Effect of carbonate incorporation on the structural and superconducting properties of the double chain compound Y2Ba4Cu7O15−x

Structural investigations on powder samples of Y₂Ba₄Cu₇O_15–x with different carbonate content have been performed. Powder x-ray Rietveld refinements showed the remarkable influence of carbonate incorporation on the lattice parameters. Most important is the decrease of T_c with increasing carbonate content. We assign these effects to an incorporation of the carbonate ion into the crystal lattice, copper vacancies at the Cu(1) position and a possible misorientation of the copper oxygen single chains. No change of the structure (e. g. superstructure) could be found.     

Derivatives of 2-sulfonamido-4,5-dimethoxyphenylacetic acid and of 2-carboxamido(2-chloroethyl)methylbenzenesulfonamides

Series of variously sustituted amides of 2-sulfonamido-4,5-dimethoxyphenylacetic acid have been prepared. The reaction of diethylamine, piperidine, morpholine and bis(2-chloroethyl)amine with carbo-methoxymethyl-3,4-dimethoxybenzenesulfonyl chloride produced the corresponding sulfonamido derivatives. Acid hydrolysis of the latter and action of thionyl chloride gave the chlorocarboxymethyl-benzenesulfonamides. The acid chlorides of the sulfonamides were transformed to the 2-carboxamido-bis(2-chloroethyl)methylbenzenesulfonamides with bis(2-chloroethyl)amine. These agents were tested in L-1210 and P-388 leukemias and were found not to possess antitumor activity in these two transplantable tumor lines.     

InclusiveK *+(890),K *+(1430) and\bar K^{ * - } (890) production inK + p interactions at 32 GeV/c

We present final results on inclusive production ofK ^*+(890),K ^*+(1430) andK ^*?(890) in \(\bar K^ + p\) interactions at 32 GeV/c, based on a statistics of ～27 events/μb. Total cross sections,p _T -andx-dependence of inclusive distributions are compared with experiments at other energies and with the Lund fragmentation model. Spin density matrix elements of theK ^*+(890) are also discussed. The results suggest that “recombination” of both initial state valence quarks \(\bar s\) andu of theK ⁺ intoK ^*+(890), responsible in the Lund model for ～45% of theK ^*+(890) cross section, is strongly suppressed.     

Neutral strange particle production inK + p interactions at 32 GeV/c

The production properties ofK _s ⁰ , \(\bar \Lambda\) andK ⁺ p interactions at 32 GeV/c are investigated using the final statistics of the experiment. We present total and semi-inclusive cross sections and aver-age multiplicities. Estimates are given of the diffractive dissociation contributions to total and differential cross sections. Thex-,p _T ^?, and transverse mass dependence of inclusive and semi-inclusive distributions is discussed as well as properties of “prompt”K _s ⁰ 's. The ratio of “prompt”K ₈₉₀ ⁺ (K ₈₉₀ ⁰ ) to “prompt”K ⁰ cross sections is measured to be 1.03±0.12 (0.98±0.17). From a comparison of \(\bar \Lambda\) production inK ^± p interactions at 32 GeV/c, we estimate a strange sea-quark suppression of 0.26 ±0.02. The double differential cross sections ofK _s ⁰ 's is studied as a function of Feynman-x andp _T ² , and a Triple-Regge fit performed. The data are compared in detail to versions of the Lund-model for low-p _T hadronic collisions.     

Use of γ-γ Coincidence Spectrometry in the Geochemical Study of Diamictites from South Africa

We used - coincidence spectrometry to investigate the possible presence of a meteoritical component in 27 samples of South African diamictites. Recently, several studies have suggested that some tillites/diamictites may represent impact breccias, but a petrographical study by our group found no evidence for the presence of impact-characteristic shocked minerals. The siderophile elements, such as Cr, Co, Ni, and, especially, the platinum group elements, have high abundances in meteorites, but low abundances in terrestrial crustal rocks. The Ir content of the diamictites was measured with the new iridium coincidence spectrometer (ICS) at the University of Vienna, with detection limits of around 0.02 ppb. No enrichments in the contents of Ir and other siderophile elements compared to average crustal concentrations were found; thus, no unequivocal evidence for an impact origin of these diamictites of the South African Dwyka Group can be documented.     

Spectral studies on VO ions in potassium thiourea bromide single crystals using EPR and optical absorption spectroscopy

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies have been carried out on VO²⁺ ions doped in single crystals of ferroelectric material, potassium thiourea bromide (PTB) at room temperature and in the temperature range 103–343 K on X-band MW frequency. An isotropic octet spectrum characteristic of VO²⁺ ion was obtained due to the fast re-orientation of the VO²⁺ in PTB lattice, which exhibits glassy nature at certain range around room temperature. The temperature dependant EPR spectra of VO²⁺ ions in this host lattice has been attributed to the occurrence of multiple phase transitions due to the combined environment effects of KBr and thiourea materials in the single crystal. From the optical absorption spectrum, the crystal field splitting parameter Dq, tetragonal parameters Ds and Dt have been evaluated and discussed.     

Changes in the electrochemical characteristics and u.v.-spectra of polydienyl-lithium chains on storage in polar media

The parallel changes in the electric conductivity and u.v. spectra of polybutadienyl- and polyisoprenyl-lithium (M_nLi) have been investigated in tetrahydrofuran and dimethoxyethane solutions during prolonged storage at 0 and 25°. A considerable dependence of the rate of these changes on the nature of the medium and M_n Li concentration was found. The decrease in the initiating activity during storage has been estimated for the PBLi-THF system.     

On the history of photoemission

Historical aspects of science are usually confined to special conferences, and receive only a brief mention in the introduction to talks at meetings addressing current topics. However, at the previous Seminar, several theoretical and experimental contributions were made, which discussed the historical development of surface science. Because of the considerable interest aroused by these presentations, we decided to keep the historical spirit alive, by telling the story of photoemission.

While field emission is the oldest area of surface science, photoemission is certainly one of the most important branches. Here, emphasis is placed on the early investigations, which are often scarcely mentioned, and on more recent work that has had significant impact on the progress of surface science.     

Transformations of conjugated enamines of the imidazolidine 1-oxide series in the Vilsmeier-Haack reaction

In some cases, the reactions of enaminones of the imidazolidine 1-oxide series with the Vilsmeier reagent afford electrophilic substitution products containing the dimethyl-aminomethylene group. In an acidic medium, these products undergo either hydrolytic elimination of the dimethylaminomethylene moiety or hydrolysis of the latter to form the aldehyde group. The reaction of nitroenamine, which is a derivative of imidazolidine 1-oxide, with the Vilsmeier reagent produces furoxane, viz., the nitroxyl biradical. Reduction of the latter affords the dioxime biradical. Dedicated to the memory of Academician N. N. Vorozhtsov on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1165–1170, June, 2007.     

Non-destructive multi-element photon activation analysis of river sediments

A large number of toxic elements, including Th and U, in Scheldt and NBS river sediments, have been determined non-destructively by high energy photon activation. The length of irradiation varies between 1.5 hours for short lived-nuclides and 7–18 hours for long lived-nuclides. The induced activities are measured using a single open-ended coaxial Ge(Li) detector and the photopeak integrations are calculated using the total peak area method and the Cutipie computer program after substraction of the intrinsic background of the detector from each spectrum (Angela program). The photonuclear reactions and the best detection limits for 36 elements are indicated.