Comparison of ‘blue’ and ‘infrared’ emission bands in thermoluminescence of alkali feldspars

Dating quaternary sediments by thermoluminescence (TL) or optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) calls for a detailed knowledge of the luminescence of feldspars. TL of the various alkali feldspars ((K, Na) Si₃AlO₈) display many common features, and some of these cause great difficulties for dating. After long storage following ionizing irradiation, the TL of most alkali feldspars is known to fade away by “anomalous fading”, which is incompatible with dating. This effect had been attributed to tunnel recombination. Following irradiation, a very intense tunnelling afterglow is observed at temperatures down to liquid nitrogen, in accordance with the observed rate of fading. This emission has a Gaussian spectrum entirely in the infrared (IR) with a maximum at 1.7 eV. It displays an important thermal quenching from 77 to 300 K. Its intensity is related with the ‘disorder’ of the crystal lattice. At higher temperatures, in TL proper, two emission bands can be separated. One is the well-studied complex visible emission, distributed over the spectral region from UV to orange, but mostly ‘blue’. The other is the ‘infrared’ band already observed at lower temperatures, which is attributed to Fe³⁺ ions. These two bands are clearly separated, with the spectral maxima, respectively, below and above 600 nm. They have also different kinetics, the glow peaks temperatures are different. But these two different bands are also coupled in many ways, they have parallel growth and fading. With ‘disordered’ feldspars, the ‘blue’ emission displays anomalous fading, which is stronger than that of the ‘infrared’. The infrared emission is more stable, which may be interesting for the purpose of dating.     

Immunochemical detection of metabolites of parent and nitro polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urine samples from persons occupationally exposed to diesel exhaust

An immunochemical assay was developed for the detection of metabolites excreted in urine as a result of occupational exposure to PAHs and nitro-PAHs. These metabolites were analyzed in a competitive ELISA, using an existing antibody (4D5) that has been developed against 6-aminobenzo[a]pyrene coupled to bovine serum albumine (B[a]P-BSA). A solid phase extraction (SPE) work-up procedure was optimized by dilution of pooled urine samples from rats exposed to 1-NP, in human urine. The application was validated by comparison of test results with urinary excreted 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OH-P) levels in a study among 28 railroad workers. Excretion of urinary metabolites was determined over two consecutive workdays. The 24 h average excretion of metabolites as determined in the immunoassay was not related to levels of particulate matter in the breathing zones of workers, not to 1-OH-P excretion levels of the day of urine collection. However, it was significantly associated with the personal dust exposure of the day before (P<0.0001), suggesting slow excretion of urinary metabolites. Smoking habits caused minor interference (P<0.1).     

Dose response of thermoluminescence emission spectra of LiF:Mg,Ti with different Mg, Ti impurity concentrations

The dose response of the TL emission spectra of an LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) sample and three LiF:Mg,Ti samples with different impurity concentrations (0–6 ppm Ti and 80–100 ppm Mg) have been measured. At a dose less than 22 Gy the emission spectrum of the TLD-100 sample comprises one emission band at 420 nm. The sample without Ti shows also one emission band but now at 620 nm. The spectra of the other two samples comprises two emission bands at 420 nm and 620 nm of which the intensity of the 420 nm band increases with increasing Ti concentration. The dose response of the glow peaks is different for peaks at different temperatures and emission bands. From these observations it can be concluded than in LiF:Mg,Ti at least some of the traps and luminescent centers are coupled.     

Backward πd scattering between 140 and 260 MeV

Differential cross sections for elastic scattering of pions by deuterons have been measured for centre-of-mass angles between 130° and 175°, and at laboratory energies 141, 177, and 260 MeV for π⁺, and at 151, 185, and 189 MeV for π^?. At 177 and 260 MeV the cross sections are a factor of 2 lower than the predictions of three-body theories.     

Photochemical and thermal (2+2)-cycloaddition of thioxanthenethione to some aliphatic pentatetraenes

Reaction of thioxanthene-9-thione 1 with the alkyl substituted pentatetraenes 2a-g gives mixtures of the thietanes 3a-g and 4a-g. The ratio $\text{3}\text{4}$ in the thermal reaction is strongly dependent on the substituents. In the case of 2a thermal rearrangement of the product leads to a stable thiete.     

Precision measurement of the 2p-1s transition in muonic C: Search for new muon-nucleon interactions or accurate determination of the rms nuclear charge radius

The wavelength of the 2p3/2-ls1/2 transition in muonic ¹²C was measured with a crystal spectrometer as 16.473765 (88) pm. With an improved model-independent analysis we deduce an rms charge radius for ¹²C of 2.4829 (19) fm. A 2.4 standard deviation difference between our rms charge radius and that deduced from recent elastic electron-scattering experiments is tentatively attributed to a short-range additional interaction between muon and nucleons. A comparison is made with other experiments yielding information on such interactions.     

The computerized determination of double-layer capacitance with the use of kalousek-type waveforms and its application in titrimetry

A method for the rapid determination of double-layer capacitance—potential curves of electrodes is described. An on-line computer is used to apply Kalousek-type waveforms to the electrochemical cell and to measure the accompanying current response. The capacitances are determined from the slope of the plots of log current against time. For 0.1 M KCl, the computerized method agrees well with the bridge method, except for the potential range of 0 to –0.15 V. The method is very useful for automating titrations with tensammetric detection of the end-point. The method is applied to the titration of barium with a macrocydic compound (kryptofix 222) and the titration of cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium bromide with bromocresol purple. The accuracy of the titrations is ±2%.     

Titration of binary mixtures of rare earth metals based on magnetic susceptibility measurements

Gouy balance weighings are used to monitor precipitation titrations of rare earth ions with standardized oxalate solutions. A procedure is described for the analysis of binary mixtures of these compounds. The accuracy of the determinations at the millimolar level depends on the magnetic moments of the components involved but is generally better than ±4%.