Observation of luminescence from bound multiexciton complexes in gallium doped germanium

Spectrally resolved luminescence associated with the decay of bound multiexciton complexes in optically excited Ge:Ga is observed. This is the first reported observation of multiexciton complexes in p-type germanium. The observed spectra are consistent with the shell model for bound multiexciton complexes.No-phonon, TA, LA, and TO phonon assisted luminescence are observed. From these spectra, the energies of the LA, TA, and TO phonons in Ge:Ga are determined.     

Control of interaction-induced dephasing of Bloch oscillations

We report on the control of interaction-induced dephasing of Bloch oscillations for an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical lattice. We quantify the dephasing in terms of the width of the quasimomentum distribution and measure its dependence on time for different interaction strengths which we control by means of a Feshbach resonance. For minimal interaction, the dephasing time is increased from a few to more than 20 thousand Bloch oscillation periods, allowing us to realize a BEC-based atom interferometer in the noninteracting limit.     

The visible absorption spectrum of NO2: A three-mode nuclear dynamics investigation

The vibronic band origins of the visible absorption spectrum of NO₂ are calculated theoretically with the aid of a simple model Hamiltonian for the coupled electronic and vibrational motions. Including all three vibrational modes in the calculation and using ab initio values of the relevant parameters, we obtain satisfactory qualitative agreement with experiment. In particular, the observed high density and irregular intensity distribution of the band origins is reproduced correctly by the calculation. The present results confirm unambiguosly that the anomalous vibronic structure of the ${}^2\text{B}{}_2\text{←}{}^2\text{A}{}_1$ transition is caused by strong nonadiabatic interactions between the ²B₂ and ²A₁ electronic states of NO₂. They also show that simple deconvolution procedures, which are often used to deperturb irregular spectra, are not applicable to the ${}^2\text{B}{}_2\text{←}{}^2\text{A}{}_1$ transition of NO₂. To further explore the strength of the nonadiabatic effects in NO₂, we calculate the mixing of the different electronic species in the vibronic eigenstates and compare it to several relevant experimental quantities.     

Synthesis and characterization of highly ordered Ni-MCM-41 mesoporous molecular sieves

Highly ordered Ni-MCM-41 samples with nearly atomically dispersed nickel ions were prepared reproducibly and characterized. Similar to the Co-MCM-41 samples, the pore diameter and porosity can be precisely controlled by changing the synthesis surfactant chain length. Nickel was incorporated by isomorphous substitution of silicon in the MCM-41 silica framework, which makes the Ni-MCM-41 a physically stable catalyst in harsh reaction conditions such as CO disproportionation to single wall carbon nanotubes or CO2 methanation. X-ray absorption spectroscopy results indicate that the overall local environment of nickel in Ni-MCM-41 was a tetrahedral or distorted tetrahedral coordination with surrounding oxygen anions. Hydrogen TPR revealed that our Ni-MCM-41 samples have high stability against reduction; however, compared to Co-MCM-41, the Ni-MCM-41 has a lower reduction temperature, and both the H2-TPR and in situ XANES TPR reveal that the reducibility of nickel is not clearly correlated with the pore radius of curvature, as in the case of Co-MCM-41. This is probably a result of nickel being thermodynamically more easily reduced than cobalt. The stability of the structural order of Ni-MCM-41 has been investigated under SWNT synthesis and CO2 methanation reaction conditions as both require catalyst exposure to reducing environments leading to formation of metallic Ni clusters. Nitrogen physisorption and XRD results show that structural order was maintained under both SWNT synthesis and CO2 methanation reaction conditions. EXAFS results demonstrate that the nickel particle size can be controlled by different prereduction temperatures but not by the pore radius of curvature as in the case of Co-MCM-41.     

