Spontaneous formation of cadmium hydroxide nanostrands in water

Cadmium hydroxide nanostrands with a diameter of 1.9 nm were spontaneously formed by raising the pH of a dilute Cd(NO3)2 solution. The length reaches a few micrometers and the aspect ratio exceeds 1000. The crystallographic structure was successfully elucidated by high-resolution electron microscopy. The surface of the nanostrands was remarkably positively charged and adsorbed an astonishing number of negatively charged dye molecules.     

Clathrate-formation mediated adsorption of methane on Cu-complex crystals

We measured adsorption and desorption isotherms of methane on [Cu(4, 4'-bipyridine)2(BF4)2] (LPC) at 258, 273, and 303 K. Adsorption proceeds almost vertically at a definite pressure, which is named gate pressure. The lower the measurement temperature, the smaller the gate pressure. The temperature dependence of the gate pressure is expressed by the Clapeyron-Clausius equation, giving a thermodynamic evidence on the clathrate formation between the Cu complex and methane.     

Effects of hydrophilic chain length on the characteristics of the micelles of pentaoxyethylene n-decyl C10E5 and hexaoxyethylene n-decyl C10E6 ethers

Wormlike micelles of nonionic surfactants pentaoxyethylene decyl ether C(10)E(5) and hexaoxyethylene decyl ether C(10)E(6) in dilute aqueous solutions were characterized by static (SLS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments at several temperatures T below the critical points. The SLS results were analyzed with the aid of the molecular thermodynamic theory for SLS from micelle solutions formulated with the wormlike spherocylinder model, thereby yielding the molar mass M(w) of the micelles as a function of c and the cross-sectional diameter d of 2.6 nm for both C(10)E(5) and C(10)E(6) micelles. It has been found that the micelles grow in size with increasing c and T, following the relation M(w) proportional, variant c(1/2) in conformity with the theoretical prediction for highly extended polymerlike micelles. The hydrodynamic radius R(H) of the micelles as a function of M(w) was found to be also well described by the corresponding theories for the wormlike spherocylinder model. The results of the stiffness parameter lambda(-1) show that both micelles are rather stiff compared with those formed with other polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers C(i)E(j) but far from rigid rods. The values of the spacing s between two adjacent hexaoxyethylene chains on the micellar surface were found to be substantially the same for both micelles.     

Observation of the transient rotator phase of n-hexadecane in emulsified droplets with time-resolved two-dimensional small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering

Crystallization of n-hexadecane in emulsion droplets was studied using time-resolved two-dimensional small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering with differential scanning calorimetry (2D-SAXS-WAXS-in situ DSC) which provides information about both nano- and subnanoscale structural change. n-hexadecane in droplets reproducibly crystallized into the stable triclinic phase via a transient-rotator phase. This is in contrast with previous results that the rotator phase of n-hexadecane was observed only occasionally for bulk samples. Thus we confirmed the existence of rotator phase in n-hexadecane, which is important for the study of crystallization of soft materials. We suggest that the rotator phase at the interface of oil and water plays a precursor role for bulk crystallization. This study demonstrates that 2D-SAXS-WAXS-in situ DSC is a powerful tool for the study of a transient phase.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Nuclearity in a New Perspective

In this Letter we try to settle some confused points concerning the use of the notion of p-nuclearity in the mathematical and physical literature, pointing out that the nuclearity index in the physicists’ sense vanishes for any p> 1. Our discussion of these issues suggests a new perspective, in terms of ε-entropy and operator spaces, which might permit connections to be drawn between phase space criteria and quantum energy inequalities.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 81T05, 47B10, 47L25.     

Hydrophobic scale: a second parameter to elucidating various specific ligand-protein interactions

In the sequence Fourier analysis (SFA) of specific interactions such as those between fibroblast growth factors (FGFs)/FGF receptors (FGFRs), bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs)/BMP receptors (BMPRs), or tumor repressor protein p53/mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2), the characteristic frequency peak(s) could be observed with the hydrophobic scale for 20 amino acids as well as 4 nucleotides as the physicochemical parameter, but not successfully with the absolute electronegativity scale. This result implies that these two independent scales should be appropriately selected in various specific ligand-protein interactions, though the critical difference has to be determined.     

Interpretation of Hund's multiplicity rule for the carbon atom

Hund's multiplicity rule is investigated for the carbon atom using quantum Monte Carlo methods. Our calculations give an accurate account of electronic correlation and obey the virial theorem to high accuracy. This allows us to obtain accurate values for each of the energy terms and therefore to give a convincing explanation of the mechanism by which Hund's rule operates in carbon. We find that the energy gain in the triplet with respect to the singlet state is due to the greater electron-nucleus attraction in the higher spin state, in accordance with Hartree-Fock calculations and studies including correlation. The method used here can easily be extended to heavier atoms.     

Internal Rotation of the Hydroxyl Group in Isopropanol and the Chirality of the Gauche Form: Fourier Transform Microwave Spectroscopy of (CH(3))(2)CHOD

The rotational spectrum of the deuterated isopropanol (CH(3))(2)CHOD has been observed by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and analyzed to yield tunneling splitting of 4431.4613 (17) MHz, between the antisymmetric and the symmetric gauche forms, which is much larger than the 2400 MHz estimated from the internal-rotation potential function reported in the literature. The potential function for the OH internal rotation has been examined in view of the discrepancy between the observed and estimated tunneling splitting, and it was accounted for by taking into account isotope effects on the potential constants. The deuterium quadrupole coupling effect has been included together with the Coriolis terms in the off-diagonal block of the Hamiltonian matrix for the gauche form. The deuterium quadrupole coupling constants obtained for the trans form were employed to calculate the components of the coupling constants as functions of the internal-rotation angle, and the components at around 120 degrees were compared with the values observed for the gauche form, thereby leading to unambiguous determination of the signs of the constants in the off-diagonal block; the signs are not obtainable from an ordinary analysis of the rotational spectra. The chirality of the gauche form was discussed by placing special emphasis on the effect of intermolecular interactions between two chiral molecules. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Japanese monkeys perceive sensory consonance of chords

Consonance/dissonance affects human perception of chords from early stages of development [e.g., Schellenberg and Trainor, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 3321-3328 (1996)]. To examine whether consonance has some role in audition of nonhumans, three Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) were trained to discriminate simultaneous two-tone complexes (chords). The task was serial discrimination (AX procedure) with repetitive presentation of background stimuli. Each tone in a chord was comprised of six harmonics, and chords with complex ratios of fundamental frequency (e.g., frequency ratio of 8:15 in major seventh) resulted in dissonance. The chords were transposed for each presentation to make monkeys attend to cues other than the absolute frequency of a component tone. Monkeys were initially trained to detect changes from consonant (octave) to dissonant (major seventh). Following the successful acquisition of the task, transfer tests with novel chords were conducted. In these transfer tests, the performances with detecting changes from consonant to dissonant chords (perfect fifth to major seventh; perfect fourth to major seventh) were better than those with detecting reverse changes. These results suggested that the consonance of chords affected the performances of monkeys.