Condensation of zinc vapor in a supersonic carrier gas

A study of the condensation of a metal vapor in an inert carrier gas is made. Superheated zinc vapor is generated in a hot shot wind tunnel in a helium carrier gas and expanded in a converging-diverging nozzle. Static pressure measurements along the length of the nozzle are made to determine the location of the onset of condensation. A conical nominal Mach 5 (helium) nozzle is employed. The amount of supercooling before the onset of condensation is found to be approximately 430 K, measured along the isentrope over a range of initial zinc mass fractions of .35 to .70 for saturation partial pressures of zinc between 10 psia and 70 psia. The measurements are compared with results of an analysis based on the classical liquid drop model of nucleation. The computed results agree reasonably well with the measurements.     

Geometrically nonlinear continuum thermomechanics with surface energies coupled to diffusion

Surfaces can have a significant influence on the overall response of a continuum body but are often neglected or accounted for in an ad hoc manner. This work is concerned with a nonlinear continuum thermomechanics formulation which accounts for surface structures and includes the effects of diffusion and viscoelasticity. The formulation is presented within a thermodynamically consistent framework and elucidates the nature of the coupling between the various fields, and the surface and the bulk. Conservation principles are used to determine the form of the constitutive relations and the evolution equations. Restrictions on the jump in the temperature and the chemical potential between the surface and the bulk are not a priori assumptions, rather they arise from the reduced dissipation inequality on the surface and are shown to be satisfiable without imposing the standard assumptions of thermal and chemical slavery. The nature of the constitutive relations is made clear via an example wherein the form of the Helmholtz energy is explicitly given.     

Optically Anomalous Crystals

The optical symmetry of many crystals is lower than would be expected from their external form and X-ray diffraction data. Recently such optical anomalies have been attributed to nonequilibrium structures resulting from kinetically controlled crystal growth. Impurities are incorporated to different extents at various surface sites that would otherwise have become symmetry-related within the bulk crystal. After their discovery by Brewster in 1815, optically anomalous crystals were the subject of lively debate throughout the 19th century among some of the most distinguished contributors to the development of crystallography including Biot, Berzelius, Herschel, Mitscherlich, Frankenheim, Pasteur, Mallard, Klein, Groth, Wyrouboff, Barlow, Brauns, Rinne, Pockels, and Friedel. From a sea of wild speculation two conflicting postulates emerged: that the symmetric form resulted from accidental twinning of segments with lower symmetry, or that the optical peculiarities resulted from stress due to impurities or external perturbations. Neither postulate expresses the present view. Interest in this research waned at the turn of the century, and after 1917 no one pursued Tammann's alternative correct insight. The problem of anomalous double refraction attracted no attention for more than half a century until its recent solution. This review discusses both mineral and organic systems with particular emphasis on the phyllosilicate apophyllite and on 1,5-dichloro-2,3-dinitrobenzene. These nonequilibrium structures relate to questions of crystal order, crystal growth, molecular recognition, and the design of new materials. The review provides a reminder of the enduring value of the polarizing microscope as a research tool in chemistry.     

A simple slurry consolidometer designed for the estimation of the consistency limits of soils

An inexpensive slurry consolidometer design is described that uses porous polyethylene as the permeable barrier for sample dewatering (maximum effective stress of 200 kPa) and permits monitoring of sample pore-water pressures less than 100 kPa with a portable pressure transducer. The instrument is applied in this study to the consolidation-based estimation of the Atterberg soil consistency limits of both agricultural soils and till and glaciolacustrine materials (clay fraction predominantly Ca-saturated illites) sampled from sonic boreholes. All soils originated from southwestern Ontario, Canada. With the normally consolidated (virgin) compression line expressed as a w(logσ') function, the A.S.T.M. liquid and plastic limits of the borehole soils were found to occupy relatively fixed positions on the VCL at mean effective stresses of about 61 kPa and 0.42 MPa, respectively. Marginally plastic and non-plastic soils could be distinguished as having compression line slopes approaching zero. The effective stress at the liquid limit decreased logarithmically from 61 kPa with increasing organic carbon content in the agricultural soils. Consolidated slurries of all soils investigated that were clearly plastic exhibited a mean drop-cone penetration depth of approximately 13 mm at the A.S.T.M. liquid limit, a significant departure from the British Standard of 20 mm. Slurry consolidation can be used as a sample preparation method for measurement of the liquid limit by the drop-cone or one-point A.S.T.M. procedures. It has also shown potential as a procedural alternative for the estimation of both test indices, mostly for geotechnical applications. It is probable that this unified test protocol must be recalibrated for soils where the dominant clay minerals and saturating bases are different from those in this study.     

Biocompatible quantum dots for biological applications

Semiconductor quantum dots are quickly becoming a critical diagnostic tool for discerning cellular function at the molecular level. Their high brightness, long-lasting, size-tunable, and narrow luminescence set them apart from conventional fluorescence dyes. Quantum dots are being developed for a variety of biologically oriented applications, including fluorescent assays for drug discovery, disease detection, single protein tracking, and intracellular reporting. This review introduces the science behind quantum dots and describes how they are made biologically compatible. Several applications are also included, illustrating strategies toward target specificity, and are followed by a discussion on the limitations of quantum dot approaches. The article is concluded with a look at the future direction of quantum dots.     

Multi-element analysis of bone from the osteogenesis imperfecta model (OIM) mouse using thermal and fast neutron activation analysis

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable osteoporotic bone disease, due to defects in either type I procollagen genes (COL1A1 or COL1A2), resulting in abnormal and/or reduced levels of type I procollagen and alterations in bone mineralization. Our long term objectives are to evaluate the impact of proα1(I) and proα2(I) collagen mutations and the role of the genetic background on bone mineralization. Tibias from wildtype, heterozygous (oim/+), and homozygous (oim/oim) animals were subjected to instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to measure F, P, Na, Mg, Cl, Ca, K, and Zn using the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) pneumatic-tube irradiation facility.     

Cation transport at 25°c from binary Tl+Mn+ and K+Mn+ nitrate mixtures in a H2OCHCl3H2O liquid membrane system containing a series of macrocyclic polyether carriers

Carrier-mediated cation fluxes were determined using a H₂OCHC1₃H₂O liquid merebrane system for TlNO₃ and for binary mixtures of either TlNO₃ or KNO₃ with alkali metal ions, alkaline earth metal ions, and Pb²⁺ (in the case of TlNO₃). Both macrocyclic polyether and cryptand ligands were used as carriers. In Tl⁺Mⁿ⁺ mixtures, selective transport of Tl⁺ was found over all cations studied, except in the cases of Ag⁺ by 2.2 and of Pb²⁺ by 18C6, DC18C6, ClDKP18C6, and 2.2. Generally, K⁺ was transported selectively from K⁺Mⁿ⁺ mixtures, except in the cases of K⁺Tl⁺ mixtures in which Tl⁺ was transported selectively in all cases. A model relating cation flux to log K(CH₃OH) for Mⁿ⁺—macrocycle interaction and to ion-partitioning between the organic and aqueous phases was successful in rationalizing selective cation transport in most of the systems studied.