Gold nanoparticle–antibody conjugates for specific extraction and subsequent analysis by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry of malondialdehyde-modified low density lipoprotein as biomarker for cardiovascular risk

Oxidized low-density lipoproteins (OxLDLs) like malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein (MDA-LDL) play a major role in atherosclerosis and have been proposed as useful biomarkers for oxidative stress. In this study, gold-nanoparticles (GNPs) were functionalized via distinct chemistries with anti-MDA-LDL antibodies (Abs) for selective recognition and capture of MDA-LDL from biological matrices. The study focused on optimization of binding affinities and saturation capacities of the antiMDA-LDL-Ab-GNP bioconjugate by exploring distinct random and oriented immobilization approaches, such as (i) direct adsorptive attachment of Abs on the GNP surface, (ii) covalent bonding by amide coupling of Abs to carboxy-terminated-pegylated GNPs, (iii) oriented immobilization via oxidized carbohydrate moiety of the Ab on hydrazide-derivatized GNPs and (iv) cysteine-tagged protein A (cProtA)-bonded GNPs. Depending on immobilization chemistry, up to 3 antibodies per GNP could be immobilized as determined by ELISA. The highest binding capacity was achieved with the GNP-cProtA-Ab bioconjugate which yielded a saturation capacity of 2.24 ± 0.04 μg mL⁻¹ GNP suspension for MDA-LDL with an affinity K_d of 5.25 ± 0.11 × 10⁻¹⁰ M. The GNP-cProtA-antiMDA-LDL bioconjugate revealed high specificity for MDA-LDL over copper(II)-oxidized LDL as well as native human LDL. This clearly demonstrates the usefulness of the new GNP-Ab bioconjugates for specific extraction of MDA-LDL from plasma samples as biomarkers of oxidative stress. Their combination as specific immunoextraction nanomaterials with analysis by LC–MS/MS allows sensitive and selective detection of MDA-LDL in complex samples.     

Differential stable isotope labeling of peptides for quantitation and de novo sequence derivation.

We have demonstrated the use of per-methyl esterification of peptides for relative quantification of proteins between two mixtures of proteins and automated de novo sequence derivation on the same dataset. Protein mixtures for comparison were digested to peptides and resultant peptides methylated using either d0- or d3-methanol. Methyl esterification of peptides converted carboxylic acids, such as are present on the side chains of aspartic and glutamic acid as well as the carboxyl terminus, to their corresponding methyl esters. The separate d0- and d3-methylated peptide mixtures were combined and the mixture subjected to microcapillary high performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). Parent proteins of methylated peptides were identified by correlative database searching of peptide tandem mass spectra. Ratios of proteins in the two original mixtures could be calculated by normalization of the area under the curve for identical charge states of d0- to d3-methylated peptides. An algorithm was developed that derived, without intervention, peptide sequence de novo by comparison of tandem mass spectra of d0- and d3-peptide methyl esters.     

Hilfsmittel zur Einwaage flüssiger Proben

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Contents of Volume 24 (2003)

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 23 (2003)     

Exclusion limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross section from the cryogenic dark matter search

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs Ge and Si detectors to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) via their elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against interactions of background particles. CDMS data, accounting for the neutron background, give limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross section that exclude unexplored parameter space above 10 GeV/c2 WIMP mass and, at >75% C.L., the entire 3sigma allowed region for the WIMP signal reported by the DAMA experiment.     

Interaction of localized electronic states with the conduction band: band anticrossing in II-VI semiconductor ternaries

We report a strongly nonlinear pressure dependence of the band gaps and large downward shifts of the conduction band edges as functions of composition in ZnS xTe (1-x) and ZnSe (y)Te (1-y) alloys. The dependencies are explained by an interaction between localized A1 symmetry states of S or Se atoms and the extended states of the ZnTe matrix. These results, combined with previous studies of III-N-V materials define a new, broad class of semiconductor alloys in which the introduction of highly electronegative atoms leads to dramatic modifications of the conduction band structure. The modifications are well described by the recently introduced band anticrossing model.