Dosimetric concepts in photobiology

Abstract —The effectiveness of an irradiation at non-ionizing wavelengths for producing photochemical changes in a transparent sample can be characterized by any one of four different quantities. The utility of each depends on the information available about the sample and the kind of analysis intended. Nomenclature for these quantities is troubled. All four have been called “dose” in the literature, with or without modifying adjectives. In addition, incompatibility between the terminology for ionizing and non-ionizing radiations leaves the concept of “dose” ambiguous in the vacuum ultraviolet. Rather than abandon the term altogether, nomenclature restricting its use is suggested here, together with measurement units and symbols for the quantities. The use of dosimetric quantities implies certain assumptions about the system being irradiated which are not always fulfilled.     

Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure study of disordering in Gd2(Ti1-yZry)2O7 pyrochlores

Disorder in Gd2(Ti(1-y)Zry)2O7 pyrochlores, for y = 0.0-1.0, is investigated by Ti 2p and O 1s near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Ti(4+) ions are found to occupy octahedral sites in Gd2Ti2O7 with a tetragonal distortion induced by vacant oxygen sites. As Zr substitutes for Ti, the tetragonal distortion decreases, and Zr coordination increases from 6 to 8. The migration of oxygen ions from 48f or 8b sites to vacant 8a sites compensate for the increased Zr coordination, thereby reducing the number of vacant 8a sites, which further reduces the tetragonal distortion and introduces more disorder around Ti. This is evidence for simultaneous cation disorder with anion migration.     

Preparation and Structure of Rhenium Fluoride Trioxide ReO3F,and the Polymorphism of Rhenium Trifluoride Dioxide,ReO2F3

The methods of preparation of ReO₃F are revised. ReO₃F is an amorphous yellow solid that crystallizes into colorless needles after prolonged heating. Its structure is that of a fluorine and oxygen bridged chain with hexa coordinated rhenium atoms (a = 670.9(2), b = 596.6(2), c = 1030.6(4) pm, β = 90.057(7)°, space group P2/c. In presence of donor solvents ReO₃F·2L (L = (C₂H₅)₂O, (CH₃)₂O, THF) are formed. ReO₂F₃, if crystallized from HF, exists in two crystalline forms, both are fluorine bridged chain polymers. (ReO₂F₃‐I: a = 1539.7(3), b = 999.6(3), c = 924.4(2) pm, β = 95.25(1)°, space group P2₁/c; ReO₂F₃‐II: a = 544.9(1), b = 494.2(1), c = 1253.7(2) pm, β = 98.543(7)°, space group P2₁/c. ReO₂F₃ crystallizes from CFCl₃ or SO₂FCl as fluorine bridged cyclic trimer (a = 881.4(4), c = 822.1(6) pm, γ = 120°, space group P6₃/m, or fluorine bridged cyclic tetramer (a = 1107.8(2), b = 999.4(2), c = 1347.9(3) pm, space group Cmca).     

Raman spectroscopic investigations of natural jennite from Maroldsweisach,Bavaria, Germany

A full‐range pattern (100–3700 cm⁻¹) analysis of natural jennite was performed for the first time by Raman spectroscopy, applying a polarized laser at a wavelength of 532 nm. A prominent structural feature of jennite is the preferred orientation of Si‐tetrahedron and Ca‐octahedron chains parallel [010]. The latter ones are additionally coupled to H₂O molecules and OH groups. This arrangement leads to a strong dependence on orientation for the intensity ratios of mainly three different regions in the Raman spectra: 180–210, 950–1050 and 3100–3650 cm⁻¹. These sections can be assigned to Ca–O lattice vibrations, Q² Si–tetrahedron stretching and O–H vibrations of H₂O molecules and Ca–OH structures, respectively. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palladium-mediated fragmentation reactions of meta photocycloadducts to afford arylated or oxidatively cyclised products

Whilst seeking to improve the yield of a Heck-style arylation/fragmentation reaction using a silyloxy substituted meta photocycloadduct, an alternative reaction pathway was discovered that led to the formation of the unique oxidatively cyclised compound 8. This tricyclic ether is believed to form as the result of the meta photocycloadduct structure fragmenting to give a π-allyl palladium species and then subsequently being displaced by a neighbouring hydroxyl group. An attempt to develop an enantioselective version of this reaction via the desymmetrisation of a meso π-allyl palladium intermediate was made using the meta photocycloadduct derived from anisole and Z-but-2-ene-1,4-diol, however no enantioenrichment of the products could be detected.     

