Short baseline neutrino physics: MiniBooNE and beyond

The MiniBooNE experiment, a short baseline neutrino oscillation experiment currently running at Fermilab, has observed an unexplained excess of ν_e-like events at energies between 200 MeV and 475 MeV. Those results and the results of the LSND excess events in are compared to a non-standard oscillation pattern that involves three active and two sterile neutrinos. Some future possibilities for short future baseline programs are also discussed.     

Flow properties of freshly prepared ettringite suspensions in water at 25 degrees C

The rheology of a complex, heterogeneous mineral colloid was rationalised using models devised for model rod systems. Mixing a calcium hydroxide slurry with an aluminium sulphate solution produces a suspension of rod-shaped ettringite particles. Ettringite rod suspensions exhibit non-Newtonian flow behaviour, which depends on the shape of the particles, their size distribution, concentration and surface properties as well as the suspension medium characteristics. We have measured the shear viscosity of suspensions of ettringite rods with a median aspect ratio, r(i) approximately 8, at 25 degrees C as a function of particle volume fraction, phi, in the range 0.0001-0.08. It was found that the viscosity of the suspensions increased with phi, and showed a marked change of slope at phi approximately 0.01, which we identified as the minimum overlap concentration phi(*). Above phi(*), the system is in the semi-dilute regime. At phi>phi(*), when Pe(rot)>1, hydrodynamic interactions between rods become increasingly significant, and we observe shear-thinning behaviour. The high effective hydrodynamic volume of rotating rods, resulting in much lower values of the maximum packing fraction, phi(c), than for spheres, dominates the rheological behaviour of ettringite suspensions.     

Combining hydrodynamics and molecular kinetics to predict dewetting between a small bubble and a solid surface

This paper examined the dewetting between a small air bubble and a solid surface in deionised water. Hydrodynamics was used in conjunction with surface molecular kinetics to model and predict the velocity of the moving contact line as a function of the dynamic macroscopic contact angle. The dewetting hydrodynamics was modelled following the approach developed specifically for drops and bubbles using the (absolute) coordinate system with the origin located at the centre of the contact area, which does not move with the moving contact line. The model provides accurate corrections unavailable in the generic hydrodynamic theories developed by Voinov and Cox, and removes the need for a macroscopic length scale employed in their generic theories. Molecular kinetics was used to determine the contact angle of the inner region close to the contact line, where the hydrodynamic approach breaks down due to the singularity. Unlike the generic hydrodynamic theories, the inner (microscopic) angle in our combined model is not a constant (a fitting parameter) but is a function of the moving contact line velocity and other molecular properties of the interfaces. The combined model agreed with the experimental data and produced physically consistent values for the slip length, molecular jumping distance and frequency. The dissolved gases accumulated at the non-wetting solid-liquid interface may influence the slip length.     

Impact of chlorine dissociation for modified chemical vapor deposition

Modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) is the platform technology used to create a wide range of silica-based optical fibers. This paper reports on the extension of the reaction scheme embedded within a computational fluid dynamics model of the MCVD process to include chlorine dissociation and recombination. Simulations employing this modified kinetic scheme indicate that chlorine dissociation acts primarily as a ‘heat sink’ in cases where the operating conditions promote a high peak temperature in the narrow reaction zone where most of the SiCl₄ oxidation occurs. The extended model allows a wider range of operating parameters to be examined in terms of the deposition profile of silica ‘soot’ particles on the substrate tube wall.     

A search algorithm for fixed-composition protein design

We present a computational protein design algorithm for finding low-energy sequences of fixed amino acid composition. The search algorithms used in protein design typically do not restrict amino acid composition. However, the random energy model of Shakhnovich suggests that the use of fixed-composition sequences may circumvent defects in the modeling of the denatured state. Our algorithm, FC_FASTER, links fixed-composition versions of Monte Carlo and the FASTER algorithm. As proof of principle, FC_FASTER was tested on an experimentally validated, full-sequence design of the beta1 domain of protein G. For the wild-type composition, FC_FASTER found a lower energy sequence than the experimentally validated sequence. Also, for a different composition, FC_FASTER found the hypothetical lowest-energy sequence in 14 out of 32 trials.     

The synthesis of bis(oligophenyleneethynylenes): novel potential nonlinear optical materials

Various functionalised phenyleneethynylene dimers 10 and trimers 12 were synthesised by palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira methodology. These dimers and trimers were coupled to 1,8-diido-10-methoxyanthracene to generate bis(oligophenyleneethynylenes) 17 and 18. Preliminary results towards the construction of both phenyleneethynylene and phenylenevinylene hybrid motifs are presented.     

