‐diacylglycerols

A full characterization of sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDGs) in the lipid extract of spinach leaves has been achieved using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization‐linear quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry (MS). Low‐energy collision‐induced dissociation tandem MS (MS/MS) of the deprotonated species [M ? H]^? was exploited for a detailed study of sulfolipid fragmentation. Losses of neutral fatty acids from the acyl side chains (i.e. [M ? H ? RCOOH]^?) were found to prevail over ketene losses ([M ? H ? R'CHCO]^?) or carboxylates of long‐chain fatty acids ([RCOO]^?), as expected for gas‐phase acidity of SQDG ions. A new concerted mechanism for RCOOH elimination, based on a charge‐remote fragmentation, is proposed. The preferential loss of a fatty acids molecule from the sn‐1 position (i.e. [M ? H ? R₁COOH]^?) of the glycerol backbone, most likely due to kinetic control of the gas‐phase fragmentation process, was exploited for the regiochemical assignment of the investigated sulfolipids. As a result, 24 SQDGs were detected and identified in the lipid extract of spinach leaves, their number and variety being unprecedented in the field of plant sulfolipids. Moreover, the prevailing presence of a palmitic acyl chain (16:0) on the glycerol sn‐2 position of spinach SQDGs suggests a prokaryotic or chloroplastic path as the main route for their biosynthesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Purely linear response of the quantum Hall current to space-adiabatic perturbations

Letters in Mathematical Physics - We provide an algorithm that factorizes one-dimensional quantum walks on an arbitrary but fixed cell structure into a protocol of two basic operations: a fixed...     

IKNO,a user facility for coherent terahertz and UV synchrotron radiation

IKNO (Innovation and KNOwledge) is a proposal for a multi‐user facility based on an electron storage ring optimized for the generation of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) in the terahertz frequency range, and of broadband incoherent synchrotron radiation ranging from the IR to the VUV. IKNO can be operated in an ultra‐stable CSR mode with photon flux in the terahertz frequency region up to nine orders of magnitude higher than in existing third‐generation light sources. Simultaneously to the CSR operation, broadband incoherent synchrotron radiation up to VUV frequencies is available at the beamline ports. The main characteristics of the IKNO storage and its performance in terms of CSR and incoherent synchrotron radiation are described in this paper. The proposed location for the infrastructure facility is Sardinia, Italy.     

Non-polytropic effect on shock-induced phase transitions in a hard-sphere system

By adopting a simplified model of a non-polytropic hard-sphere system where heat capacity depends on the temperature, we demonstrate the importance of non-polytropic effect on the shock-induced phase transitions. We show explicitly that with the increase of the shock strength the perturbed temperature (the temperature after a shock) increases and the vibrational modes are gradually excited, and as a result, shock-induced phase transitions are qualitatively and quantitatively different from the phase transitions observed in a simple polytropic model. The effect on the admissibility (stability) of a shock wave is also analyzed.     

A Conditional Moment Closure Study of Chemical Reaction Source Terms in SCCI Combustion

The objective of this study is to evaluate conditional moment closure (CMC) approaches to model chemical reaction rates in compositionally stratified, autoigniting mixtures, in thermochemical conditions relevant to stratified charge compression ignition (SCCI) engines. First-order closure, second-order closure and double conditioning are evaluated and contrasted as options in comparison to a series of direct numerical simulations (DNSs). The two-dimensional (2D) DNS cases simulate ignitions in SCCI-like thermochemical conditions with compositionally stratified n-heptane/air mixtures in a constant volume. The cases feature two different levels of stratification with three mean temperatures in the negative-temperature coefficient (NTC) regime of ignition delay times. The first-order closure approach for reaction rates is first assessed using hybrid DNS-CMC a posteriori tests when implemented in an open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package known as OpenFOAM\(^{{\circledR }}\). The hybrid DNS-CMC a posteriori tests are not a full CMC but a DNS-CMC hybrid in that they compute the scalar and velocity fields at the DNS resolution, thus isolating the first-order reaction rate closure model as the main source of modelling error (as opposed to turbulence model, scalar probability density function model, and scalar dissipation rate model). The hybrid DNS-CMC a posteriori test reveals an excellent agreement between the model and DNS for the cases with low levels of stratification, whereas deviations from the DNS are observed in cases which exhibit high level of stratifications. The a priori analysis reveals that the reason for disagreement is failure of the first-order closure hypothesis in the model due to the high level of conditional fluctuations. Second-order and double conditioning approaches are then evaluated in a priori tests to determine the most promising path forwards in addressing higher levels of stratification. The a priori tests use the DNS data to compute the model terms, thus directly evaluating the model assumptions. It is shown that in the cases with a high level of stratification, even the second-order estimation of the reaction rate source term cannot provide a reasonably accurate closure. Double conditioning using mixture-fraction and sensible enthalpy, however, provides an accurate first-order closure to the reaction rate source term.     

