Structure d'un oxyde double de rhénium à charpente de type KSbO3 cubique: SrxReO3(0,4 ⩽ X ⩽ 0,5)

The compound Sr_xReO₃(0,4 ? X ? 0,5) has been prepared under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions (50 kbar, 900°C). Its structure (cubic KSbO₃ type, a = 9.192Å, space group Im3) was solved using conventional methods from 819 unique reflections collected on an automatic four-circle diffractometer. The framework formed by ReO₆ octahedra pairs definites, along (111) axis, tunnels occupied by Sr²⁺ ions. These strontium atoms are randomly distributed (occupancy factor = 0.30) on the 16f positions of the Im3 space group.     

Application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization to on-line aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectra were obtained from single biological aerosol particles using an aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ATOFMS). The inlet to the ATOFMS was coupled with an evaporation/condensation flow cell that allowed the aerosol to be coated with matrix material as the sampled stream entered the spectrometer. Mass spectra were generated from aerosol composed either of gramicidin-S or erythromycin, two small biological molecules, or from aerosolised spores of Bacillus subtilis var niger. Three different matrices were used: 3-nitrobenzyl alcohol, picolinic acid and sinapinic acid. A spectrum of gramicidin-S was generated from approximately 250 attomoles of material using a molar ratio of 3-nitrobenzyl alcohol to analyte of approximately 20:1. A single peak, located at 1224 Da, was obtained from the bacterial spores. The washing liquid and extract solution from the spores were analyzed using electrospray mass spectrometry and subsequent MS/MS product ion experiments. This independent analysis suggests that the measured species represents part of the B. subtilis peptidoglycan. The on-line addition of matrix allows quasi-real-time chemical analysis of individual, aerodynamically sized particles, with an overall system residence time of less than 5 seconds. These results suggest that a MALDI-ATOFMS can provide nearly real-time identification of biological aerosols. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New defect vanadium dioxide phases

Two new monoclinic V₂O₄ phases were prepared at high pressure from the regular monoclinic (M₁) form of V₂O₄. The unit cell dimensions for the unmodified monoclinic (M₂) phase are: a = 9.083, b = 5.763, c = 4.532 Å, and β = 91.30°. The space group $\text{C 2}\text{m}$ is consistent with the crystallographic data. The new vanadium dioxide exhibited a structural transition and an abrupt, reversible change in resistivity (approx. 4 orders of magnitude) at 66°C similar to that observed in M₁-type V₂O₄. This new form of V₂O₄ is believed to be stabilized by chemical and structural defects. Controlled substitution of V⁵⁺ for V⁴⁺ in the structure led to yet another monoclinic (M₃) phase. This phase is closely related to the M₂ phase. The M₃ unit cell dimensions are: a = 4.506, b = 2.899, c = 4.617 Å, and β = 91.79°, having the space group $\text{P 2}\text{m}$. The substitution of V³⁺ yielded only monoclinic (M₁) derivatives. The modified products have varied semiconductor to metal transition temperatures which depend on the type and amount of substitution and defect structure.     

Convex domains with stationary hot spots

Consider the problem of heat flow in a convex domain in ℝⁿ with Dirichlet boundary condition and constant initial temperature. We show that the solution has a fixed hot spot if the domain is invariant under the action of an essential symmetry group. © 1997 by B. G. Teubner Stuttgart–John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Cytochemical labeling for fungal and host components in plant tissues inoculated with fungal wilt pathogens.

Antibodies to detect pectin in present investigations attached to distinct fibrils in vessel lumina. In carnation infected with an isolate of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp., labeling of pathogen cells also occurred; in a resistant cultivar (cv.), it was coincident with proximate pectin fibrils and linked to altered fungal walls, which was the opposite in the susceptible cv., indicating that hindrance of pathogen ability to degrade pectin may be related to resistance. Labeling of the fungus in culture was nil, except in media containing pectin, showing that pectin is not native to the pathogen. Labeling of fungal walls for cellulose in elm (inoculated with Ophiostoma novo-ulmi) and carnation also occurred, linked to adsorbed host wall components. The chitin probe often attached to dispersed matter, in vessel lumina, traceable to irregularly labeled fungal cells and host wall degradation products. With an anti-horseradish peroxidase probe, host and fungal walls were equally labeled, and with a glucosidase, differences of labeling between these walls were observed, depending on pH of the test solution. Fungal extracellular matter and filamentous structures, present in fungal walls, predominantly in another elm isolate (Phaeotheca dimorphospora), did not label with any of the probes used. However, in cultures of this fungus, extracellular material labeled, even at a distance from the colony margin, with an anti-fimbriae probe.     

The preparation and characterization of CdIr(OH)6 and ZnIr(OH)6

CdIr(OH)₆ and ZnIr(OH)₆ were isolated and characterized in the process of synthesizing new ternary oxides of the platinum-group metals by means of thermal decomposition of hydroxide intermediates. Both compounds crystallize with an ordered ReO₃-type structure. CdIr(OH)₆ is tetragonal with a = 7.86 Å and c = 7.91 Å. It is a magnetically dilute insulator. ZnIr(OH)₆ is cubic with a = 7.64 Å. It is an insulator with anomalous magnetic behavior. The cadmium and zinc iridium hexahydroxides decompose at 180 and 170°C, respectively.     

The preparation and characterization of CdVO3 prepared at ambient and high pressure

The solid state reaction of VO₂ and CdO yielded a phase of unknown structure, which transforms to CdVO₃(I) after treatment under 60–65 kbar pressure at 1200°C. The high-pressure product was characterized by crystallographic, electrical and magnetic properties. CdVO₃(I) is an orthorhombic perovskite-type compound and a metallic conductor, exhibiting Pauli paramagnetic behavior. In contrast, the ambient pressure phase displays Curie-Weiss magnetic behavior above 77°K.     

Stereochemical elucidation and total synthesis of dihydropacidamycin D, a semisynthetic pacidamycin.

Hydrogenation of the C(4') exocyclic olefin of the pacidamycins has been shown to produce a series of semisynthetic compounds, the dihydropacidamycins, with antimicrobial activity similar to that of the natural products. Elucidation of stereochemistry in the pacidamycins has been completed through a campaign of natural product degradation experiments in combination with the total synthesis of the lowest-molecular weight dihydropacidamycin, dihydropacidamycin D. The stereochemical identities of the tryptophan and two alanine residues contained in pacidamycin D have been shown to be of the natural (S) configuration, and the unique 3-methylamino-2-aminobutyric acid contained in this series of antibiotics has been shown to be of the (2S,3S) configuration. Finally, the stereochemistry obtained by hydrogenation of the C(4')-C(5') exocyclic olefin has been shown to be (R) at the C(4') nucleoside site.     

Contours of Liapunov functions

As is well known, the stability of a dynamical system in two dimensions may be demonstrated in a very intuitive fashion from the existence of a suitable positive-definite Liapunov function, providing the contours of this function in a neighborhood of the stable point are Jordan curves. It is shown that the Liapunov function will certainly have this property if the stable point is an isolated stationary point in the sense of the Clarke calculus, but a counterexample is given if this assumption is weakened to the stable point being an isolated local extremum.This work was carried out with the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, which is gratefully acknowledged.