Swelling behavior of chitosan hydrogels in ionic liquid-water binary systems

The swelling behavior of chitosan hydrogels in ionic liquid-water binary systems was studied using hydrophilic room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) to elucidate the swelling mechanism of chitosan hydrogels. No penetration of RTIL into a dry chitosan material was observed. Swelling was achieved by soaking in water-RTIL binary mixtures, with larger swelling observed at higher water contents. In one instance, the binary mixture was acidic and produced larger than expected swelling due to the dissociation of the amine groups in the chitosan. The equilibrium binary system content behavior of the chitosan hydrogels depended upon the amount of free water, which is a measure of the number of water molecules that do not interact with the ionic liquid. After evaporation of water, remnant RTIL remained in the chitosan network and hardness testing indicated a plasticization effect, suggesting that the RTIL molecularly mixed with the chitosan. Chitosan hydrogels containing only RTIL were prepared by dropping pure RTIL onto a fully preswollen hydrogel followed by water evaporation. This method may be a useful means for preparing air-stable swollen chitosan gels.     

Synthesis of a chelating hexadentate ligand with a P3N3 donor set. Crystal and molecular structure of [OC-6-22]-[Co{(RP*,RP*,RP*)-CH3C(CH2PPhC6H4NH2-2)3}](PF6)3

The first structurally authenticated example of a hexadentate chelating tertiary phosphine in which all six donors are bound to a single metal centre is described. The multidentate ligand (RP*,RP*,RP*)- and (RP*,RP*,SP*)-CH3C(CH2PPhC6H4NH2-2)3 has been prepared in 80% yield via the reaction of five equivalents of sodium (2-aminophenyl)phenylphosphide (generated in situ from (2-aminophenyl)phenylphosphine and sodium in thf) with 1,1,1-tri(bromomethyl)ethane in thf. The diastereomeric mixture has been complexed to cobalt(III) and the resulting pair of complexes, viz. [Co{(RP*,RP*,RP*)-CH3C(CH2PPhC6H4NH2-2)3}]Cl3 and [CoCl{(RP*,RP*,SP*)-CH3C(CH2PPhC6H4NH2-2)3}]Cl2, separated by ion exchange chromatography. The structure of the former (as the corresponding hexafluorophosphate salt) has been confirmed by X-ray crystallography and clearly shows all six donors of the P3N3 ligand coordinated to a single cobalt(III) centre. The related hexadentate ligand with internal N donors and terminal diphenylphosphino groups, viz. CH3C(CH2NHC6H4PPh2-2)3, has also been synthesised, albeit in low yield, via the reaction of [Li(tmeda)][2-NHC6H4PPh2] (generated in situ from (2-aminophenyl)diphenylphosphine, n-butyllithium and tmeda in diethyl ether) with 1,1,1-tri(iodomethyl)ethane in thf. No formation of a P3N3 ligand has been observed when either Na[2-PPhC6H4NH2] or [Li(tmeda)][2-NHC6H4PPh2] is reacted with the related tripodal substrate 1,1,1-tris(tolyl-4-sulfonyloxymethyl)ethane in thf. Rather the P-methyloxetane (+/-)-[3-{(2-aminophenyl)phenylphosphinomethyl}]-3-methyloxetane and the sulfonamide 2-(4-CH3C6H4SO2)NHC6H4PPh2 and the corresponding N-methyloxetane [3-{(2-diphenylphosphinophenyl)aminomethyl}]-3-methyloxetane have been isolated from the respective reactions. The structure of the sulfonamide has been confirmed by an X-ray analysis of the platinum(II) complex trans-[PtCl(CH3){2-PPh2C6H4NH(SO2C6H4CH(3-4)}2].     

Data-directed scan sequence for the general assignment of C-glycosylflavone O-glycosides in plant extracts by liquid chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry

An ion trap LC-MS/MS method is described for the analysis of C-glycosylflavone O-glycosides in crude methanolic extracts of plants. The method employs survey scans with and without the application of up-front collision induced dissociation (CID) to generate diagnostic ions for data-directed MS/MS. The spectra acquired allow assignment of the C-linked sugar to either the C-6 or C-8 position of the aglycone and provide data on the molecular mass of the compound, the number and type of O-linked sugars and the molecular mass of the flavone aglycone. These data for the majority of C-glycosylflavone O-glycosides in an extract are obtained automatically in one LC-MS/MS analysis without manual pre-programming. Key to the assignment of the C-6 or C-8 site of C-glycosylation is the generation, by up-front CID, of the (0,1)X+ product ion formed by internal cleavage of the C-linked sugar. MS/MS of this ion is found to have diagnostic value in addition to the (0,2)X+ product ion described by other authors. Ion trap MS/MS spectra of [M+H]+ of the 6,8-di-C-glycosylflavones schaftoside and isoschaftoside show an additional and previously unreported diagnostic product ion that is useful in determining the type of sugar at the C-6 position. The product ion spectra of protonated kaempferol 3-O-glucosylrhamnosides show similarities to the spectra of C-glycosylflavone O-glycosides; this is a potential source of confusion if the analysis of such glycosides is limited solely to MS/MS of [M+H]+.     

Endomorphisms of H *(K(V, n); ) in the category of unstable modules

The ring of endomorphisms of the -cohomology of the Eilenberg-MacLane space K(V,n), in the category of unstable modules over the Steenrod algebra is calculated, where V is an elementary abelian 2-group, n is a non-negative integer and is the prime field of characteristic two. The result generalizes the theorem of Adams, Gunawardena and Miller, which corresponds to the case n=1.