Maximum velocity for wave propagation in a relativistic rarefied gas

Considering the hyperbolic symmetric system of moments associated with the relativistic Boltzmann-Chernikov equation and closed through procedures of Extended Thermodynamics, we determine numerically the maximum characteristic wave velocity for degenerate and non-degenerate gases. As predicted by recent results, this velocity increases monotonically with respect to the number of moments and tends asymptotically to the speed of light. We show that many moments are often required to approach with a good approximation the speed of light. The dependence of the maximum characteristic wave velocity on the properties of the materials is also investigated and it turns out that it depends significantly on the chemical potential only in the case of Fermions gases. Received April 24, 1999     

Relativistic Rational Extended Thermodynamics of Polyatomic Gases with a New Hierarchy of Moments

A relativistic version of the rational extended thermodynamics of polyatomic gases based on a new hierarchy of moments that takes into account the total energy composed by the rest energy and the energy of the molecular internal mode is proposed. The moment equations associated with the Boltzmann–Chernikov equation are derived, and the system for the first 15 equations is closed by the procedure of the maximum entropy principle and by using an appropriate BGK model for the collisional term. The entropy principle with a convex entropy density is proved in a neighborhood of equilibrium state, and, as a consequence, the system is symmetric hyperbolic and the Cauchy problem is well-posed. The ultra-relativistic and classical limits are also studied. The theories with 14 and 6 moments are deduced as principal subsystems. Particularly interesting is the subsystem with 6 fields in which the dissipation is only due to the dynamical pressure. This simplified model can be very useful when bulk viscosity is dominant and might be important in cosmological problems. Using the Maxwellian iteration, we obtain the parabolic limit, and the heat conductivity, shear viscosity, and bulk viscosity are deduced and plotted.     

Ring Vibrations to Sense Anionic Ibuprofen in Aqueous Solution as Revealed by Resonance Raman

We unravel the potentialities of resonance Raman spectroscopy to detect ibuprofen in diluted aqueous solutions. In particular, we exploit a fully polarizable quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methodology based on fluctuating charges coupled to molecular dynamics (MD) in order to take into account the dynamical aspects of the solvation phenomenon. Our findings, which are discussed in light of a natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, reveal that a selective enhancement of the Raman signal due to the normal mode associated with the C–C stretching in the ring, νC=C, can be achieved by properly tuning the incident wavelength, thus facilitating the recognition of ibuprofen in water samples.     

Identification and Quantitation of Hydroxytyrosol in Italian Wines

Hydroxytyrosol (HTy) is a potent natural antioxidant found in olive oil and in mill waste waters. Although wines are rich in polyphenols, hydroxytyrosol has not been identified in wines so far. We have analyzed ten wines from different grape varieties grown in several Italian regions, using a gas-chromatograph coupled to a mass selective detector (GC-MS). Solid-phase extraction of wine samples was performed on a C18 column, with ethyl acetate used as eluting agent. Eluates were derivatized with bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) and analyzed by GC-MS using one target and two qualifying ions. The detection limit was 15 pg/μL, with 49% average recovery. Under these experimental conditions hydroxytyrosol was detected in all wines analyzed. Its average concentrations in red and white wines were 4.0 mg/L and 1.9 mg/L, respectively.