Partial restoration of chiral symmetry of vector mesons in hot hadronic matter: a possible signature of quark-gluon plasma

A φ meson is an excellent candidate to see the dynamical and critical phenomena at finite temperature of hadronic and quark matter which can be produced through relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions. PHENIX Collaboration and Chairperson of the PHENIX-J Collaboration.     

Self-assembly of active IrO2 colloid catalyst on an ITO electrode for efficient electrochemical water oxidation

Active catalysts for water oxidation to evolve O(2) are required for the construction of artificial photosynthetic devices that are expected to be promising energy-providing systems in the future. The citrate-stabilized IrO(2) colloid was self-assembled onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode to form a monolayer of the colloidal IrO(2) particles when it was dipped in the colloid solution. The self-assembly could be achieved by a chemical interaction between carboxylate groups on the citrate stabilizer and hydroxyl groups on the ITO surface to form ester bonds. Efficient electrocatalysis for water oxidation was demonstrated using the electrode modified by the self-assembled IrO(2) colloid to yield the highest turnover frequency ((2.3-2.5) x 10(4) h(-1)) of IrO(2) in the hitherto-reported catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation.     

AlanineESR Dosimetry system for routine use in radiation processing

A new alanine-polystyrene (PS) dosimeter prepared with simplified molding procedure and an automatic desk-top dose-reader of alanine dosimeter were developed for the purpose of routine use. Combination of these two allows us to apply a reliable alanine/ESR dosimetry system to routine dosimetric process control in industrial gamma radiation processing.     

Hydrogen production by photosynthetic microorganisms

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Hydrogen is a clean energy alternative to the fossil fuels, the main source of greenhouse gas emissions. We developed a stable system for the conversion of...     

Stable-isotope dilution activation analysis for special samples in which the self-sheilding effect is negligible

A method has been developed where the element to be determined in the sample consists of at least two stable isotopes, which are easily converted to radionuclides through particular nuclear reactions. The sample is previously processed by adding a known quantity of an enriched isotope of the element, while the comparative reference is prepared by taking an arbitrary amount of the natural element under investigation. The usefulness of the method was verified by photon activation analysis of strontium in standard reference materials of tomato and citrus leaves, using isotopically enriched⁸⁶Sr as a spike, and the accurary and precision of the method were proved to be valid.     

Chloride ion catalyzed conformational inversion of carbocation intermediates in the hydrolysis of a benzo[a]pyrene 7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide

A highly efficient procedure for converting 7beta,8alpha-dihydroxy-9alpha,10alpha-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (1) to its trans-9,10-chlorohydrin (5) with excellent yield and purity by the reaction of anhydrous HCl in THF has been developed. The rate of reaction of 5 has been determined as a function of sodium chloride concentration in 1:1 dioxane-water solutions. A large common ion rate depression for the reaction of the chlorohydrin was observed, and the rate data are fit to a mechanism in which all of the tetrol products are formed by the reaction of water with the C-10 carbocation intermediate. Yet, the cis/trans ratio of tetrols from the reaction of the carbocation intermediate from the hydrolysis of chlorohydrin 5 is different than the cis/trans tetrol ratio from the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of diol epoxide 1, which hydrolyzes via a carbocation with the same connectivity as that formed in the hydrolysis of 5. To rationalize these results, it is proposed that the S(N)1 reaction of chlorohydrin 5 yields a different distribution of carbocation conformations than that formed from the reaction of 1 with H(+). The energy barrier for the inversion of these carbocation conformations must be large relative to the energy barriers for the reaction of each carbocation conformation with water. In solutions containing sufficient concentrations of chloride ion, however, a lower energy pathway via a halohydrin exists for the interconversion of the carbocation conformations. Thus, chloride ion catalyzes the interconversion of these two carbocation conformations.     

Configuration interaction calculation of the ground state π-electronic angular momenta of the benzene anion and cation

The ground state -electronic angular momenta of the benzene anion and cation are calculated by the MC LCAO MO method which includes an optimum configuration interaction. Calculated values are ±1.03 for the anion and ±0.74 for the cation, while those obtained by the usual SCF without CI method are ±1.07 and ±0.78 , respectively.