An in situ Al K-edge XAS investigation of the local environment of H+- and Cu+-exchanged USY and ZSM-5 zeolites

Aluminum coordination in the framework of USY and ZSM-5 zeolites containing charge-compensating cations (NH4+, H+, or Cu+) was investigated by Al K-edge EXAFS and XANES. This work was performed using a newly developed in-situ cell designed especially for acquiring soft X-ray absorption data. Both tetrahedrally and octahedrally coordinated Al were observed for hydrated H-USY and H-ZSM-5, in good agreement with 27Al NMR analyses. Upon dehydration, water desorbed from the zeolite, and octahedrally coordinated Al was converted progressively to tetrahedrally coordinated Al. These observations confirmed the hypothesis that the interaction of water with Br?nsted acid protons can lead to octahedral coordination of Al without loss of Al from the zeolite lattice. When H+ is replaced with NH4+ or Cu+, charge compensating species that absorb less water, less octahedrally coordinated Al was observed. Analysis of Al K-edge EXAFS data indicates that the Al-O bond distance for tetrahedrally coordinated Al in dehydrated USY and ZSM-5 is 1.67 angstroms. Simulation of k3chi(k) for Cu+ exchanged ZSM-5 leads to an estimated distance between Cu+ and framework Al atoms of 2.79 angstroms.     

Unraveling the timescale of the structural photo-response within oriented metal–organic framework films

Fundamental knowledge on the intrinsic timescale of structural transformations in photo-switchable metal–organic framework films is crucial to tune their switching performance and to facilitate their applicability as stimuli-responsive materials. In this work, for the first time, an integrated approach to study and quantify the temporal evolution of structural transformations is demonstrated on an epitaxially oriented DMOF-1-on-MOF film system comprising azobenzene in the DMOF-1 pores (DMOF-1/AB). We employed time-resolved Grazing Incidence Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering measurements to track the structural response of the DMOF-1/AB film upon altering the length of the azobenzene molecule by photo-isomerization (trans-to-cis, 343 nm; cis-to-trans, 450 nm). Within seconds, the DMOF-1/AB response occurred fully reversible and over several switching cycles by cooperative photo-switching of the oriented DMOF-1/AB crystallites as confirmed further by infrared measurements. Our work thereby suggests a new avenue to elucidate the timescales and photo-switching characteristics in structurally responsive MOF film systems.

By using a structurally responsive and oriented DMOF-1-on-MOF film, we successfully fabricated the first photo-switchable crystalline MOF film that experiences crystal lattice deformations reversibly within seconds.     

On the spectrum of tridiagonal operators and the support of orthogonalization measures

We investigate the support of the orthogonalization measure π of a large class of orthogonal polynomial sequences based on the parameters of the three-term recurrence relation. Our main result is the characterization when the possible right end-point 1 is a member of supp π.     

Symmetry of Bipolaron Bound States for Small Coulomb Repulsion

We consider the bipolaron in the Pekar–Tomasevich approximation and address the question whether the ground state is spherically symmetric or not. Numerical analysis has, so far, not completely settled the question. Our contribution is to prove rigorously that the ground state remains spherical for small values of the electron-electron Coulomb repulsion.     

Adsorption of plasmid DNA on ceramic hydroxyapatite chromatographic materials

The adsorption of plasmid DNA onto two different types of ceramic hydroxyapatite beads with a particle diameter of 20 μm, namely Ceramic Hydroxyapatite Type II and the Type III, which is not commercially available, were investigated. Type II and the Type III have a pore diameter of 80 and 240 nm, respectively. Equilibrium and dynamic binding capacity for a 4.9 kbp model plasmid on Ceramic Hydroxyapatite Type II and Type III were enhanced by addition of NaCl to the adsorption buffer. This result indicates that the adsorption mechanism cannot be solely explained by electrostatic interaction. The affinities of plasmid DNA for Ceramic Hydroxyapatite Type II (with a K(D) of ≈0.005 mg/mL) and to Hydroxyapatite Type III (with a K(D) of ≈0.045 mg/mL) were not affected by NaCl, whereas the binding capacity was. This observation corroborates the assumption that a change of the shape of the plasmid molecule is affected and could be the reason for increased binding capacity with salt. The maximal binding capacity shows that at least a part of the CHT II bead must be accessible for the plasmid, whereas CHT III can be saturated with the plasmid. In both cases, an extremely hindered transport takes place.