High spin spectroscopy of 139Pr

The high spin states in N=80 ¹³⁹Pr have been investigated by in-beam γ-spectroscopic techniques following the reaction ¹³⁰Te (¹⁴N, 5n) reaction at E=75 MeV, using a gamma detector array, consisting of seven 23% compton-suppressed high purity germanium detectors and a multiplicity ball of fourteen bismuth germanate elements. Based on γ-γ coincidence data, the level scheme of ¹³⁹Pr has been considerably extended up to 7.2 MeV excitation. Tentative spin-parity assignments are done for the newly proposed levels on the basis of the DCO ratios corresponding to strong gates and the available information from the earlier light ion experiments.     

On the Number of Invariants in the Strain Energy Density of an Anisotropic Nonlinear Elastic Material with Two Material Symmetry Directions

We determine the minimum number of independent invariants that are needed to characterize completely the strain energy density of a compressible hyperelastic solid having two distinct material symmetry directions. We use a theory of representation of isotropic functions to express this energy density in terms of eighteen invariants, from which we extract ten invariants to analyze two cases of material symmetry. In the case of orthogonal directions, we recover the classical result of seven invariants and offer a justification for the choice of invariants found in the literature. If the directions are not orthogonal, we find that the minimum number is also seven and correct a mistake in a formula found in the literature. An energy density of this type is used to model, on the macroscopic scale, engineering materials, such as fiber-reinforced composites, and biological tissues, such as bones.     

Semileptonic (Λ b → Λcev) decay in a field theoretic quark model

The semileptonic decay width of heavy baryons such as (Λ _b → Λcev) has been estimated in the framework of a nonrelativistic field theoretic quark model where four component quark field operators along with a harmonic oscillator wave function are used to describe translationally invariant hadronic states. The present estimation does not make an explicit use of heavy quark symmetry and has a reasonable agreement with the experimentally measured decay width, polarisation ratio and form factors with the harmonic oscillator radii and quark momentum distribution inside the hadron as free parameters.     

A catalytic deracemisation of alcohols

Racemic alcohols have been converted into enantiomerically enriched alcohols with up to 99% ee in a one-pot oxidation/reduction procedure.     

Crystal structure and magnetic properties of Ba-ordered manganites Ln0.70Ba0.30MnO3−δ (Ln = Pr, Nd)

The structure and magnetic properties of the Ba-ordered state in solid solutions of manganites Ln_0.70Ba_0.30MnO_3?δ (Ln = Pr, Nd) with a cation ratio Ln³⁺/Ba²⁺ ? 1 are studied experimentally. The samples are obtained by two-stage synthesis. The initial stoichiometric Ba-disordered solid solutions Ln_0.70Ba_0.30MnO₃ synthesized in air according to traditional ceramic technology are characterized by the orthorhombic (Imma, Z = 4) perovskite-like unit cell and are ferromagnets with Curie temperatures T _C ≈ 173 and ≈ 143 K for Pr and Nd, respectively. The average size <D> of a crystalline in the initial samples is 5 μm. It is found that annealing of the initial samples in a vacuum of P[O₂] = 10^?4 Pa leads to their separation into three phases: (1) the anion-deficient ordered LnBaMn₂O₅ phase described by a tetragonal (P4/mmm, Z = 2) perovskite-like unit cell, as well as the phases (2) Ln₂O₃ (P $\bar 3$ m1, Z = 1) and (3) MnO (Fm $\bar 3$ m, Z = 2). Reduction leads to the formation of a nanocomposite with an average crystallite size <D> = 100 nm. Anion-deficient Ba-ordered phases of LnBaMn₂O₅ exhibit ferrimagnetic properties with Néel temperatures T _N ≈ 113 and ≈123 K for Pr and Nd, respectively. Annealing of anion-deficient samples in air at a moderate temperature of T = 800°C does not change the average size of the nanocrystallite, but noticeably alters their phase composition. Stoichiometric nanocomposites consist of two perovskite-like phases: (1) the Ba-deficient ordered stoichiometric phase LnBaMn₂O₆, which is described by a tetragonal (P4/mmm, Z = 2) unit cell and has the Curie temperatures T _C ≈ 313 (Pr) and ≈303 K (Nd), and (2) the Ba-disordered superstoichiometric phase Ln_0.90Ba_0.10MnO_3+δ, which is described by an orthorhombic (Imma, Z = 4) unit cell and has Curie temperatures T _C ≈ 138 (Pr) and ≈123 K (Nd). The two magnetic phases of the Ba-ordered nanocomposite are exchange-coupled. For the low-temperature magnetic phase, a temperature hysteresis is observed at ΔT ≈ 22 K in a field of 10 Oe and at ΔT ≈ 5 K in a field of 1 kOe. It is shown that states with different degrees of ordering of cations in the A sublattice can be obtained employing different technological conditions of treatment. The significant changes in the magnetic properties of Ba-ordered nanocomposites are explained on the basis of chemical phase separation taking into account the effect of compression, which is a consequence of the action of chemical (cation ordering) and external (surface tension) pressures.     

Polarization of prompt muons produced at large transverse momenta

We measured the longitudinal and transverse polarization of prompt muons produced at ～2 GeV/c transverse momentum by the interaction of 28.5 GeV protons on tungsten. Both components of the polarization were found to be consistent with zero: P_L = ?0.15 ± 0.18 and P_T = 0.05 ± 0.05.     

INHIBITION OF TRANSIENT GENE EXPRESSION IN CHINESE, HAMSTER OVARY CELLS BY TRIPLET-SENSITIZED UV-B IRRADIATION OF TRANSFECTED DNA

The biological effectiveness of thymine-thymine cyclobutane dimers specifically induced by photosensitized ultraviolet-B irradiation was analyzed by host-cell reactivation of triplet-sensitized, UV-B irradiated plasmid pRSV beta gal DNA transfected into normal and repair-deficient Chinese hamster ovary cells. For comparison, pRSV beta gal DNA was also UV-C irradiated and transfected into the same cell lines. Ultraviolet endonuclease-sensitive site induction was determined after UV-C irradiation or acetophenone-sensitized UV-B irradiation of plasmid pRSV beta gal DNA. These data were used to calculate the number of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers required to inactivate expression of the lacZ reporter gene in each irradiation condition. Transfection with UV-C-irradiated plasmid DNA resulted in a significantly greater reduction of reporter gene expression than did transfection with acetophenone-sensitized UV-B-irradiated pRSV beta gal DNA at equivalent induction of enzyme-sensitive sites. Since only a fraction of the inhibition could be accounted for by noncyclobutane dimer photoproducts, these results suggest that cytosine-containing pyrimidine cyclobutane dimers may be more effective than thymine-thymine dimers in inhibiting transient gene expression as measured in such host-cell reactivation experiments in mammalian cells.     

Relativistic nonlinearity and wave-guide propagation of rippled laser beam in plasma

In the present paper we have investigated the self-focusing behaviour of radially symmetrical rippled Gaussian laser beam propagating in a plasma. Considering the nonlinearity to arise from relativistic phenomena and following the approach of Akhmanov et al, which is based on the WKB and paraxial-ray approximation, the self-focusing behaviour has been investigated in some detail. The effect of the position and width of the ripple on the self-focusing of laser beam has been studied for arbitrary large magnitude of nonlinearity. Results indicate that the medium behaves as an oscillatory wave-guide. The self-focusing is found to depend on the position parameter of ripple as well as on the beam width. Values of critical power has been calculated for different values of the position parameter of ripple. Effects of axially and radially inhomogeneous plasma on self-focusing behaviour have been investigated and presented here.