Studies of pyrolysis and air heating of rayon by inverse gas chromatography

Inverse gas chromatography using water probing at 110°C was carried out to characterize rayon yarns after prior heating at 200 and 250°C in both inert (nitrogen) and oxidative (dry air) atmospheres for successively longer time intervals. During the early stages of heating in either atmosphere, the affinity of the rayon for water drops rapidly. However, whereas continued heating in N₂ results in a further loss of activity, data have been obtained showing that after an initial period yarns heated in air at 250°C exhibit an increasing attraction for water even while losing more weight.     

Neutron activation analysis for trace elements in foods

Food samples reflecting average food consumption by an adult in the southeastern, northeastern, central, and western parts of the United States were collected and prepared as if for consumption. The prepared foods were divided into twelve different food categories and analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The concentration of Ca, Mn, Mg, Al, Na, K, Cu, Cl, Sb, Hg, Se, Fe, Zn and Co is reported for these food samples.     

Existence of the Møller wave operators for V(r)=γ sin(μrα)rβ

We prove the existence of the Møller wave operators and the unitarity of the S operator for quantum mechanical potential scattering by potentials of the form

This includes the Special case $\text{V(r) =}\text{sin}\text{(r)}\text{r}$.     

The mechanism of proton transfer between adjacent sites exposed to water

The surface of a protein, or a membrane, is spotted with a multitude of proton-binding sites, some of which are only a few angstroms apart. When a proton is released from one site, it propagates through the water by a random walk under the bias of the local electrostatic potential determined by the distribution of the charges on the protein. Some of the released protons disperse into the bulk, but during the first few nanoseconds, the released protons can be trapped by encounter with nearby acceptor sites. This process resembles a scenario which corresponds with the time-dependent Debye-Smoluchowski equation. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of proton transfer between sites that are only a few angstroms apart, using as a model the proton exchange between sites on a small molecule, fluorescein, having two, spectrally distinguishable, proton-binding sites. The first site is the oxyanion on the chromophore ring structure. The second site is the carboxylate moiety on the benzene ring of the molecule. Through our experiments, we were able to reconstruct the state of protonation at each site and the velocity of proton transfer between them. The fluorescein was protonated by a few nanosecond long proton pulse under specific conditions that ensured that the dye molecules would be protonated only by a single proton. The dynamics of the protonation of the chromophore were measured under varying initial conditions (temperature, ionic strength, and different solvents (H(2)O or D(2)O)), and the velocity of the proton transfer between the two sites was extracted from the overall global analysis of the signals. The dynamics of the proton transfer between the two proton-binding sites of the fluorescein indicated that the efficiency of the site-to-site proton transfer is very sensitive to the presence of the screening electrolyte and has a very high kinetic isotope effect (KIE = 55). These two parameters clearly distinguish the mechanism from proton diffusion in bulk water. The activation energy of the reaction (E(a) = 11 kcal mol(-1)) is also significantly higher than the activation energy for proton dissociation in bulk water (E(a) approximately 2.5 kcal mol(-1)). These observations are discussed with respect to the effect of the solute on the water molecules located within the solvation layer.     

A spin-statistics theorem for composites containing both electric and magnetic charges

The present paper states and proves an asymptotic spin-statistics theorem for composites consisting of electrically and magnetically charged particles. We work in the framework of a nonrelativistic theory, taking as the classical configuration space aU(1) bundle over the space of physical configurations, and as the quantum hilbert space the homogeneous square integrable functions on that bundle. The theorems are proved using a formalism we develop here for treating gauge spaces —U(1) bundles with connections; in particular, two products related to tensor products of vector bundles prove to be extremely useful in displaying the structure of the gauge spaces that naturally arise in this theory.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant number PHY 77-07111Supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant number PHY 78-24275     

Br2 in an ar matrix: an example of complete damping of the resonance raman scattering amplitude in the discrete resonance limit

Raman scattering and relaxed fluorescence is observed upon cw laser excitation resonant with the lower vibrational manifold of the X(¹Σ_o+u) → B(³Π_o+u) transition of matrix isolated Br₂ at liquid He temperatures. The excitation profile of the relaxed fluorescence maps out the resonances, but neither detectable enhancement of Raman scattering nor resonance fluorescence is observed.     

ISOMER COMPOSITION and SPECTRA OF THE DARK and LIGHT ADAPTED FORMS OF ARTIFICIAL BACTERIORHODOPSINS*

Abstract– The isomer composition and spectral properties of 15 artificial bacteriorhodopsin (bR) pigments, based on a series of retinal analogs with polyene residue modified below C₉ are determined for both dark-adapted (DA) and light-adapted (LA) forms. Similarly to native bR, in all cases only two isomers, C₁₃=C₁₄cis (13-cis) and M-trans, are observed. However, the artificial DA pigments have a lower 13-d.s content than native DA bR (? 66%) while the corresponding LA pigments have a much higher 13-cis content (11-69%) than native LA bR (<2%). Thus, in variance with the native pigment, in all of the artificial systems light also induced the reversed all-trans13-cis process. The data are accounted for in terms of specific steric interactions between the polyene and the protein binding site which allow a (C₁₅-anti)(C_ls-syn) isomerization during the photocycle of the artificial pigments, but not in the case of native bR. This accounts for the high proton pumping efficiency of the natural pigment. The nature of a highly red shifted light-adapted form of two of the artificial pigments is investigated and discussed. It is also shown that, in variance with native bR, several artificial pigments exhibit identical absorption spectra for their 13-cis and all-trans isomers. It is concluded that the spectral data for the above species of artificial pigments do not lead to a clear molecular model for the origin of the spectral shift between 13-cis and all-trans bR.     

The back photoreaction of the M intermediate in the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin: mechanism and evidence for two M species

The back photoreaction of the M intermediate in the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin is investigated both for the native pigment and its D96N mutant. The experimental setup is based on creating the M intermediate by a first pulse, followed by a (blue) laser pulse which drives the back photoreaction of M. Experiments are carried out varying the delay between the two pulses, as well as the temperature over the -25 degrees C-20 degrees C range. It is found that the kinetic patterns of the M back photoreaction change with time after the generation of this intermediate. The data provide independent evidence for the suggestion of a photocycle mechanism based on two distinct M intermediates. They are thus in keeping with the consecutive model of Varo and Lanyi (Biochemistry 30, 5016-5022; 1991), although they cannot exclude other models such as those based on branched or parallel cycles. More generally, we offer a "photochemical" approach to discriminating between intermediate stages in the photocycle which does not depend on spectroscopic and/or kinetic data. While markedly affecting the rate of the M --> N transition in the photocycle, the rate of the thermal step in back photoreaction of M, at both room and low temperatures, is not significantly affected by the D96N mutation. It is proposed that while Asp 96 is the Schiff-base protonating moiety in the M --> N transition, another residue (most probably Asp 85) reprotonates the Schiff base following light absorption by M.