First observation of the doubly charmed baryon Xi(+)(cc)

We observe a signal for the doubly charmed baryon Xi(+)(cc) in the charged decay mode Xi(+)(cc)-->Lambda(+)(c)K-pi(+) in data from SELEX, the charm hadroproduction experiment at Fermilab. We observe an excess of 15.9 events over an expected background of 6.1+/-0.5 events, a statistical significance of 6.3sigma. The observed mass of this state is 3519+/-1 MeV/c(2). The Gaussian mass width of this state is 3 MeV/c(2), consistent with resolution; its lifetime is less than 33 fs at 90% confidence.     

Further study of Saint-Venant's principle in linear viscoelasticity

Summary For a viscoelastic beam loaded at one end and otherwise traction-free, it is shown that a certain integral measure of the strain in that portion of the beam at a distance greater than or equal tos decays exponentially with increasings. This is a different integral decay estimate from that obtained previously by Edelstein [2] and leads immediately to a pointwise decay estimate for strains.

---

Zusammenfassung Für einen viskoelastischen Balken, der am einen Ende belastet ist, wird gezeigt, dass ein gewisses Integralmass der Verzerrung in Entfernungen, die grösser oder gleichs sind, mit zunehmendems exponentiell abnimmt. Es handelt sich dabei um eine andere Integral-Abschätzung, als sie früher von Edelstein [2] aufgestellt wurde. Sie führt direkt zu einer punktweisen Abschätzung für die Verzerrungen.

---

---

Submitted by R.E.N. as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616.     

Os(VIII)-catalysed oxidation of sulfides by sodium salt of N-chlorobenzenesulfonamide

Catalytic activity of Os(VIII) in the oxidation of some twenty organic sulfides with sodium salt of N-chlorobenzenesulfonamide (CAB) has been investigated in alkaline (pH8.7) t-butanol–water (1:1 v/v) medium. Significant retarding influence of [OH⁻] on the reactivity is exhibited. The catalysed reaction is strongly accelerated in the presence of Hg(II). Imperfections are observed in the linear Hammett relationship in the case of –NO₂ substituents.     

Semi-local cosmic strings and the cosmological constant problem

We study the cosmological constant problem in a three-dimensional N = 2 supergravity theory with gauge groupSU (2)_global × U(1)_local. The model we consider is known to admit string-like configurations, the so-called semi-local cosmic strings. We show that the stability of these solitonic solutions is provided by supersymmetry through the existence of a lower bound for the energy, even though the manifold of the Higgs vacuum does not contain non-contractible loops. Charged Killing spinors do exist over configurations that saturate the Bogomol'nyi bound, as a consequence of an Aharonov-Bohm-like effect. Nevertheless, there are no physical fermionic zero modes on these backgrounds. The exact vanishing of the cosmological constant does not imply, then, Bose-Fermi degeneracy. This provides a non-trivial example of the recent claim made by Witten on the vanishing of the cosmological constant in three dimensions without unphysical degeneracies.     

Raman spectroscopic investigation on the microenvironment of the liver tissues of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) due to titanium dioxide exposure

Nano titanium dioxide (nTiO₂), generally considered to be toxicologically inert, is manufactured in large quantities and extensively applied in consumer products. The small size and large surface area endow them with an active group or intrinsic toxicity. Advances in instrumentation are making Raman spectroscopy the tool of choice for an increasing number of (bio) chemical applications. One of the great advantages of this technique is its ability to provide information on the concentration, structure and interaction of biochemical molecules in their microenvironments within intact cells and tissues, non-destructively. Zebrafish (Danio rerio), one of the most important vertebrate model organisms used in developmental biology, are increasingly used in biomedical research, particularly as a model of human disease. In the present work, an attempt is made to study the effect of titanium dioxide, both nano and bulk, on the microenvironment of the liver tissues of Zebrafish using FT-Raman spectroscopy. The results of the present study suggest that TiO₂ exposure demonstrate a marked influence on the microenvironments of the liver tissues of Zebrafish. A shift to a higher wavenumber and an increase in the intensity of the band at ∼1087 cm⁻¹ in the TiO₂ exposed tissues suggest that some of the conformational changes resulting from the alkali recovery process takes place due to TiO₂ exposure. The decreased intensity ratio (I₃₂₂₀/I₃₄₀₀) observed in the titanium-exposed tissues suggests a decreased water domain size, which could be interpreted in terms of weaker hydrogen-bonded molecular species of water in the TiO₂ exposed tissues. The observed shift of COO⁻ bands to higher frequencies shows the disruption of salt bridges as a result of a change in the oppositely charged partners and due to the enhanced random coil conformation. The variation in the intensity ratio of the tyrosyl doublet (I₈₅₈/I₈₂₅) indicates variation in the hydrogen bonding of the phenolic hydroxyl group due to TiO₂ exposure. The results further suggest that the microenvironments are greatly altered due to titanium nano exposure when compared to titanium bulk. In conclusion, the results indicate that FT-Raman spectroscopy might be a useful tool for rapid assessment of nano particle biological interactions.     

Correlation between the superconducting and normal state properties of amorphous molybdenum - silicon alloys

Measurements on amorphous Mo_1?xSi_x (0.27 ≤ × ≤ 0.77) show that with increasing x the superconducting transition temperature, T_c, decreases linearly with x for x ≤ x₀ ≡ 0.63 ± 0.05. The superconducting transition width and normal state resistivity increase rapidly with increasing x as x approaches x₀. For x > x₀, T_c drops below 1.5K. Transmission electron diffraction measurements (0.65 ≤ × ≤ 0.75) detect the presence of a second amorphous phase which resembles a-Si only for samples with x ? 0.75. The behavior near x₀ could be attributed to the onset of an electronic transition involving the conversion of metallically bonded Si to covalently bonded Si.     

On uniqueness of solutions for nonlinear creep problems in symmetric pressure vessels

Uniqueness is established for positive solutions of a nonlinear integral equation which governs the effective stress in internally loaded spherical and incompressible cylindrical pressure vessels subject to primary or secondary transient creep.