Test of sum rules in nucleon transfer reactions

The quantitative consistency of nucleon transfer reactions as a probe of the occupancy of valence orbits in nuclei is tested. Neutron-adding, neutron-removal, and proton-adding transfer reactions were measured on the four stable even Ni isotopes, with particular attention to the cross section determinations. The data were analyzed consistently in terms of the distorted wave Born approximation to yield spectroscopic factors. Valence-orbit occupancies were extracted, utilizing the Macfarlane-French sum rules. The deduced occupancies are consistent with the changing number of valence neutrons, as are the vacancies for protons, both at the level of <5%. While there has been some debate regarding the true "observability" of spectroscopic factors, the present results indicate that empirically they yield self-consistent results.     

The Ar(p, d)Ar reaction

The ³He spin analysing power of hydrogen (protons) has been measured at a c.m. energy of 20 MeV at 14 c.m. angles from 40° to 160°. The measurement of ³He target polarization was calibrated by measuring the ³He spin analysing power of ⁴He at an energy and angle where it was ?1.00. The proton-³He differential elastic scattering cross section is also reported at a c.m. energy of 20.0 MeV for 36 c.m. angles from 20° to 170°.     

Applications of esr techniques to the study of free radical processes and kinetics in acrylic polymerizations

Electron spin resonance (ESR) techniques have been applied to a detailed study of batch and semicontinuous emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate; butyl acrylate and styrene have been briefly studied. Quenching of samples from the polymerization reactor followed by ESR analysis are useful, but we have developed continuous flow techniques which are preferable in many cases. ESR techniques can provide valuable information relating to the nature of free radical reactions, the concentration of propagating free radicals, and the kinetic processes in these reactions. Direct ESR analysis is most valuable but is not applicable to all systems. Spin trapping techniques can be useful for systems not accessible by direct analysis.     

Stereoretentive and regioselective selenium-catalyzed intermolecular propargylic C–H amination of alkynes

Herein we report an intermolecular propargylic C–H amination of alkynes. This reaction is operationally convenient and requires no transition metal catalysts or additives. Terminal, silyl, and internal alkynes bearing a wide range of functional groups can be aminated in high yields. The regioselectivity of amination for unsymmetrical internal alkynes is strongly influenced by substitution pattern (tertiary > secondary > primary) and by relatively remote heteroatomic substituents. We demonstrate that amination of alkynes bearing α-stereocenters occurs with retention of configuration at the newly-formed C–N bond. Competition experiments between alkynes, kinetic isotope effects, and DFT calculations are performed to confirm the mechanistic hypothesis that initial ene reaction of a selenium bis(imide) species is the rate- and product-determining step. This ene reaction has a transition state that results in substantial partial positive charge development at the carbon atom closer to the amination position. Inductive and/or hyperconjugative stabilization or destabilization of this positive charge explains the observed regioselectivities.

Selenium catalysis enables a general intermolecular propargylic C–H amination of alkynes. The concerted mechanism gives rise to high regioselectivity for the more electron-rich end of the alkyne and retention of the C–H propargylic stereocenter.     

Planarity relations for the sextic centrifugal distortion constants of triangular triatomic molecules

Four linearly independent linear combinations of the ten sextic centrifugal distortion coefficients of triangular triatomic molecules are presented. These combinations are formed in such a way that the resulting expressions depend only on the equilibrium geometry and the harmonic force field parameters of the molecule, quantities which are ordinarily known to considerably better precision than the sextic constants. The relations obtained thus constitute a set of planarity constraints on the ten sextic coefficients which arise in connection with the Nielsen-Amat expansion of the Darling-Dennison Hamiltonian. The planarity expressions can be utilized to effect a reduction of the sextic portion of the Hamiltonian.     

Optical trirefringence in photonic crystal waveguides

We demonstrate that 2D photonic crystals can possess optical trirefringence in which there are six field orientations for which linear incident light is not perturbed on reflection or transmission. Such a property is rigorously forbidden in homogeneous nonmagnetic dielectrics which can possess only optical birefringence. We experimentally demonstrate this phenomena in silicon-based mesostructures formed from photonic crystal waveguides embedded in a Fabry-Perot cavity. Multirefringence is controlled by the presence of submicron dielectric patterning and is well explained by an exact scattering matrix theory.     

k-space inherited parallel acquisition (KIPA): application on dynamic magnetic resonance imaging thermometry

In this study, a novel method for dynamic parallel image acquisition and reconstruction is presented. In this method, called k-space inherited parallel acquisition (KIPA), localized reconstruction coefficients are used to achieve higher reduction factors, and lower noise and artifact levels compared to that of generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA) reconstruction. In KIPA, the full k-space for the first frame and the partial k-space for later frames are required to reconstruct a whole series of images. Reconstruction coefficients calculated for different segments of k-space from the first frame data set are used to estimate missing k-space lines in corresponding k-space segments of other frames. The local determination of KIPA reconstruction coefficients is essential to adjusting them according to the local signal-to-noise ratio characteristics of k-space data. The proposed algorithm is applicable to dynamic imaging with arbitrary k-space sampling trajectories. Simulations of magnetic resonance thermometry using the KIPA method with a reduction factor of 6 and using dynamic imaging studies of human subjects with reduction factors of 4 and 6 have been performed to prove the feasibility of our method and to show apparent improvement in image quality in comparison with GRAPPA for dynamic imaging.     

Differential temperature Carnot heat analysis shows that computing machines are thermodynamically irreversible

We perform a differential temperature Carnot analysis of the changes in energy and entropy (degrees of freedom) associated with an ideal classical computing machine. Assuming that Carnot’s maximum efficiency law is as equally applicable to a computing machine as to a mechanical machine, we find that useful computation is necessarily dissipative and thermodynamically irreversible. In addition, we find that copying or cloning of information is as dissipative as the original process employed to create the information (through a computation) in the first place. We prove minimum heat dissipation kT ln 2 per output calculation bit, where T is the thermodynamic temperature of unavoidable by-product bits (i.e. not the output calculation bits) rather than a generally assumed ‘surrounding environment’ temperature. Overall, this places computers into the same category as conventional machines, obeying the second law of thermodynamics and always operating below 100% efficiency, such that a perpetual calculating machine cannot exist.     

Surface displacements accompanying the propagation of acoustic waves within an underground pipe

Theoretical expressions for surface displacements accompanying the propagation of acoustic waves in a buried gas-filled pipe are derived. It is shown that the radiated field consists of both shear and compressional components of comparable amplitude which interfere with one another because of the large difference in the respective propagation velocites. This is manifested at the surface by a series of maxima and minima in the vertical and horizontal displacements. Comparing the theoretical calculation to experimental data on vertical surface displacements generated by plane progressive waves at frequencies ranging from 200 to 2000 Hz within an underground pipe shows that only axisymmetric radial and longitudinal vibration of the pipe wall is important. This stands in marked constant to experiments carried out by others in an air medium in which the contribution of bending mode excitation was shown to be significant, particularly at lower frequencies. The theory can be fitted to the experimental data only if the compressional and shear velocities α and β, respectively, are narrowly specified, leading to α = 259 m/s and β = 164 m/s, the latter being in reasonable agreement with the results of other investigators for clay soil.