Generating unexpected spin echoes in dipolar solids with pi pulses

NMR spin echo measurements of 13C in C60, 89Y in Y2O3, and 29Si in silicon are shown to defy conventional expectations when more than one pi pulse is used. Multiple pi-pulse echo trains may either freeze out or accelerate the decay of the signal, depending on the pi-pulse phase. Average Hamiltonian theory, combined with exact quantum calculations, reveals an intrinsic cause for these coherent phenomena: the dipolar coupling has a many-body effect during any real, finite pulse.     

Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance microscopy of mineralization

Paramagnetic manganese (II) can be employed as a calcium surrogate to sensitize magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) to the processing of calcium during bone formation. At high doses, osteoblasts can take up sufficient quantities of manganese, resulting in marked changes in water proton T(1), T(2) and magnetization transfer ratio values compared to those for untreated cells. Accordingly, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) results confirm that the manganese content of treated cell pellets was 10-fold higher than that for untreated cell pellets. To establish that manganese is processed like calcium and deposited as bone, calvaria from the skull of embryonic chicks were grown in culture medium supplemented with 1 mM MnCl(2) and 3 mM CaCl(2). A banding pattern of high and low T(2) values, consistent with mineral deposits with high and low levels of manganese, was observed radiating from the calvarial ridge. The results of ICP-MS studies confirm that manganese-treated calvaria take up increasing amounts of manganese with time in culture. Finally, elemental mapping studies with electron probe microanalysis confirmed local variations in the manganese content of bone newly deposited on the calvarial surface. This is the first reported use of manganese-enhanced MRM to study the process whereby calcium is taken up by osteoblasts cells and deposited as bone.     

The products of the reaction of the hydroxyl radical with 2-ethoxyethyl acetate

The gas-phase reaction products of the OH radical with 2-ethoxyethyl acetate (EEA, CH₃C(O)OCH₂CH₂OCH₂CH₃) have been investigated. 1,2-Ethanediol acetate formate (EAF, CH₃C(O)OCH₂CH₂OC(O)H) and ethyl formate (EF, HC(O)OCH₂CH₃) were identified as the two main products. A third product, ethylene glycol diacetate (EGD, CH₃C(O)OCH₂CH₂OC(O)CH₃), was also observed. EAF, EF, and EGD formation yields were determined to be 0.37 ± 0.03 and 0.328 ± 0.018 and 0.040 ± 0.005, respectively. Proposed reaction mechanisms are discussed and compared with these data. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Photoluminescent carbon nitride films grown by vapor transport of carbon nitride powders

The thermal vapor transport of nitrogen-rich carbon nitride powders produces carbon nitride films on substrates that retain significant nitrogen content, have conjugated bond character, and show blue photoluminescent emission near 450 nm.     

Amphipols can support the activity of a membrane enzyme

Amphipathic polymers ("amphipols") were introduced several years ago (Tribet, C.; Audebert, R.; Popot, J.-L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1996, 93, 15047-15050) as an alternative method for solubilizing integral membrane proteins in stable, nativelike conformations. However, direct maintenance of full membrane protein functionality in amphipol solutions has not previously been demonstrated in the absence of added lipid or detergent. In this contribution, the first zwitterionic amphipol "PMAL-B-100" is introduced. PMAL-B-100 not only maintains membrane protein structure and solubility, but also supports the full catalytic activity of an integral membrane enzyme, diacylglycerol kinase, in the complete absence of additional lipid or detergent. All of the roles which a lipid bilayer normally plays in maintaining diacylglycerol kinase's structure and in facilitating catalysis are satisfied by the environment and interactions supplied by PMAL-B-100.     

The Boolean algebra of the theory of linear orders

We characterize the isomorphism type of the Boolean algebra of sentences of the theory of linear orders. It is isomorphic to the sentence algebras of the theory of equivalence relations, the theory of permutations and the theory of well-orderings. This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under research grant MCS 76-07249.     

Phase transitions in lattice gas models for water

Water-like lattice gases on the triangular and body-centered cubic lattices are investigated. Molecules may reside on the lattice sites in either of two possible orientations, a hydrogen bond being formed between molecules on neighboring sites if they have the proper orientation with respect to one another. For a range of chemical potential at sufficiently low temperatures, the models are shown to have an ordered phase consisting of an open, hydrogen-bonded, icelike structure. The models are shown to be transitionfree at sufficiently high temperature, indicating the existence of a critical point.Research supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Grant CHE-7726177, and by The Robert A. Welch Foundation, Grant P-446.