Diffraction dissociation of nuclei in 450 GeV/c proton-nucleus collisions

Diffractive dissociation of nuclei (Be, Al, W) in collisions with 450 GeV/c protons,pApX, has been measured with the HELIOS spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton synchrotron. The dependence of the single-diffraction cross-section on the nuclear massA can be parametrized as _SD mb×A ^0.35±0.02, showing the peripheral nature of the process. The differential cross-section d_SD=(3.8±0.3)mb ×A ^0.35±0.02, is exponential with the slope parameter, increasing from 6.2±0.4 (GeV/c)^–2 for beryllium to 7.9±0.5 (GeV/c)^–2 for tungsten. The slope parameter also increases with increasing massM _X of the diffractively produced state. The rapidity, multiplicity, and transverse-momentum distributions of the particles of the diffractively produced stateX show a longitudinal phase-space population and are remarkably insensitive to the nuclear mass. This, together with theA ^1/3 dependence of _SD, suggests that the dominant process of nuclear diffractive excitation is the dissociation of single nucleons.Deceased     

Inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopic determination of trace impurities in ZrO2-powder

Four independent procedures including one using slurry nebulization ICP-AES were developed for the trace analysis of ZrO₂ powders. They were evaluated with respect to detection limits, blank values, interferences, accuracy and precision. For the procedures I–III ZrO₂ powder was decomposed by fusion with a 10-fold excess of NH₄HSO₄ and subsequent dissolution of the melt in either water or, after evaporation of NH₄HSO₄, in diluted HNO₃. In procedure I the solution was directly analyzed by ICP-AES, which was optimized with the aid of a simplex algorithm. In procedure II Zr was separated by extraction from 6 mol/l HNO₃ with a 0.5 mol/l solution of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) in xylene. More than 99.5% of the Zr was removed and more than 95% of the trace elements retained. In procedure III the matrix was separated by its precipitation as ZrOCl₂·8 H₂O from a (1:4) HCl-acetone medium. More than 98% of Zr were removed and more than 90% of the trace elements were retained. In procedure IV the ZrO₂ powder was dispersed by ultrasonic treatment in water acidified with HCl (pH 2) and the slurry was directly analyzed by ICP-AES using a Babington nebulizer. The optimization and the analytical features of this procedure will be described in a subsequent paper. In all procedures the calibration was performed by standard addition and matrix matching was not necessary. The detection limits varied from 0.3 g/g (Ca) to 10 g/g (Al). The standard deviations obtained were 1–10% depending on the element and its concentration in the sample. The results of the procedures for 6 commercially available fine ZrO₂ powders were found to agree for Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, Ti and Y. A good agreement between the results of the procedures using matrix separation was also observed for Cu, Mn, V, but the concentrations of these elements found by methods without matrix separation were considerably higher. Except for Ca and Mg the blank values encountered were below the detection limits.On leave from Department of Analytical Chemistry, Technical University, PL-00-664 Warsaw, Poland     

Analysis of dynamic behavior of human middle ear using a finite-element method.

Applying the general-purpose finite-element package program (ISAP), a three-dimensional finite-element method (FEM) model of a human right middle ear, which included ossicles, was made and the mechanical properties and boundary conditions of the middle ear were determined by a comparison between the numerical results obtained from the FEM analysis and the measurement results of the fresh cadavers, normal subjects and patients, which were obtained by our developed sweep frequency middle ear analyzer (MEA). The "Elastic" boundary condition consisting of linear and torsional springs at the eardrum attachments to the annular ligament was more appropriate for the actual condition than "fully clamped" one. Rotational axis of the ossicular chain was assumed to be a fixed straight line from the anterior process of the malleus to the short process of the incus, and a load of the ossicular chain and cochlea was simplified to be expressed by the stiffness of the cochlea. Vibration patterns of the eardrum and ossicles at the first resonance frequency, obtained under these assumptions, were in agreement with the experimental results obtained by means of time-averaged holography and by using a video measuring system, except for the relatively large displacements at the tympanic ring.     

Electrochemical studies and square-wave voltammetric determination of fenofibrate in pharmaceutical formulations

The electrochemical reduction of fenofibrate at a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, square-wave voltammetry, and chronoamperometry. Different buffer solutions were used over a wide pH range (3.0–10.0). The best definition of the analytical signals was found in borate buffer (pH 9.0)–tetrabutylammonium iodide mixture containing 12.5% (v/v) methanol at –1.2 V (versus Ag/AgCl). According to cyclic voltammetric studies, the reduction was irreversible and diffusion controlled. The diffusion coefficient was 2.38×10^–6 cm² s^–1 as determined by chronoamperometry. Under optimized conditions of square-wave voltammetry, a linear relationship was obtained between 0.146–4.96 g mL^–1 of fenofibrate with a limit of detection of 0.025 g mL^–1. Validation parameters such as sensitivity, accuracy, precision, and recovery were evaluated. The proposed method was applied to the determination of fenofibrate in pharmaceutical formulations. The results were compared with those obtained by a published high-performance liquid chromatography method. No difference was found statistically.     

Positron/positronium annihilation in nanocrystalline silicon thin films

Positron and positronium annihilation investigations were applied to nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) thin films, for the first time. The nc-Si thin films with average grain diameters of 3–5 nm show intense blue luminescence at room temperature. The nanometer-sized Si crystallites formed in amorphous Si (a-Si) matrix give rise to this luminescence. Very highS-parameters up to 0.62 were observed in the as-grown a-Si thin film suggesting positronium formation in the a-Si layer. The average lifetime of the positrons in the a-Si was determined to be about 520 ps. TheS-parameters dropped significantly to 0.53 by crystallization of the thin film at 800 °C for 10 seconds, which was almost the same to the value observed in bulk Si (100) substrate. Further crystallization from 60 seconds to 1 hour showed smaller change in theS-parameters than that from the a-Si to 10 seconds. The large change in theS-parameters due to the annealing might be caused by the formation of Si nanocrystallites in a-Si matrix suggesting that positron is a sensitive probe for structural investigations of the nc-Si materials.     

Determination of plasma amitriptyline by electron-capture gas chromatography after oxidation to anthraquinone.

A selective procedure is described for the determination of amitriptyline in plasma. The method involves extraction, separation of amitriptyline from its metabolites and subsequent oxidation by ceric sulphate in 5.4 M sulphuric acid. The oxidation product, anthraquinone, is determined by means of electron-capture gas chromatography. The metabolites were separated by a column chromatographic extraction technique. The choice of oxidation reagent, optimum conditions for the oxidation, and the electron-capture properties of anthraquinone are discussed. The method can be used to determine down to 2 ng of amitriptyline in a plasma sample; the relative standard deviation at the 50-ng level was 4.0% (n = 8). The levels of amitriptyline found in a series of plasma samples are compared with those obtained by gas chromatography with use of nitrogen-specific detection; the two techniques gave coincident results.