Low-temperature thermal conductivity of superconductors with gap nodes

We report a detailed analytic and numerical study of electronic thermal conductivity in d-wave superconductors. We compare theory of the crossover at low temperatures from T dependence to T(3) dependence for increasing temperature with recent experiments on YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) in zero magnetic field for T approximately [0.04 K,0.4 K] by Hill et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 027001 (2004)]. Transport theory, including impurity scattering and inelastic scattering within strong-coupling superconductivity, can consistently fit the temperature dependence of the data in the lower half of the temperature regime. We discuss the conditions under which we expect power-law dependences over wide temperature intervals.     

Photo-induced creation of nitrogen-related color centers in diamond nanocrystals under femtosecond illumination

Diamond nanocrystals deposited on a dielectric mirror at the focus of a microscope objective have been illuminated by femtosecond laser pulses. We have observed the photo-creation of color centers, under peak power corresponding to an intensity of about . In a nanocrystal initially containing a single Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) center, femtosecond illumination resulted in the transformation of this center into another one with different spectral features. These features are tentatively attributed to the neutral form NV⁰. This irreversible transformation goes together with the photocreation of other unstable color centers at the laser focus. Such behavior under femtosecond laser illumination place some limitations on the use of sub-picosecond pulses to trigger single photon emission from a single NV center in diamond nanocrystal.     

Use of 19F NMR spectroscopy to screen chemical libraries for ligands that bind to proteins

Identification of compounds from chemical libraries that bind to macromolecules by use of NMR spectroscopy has gained increasing importance during recent years. A simple methodology based on (19)F NMR spectroscopy for the screening of ligands that bind to proteins, which also provides qualitative information about relative binding strengths and the presence of multiple binding sites, is presented here. A library of fluorinated compounds was assembled and investigated for binding to the two bacterial chaperones PapD and FimC, and also to human serum albumin (HSA). It was found that library members which are bound to a target protein could be identified directly from line broadening and/or induced chemical shifts in a single, one-dimensional (19)F NMR spectrum. The results obtained for binding to PapD using (19)F NMR spectroscopy agreed well with independent studies based on surface plasmon resonance, providing support for the versatility and accuracy of the technique. When the library was titrated to a solution of PapD chemical shift and linewidth changes were observed with increasing ligand concentration, which indicated the presence of several binding sites on PapD and enabled the assessment of relative binding strengths for the different ligands. Screening by (19)F NMR spectroscopy should thus be a valuable addition to existing NMR techniques for evaluation of chemical libraries in bioorganic and medicinal chemistry.     

Algebras of Approximation Sequences: Finite Sections of Band-Dominated Operators

We develop the stability theory for the finite section method for general band-dominated operators on l ^p spaces over Z ^k . The main result says that this method is stable if and only if each member of a whole family of operators – the so-called limit operators of the method – is invertible and if the norms of these inverses are uniformly bounded.     

Higher Hopf formulae for homology via Galois Theory

We use Janelidze's Categorical Galois Theory to extend Brown and Ellis's higher Hopf formulae for homology of groups to arbitrary semi-abelian monadic categories. Given such a category A and a chosen Birkhoff subcategory B of A, thus we describe the Barr-Beck derived functors of the reflector of A onto B in terms of centralization of higher extensions. In case A is the category Gp of all groups and B is the category Ab of all abelian groups, this yields a new proof for Brown and Ellis's formulae. We also give explicit formulae in the cases of groups vs. k-nilpotent groups, groups vs. k-solvable groups and precrossed modules vs. crossed modules.     

A type 2 Ferrier rearrangement-based synthesis of d-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate

The synthesis of d-myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP₃) from methyl α-d-glucopyranose, via a type 2 Ferrier rearrangement is reported. A key intermediate in this synthesis possesses orthogonal protecting groups at the 1-, 4- and 5-position, making it a versatile starting point for the synthesis of unnatural InsP₃ derivatives. Biological evaluation of the synthetic InsP₃ demonstrates that this compound evokes selective Ca²⁺ release via activation of InsP₃ receptors.     

On an algorithm considered by Stieltjes

This paper studies an iterative algorithm of the type of Gauss's algorithm mentioned by Stieltjes in his correspondence with Hermite (lettre 323) and later investigated by Myrberg. In particular, what appears to be a false statement by Stieltjes is corrected. The same algorithm, apparently being unaware of his predecessors, has also been considered by Lehmer.     

Oxidation of propane over ammonium-transition metal mixed keggin phosphomolybdate salts

Mixed ammonium-transition metal salts with formula of (NH4)xMyHzPMo12O40 (M = Ni2+, Co2+ or Fe 3+) denoted as MPMo12 have been investigated for the oxidation of propane, with molecular oxygen, at temperature range between 380℃ and 420℃ after in-situ pre-treatment performed at two heating rate of 5 or 9℃/min. They were characterized by BET method, XRD, UV-Vis and IR techniques. The catalysts were found to be active in the propane oxidation and selective to propene or acrolein, in particular for samples pre-t...     

Synthesis and characterisation of medium-sized ring systems by oxidative cleavage. Part 2: Insights from the study of ring expanded analogues

Variable temperature NMR analysis and computational methods have been used to develop a detailed understanding of the ¹H NMR spectra of a family of medium-sized ring containing compounds. The family consists of analogues containing 10-, 11- and 12-membered rings and in all cases the NMR spectra at room temperature showed a series of diastereotopic methylene signals despite the lack of a stereogenic centre in these systems. On repeating the NMR analysis at higher temperatures, all the signals coalesced for the 12-membered ring system consistent with full interconversion of ring conformers. This was not observed in the analogous 10- and 11-membered ring systems with the interchange of conformers remaining slow on the NMR timescale. However, 1D gs-NOESY/EXSY NMR experiments showed that in the smaller ring systems interconversion of diastereotopic protons did occur. Computational studies suggest that the dynamic process observed by NMR for the 10- and 11-membered rings systems is different from that observed in the 12-membered ring containing compound.