Temperature and pressure dependence of the crystal structure of InTe: A new high pressure phase of InTe

InTe has been investigated using high pressure x-ray diffraction technique to 340 kbar InTe undergoes a pressure induced phase transition from the tetragonal TISe-type (B37) to the NaCl-type (B1) phase We have discovered a further pressure induced phase transition from the NaCl-type to the CsCl type (B2) phase at about 150 kbar The crystal structure of the tetragonal TISe-type InTe has been reinvestigated with x-ray diffractometer data Temperature variation of the lattice constants of the tetragonal InTe has been obtained in the range 297 to 505 K.     

Syneresis and crystallinity in plasticized rubbery networks and composites

We prepared polycaprolactone networks plasticized (60 wt%) with triacetin, with and without filler particles to model high-energy solid rocket propellants. Under strain and at lower temperatures these materials partially crystallize but also undesirably exude plasticizer (syneresis). We measured both properties isothermally (30°C) on the basis of molecular mobility: crystallinity with rapid-passage cw proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and syneresis with pulsed-gradient spin-echo NMR diffusion techniques, as a function of strain and time. In the gumstocks crystallinity and syneresis increase monotonically with strain and asymptotically with time. In a given specimen syneresis lags behind crystallinity but they approach the same value, suggesting that syneresis originates in expulsion of plasticizer from crystallizing regions. In the composites, crystallinity results resemble those in gum, but our diffusion data suggest that most syneresis is internal, with plasticizer accumulating in strain-debonded void regions near filler particles. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Pressure induced phase transition in MnTe2

Energy dispersive high-pressure powder X-ray experiments have been performed for MnTe₂ up to a pressure of 20 GPa. MnTe₂ undergoes a discontinuous transformation from the cubic pyrite type structure to the orthorhombic marcasite type structure at 7.0±0.5 GPa upon increasing pressure. The transformation is accompanied by a large reduction in the specific volume (ΔV/V=0.18) which probably reflects different magnetic properties of the two modifications of MnTe₂.     

Devil's attractors and chaos of a driven impact oscillator

The motion of a driven elastic impact oscillator: $\text{x}\text{?}\text{+ 0.4}\text{x}\text{?}\text{+ x =}\text{cos}\text{(ωt)}$, x > 0 and $\text{x}\text{?}\text{(t}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{) = -}\text{x}\text{?}\text{(t}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}$ at x = 0, is studied for ω ≈ 2?4. The oscillator exhibits Feigenbaum's bifurcations (computed δ ≈ 4.70), the Feigenbaum and intermittent transitions to chaos, crises in chaos and a strong hysteresis region for ω ≈ 3.18–3.20 where the impact/period ratios of a group of attractors show the Devil's staircase behaviour with locking values between $\text{3}\text{5}$ and $\text{3}\text{4}$.     

The level structure of 114Cd from (n, γ) and (d,p) studies

Gamma rays and conversion electrons have been measured following thermal neutron capture in ¹¹³Cd using the crystal spectrometers GAMS and the β-spectrometer BILL at the High Flux Reactor of the ILL at Grenoble. Primary γ-rays following thermal and average resonance neutron capture at E_n = 2 keV and 24 keV were recorded at the High Flux Beam Reactor at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The ¹¹³Cd(d, p)¹¹⁴Cd reaction was studied with the Q3D spectrograph at the Munich tandem accelerator. Combining all these experimental results an almost complete level scheme of ¹¹⁴Cd was constructed up to 3.3 MeV including 48 excited levels with spin and parity information. The level scheme is discussed in terms of particle-hole excitations across the Z = 50 closed shell coupled to collective states, as well as in an interacting boson configuration mixing scheme.     

Mechanism of copper underpotential deposition at Pt(<Emphasis Type="Italic">hkl</Emphasis>)-electrodes: Quantum-chemical modelling

Mechanism of copper underpotential deposition at stepped faces of platinum single crystals Pt(hkl) is studied using cyclic voltammetry, scanning probe microscopy, and quantum-chemical modelling. It is shown that the first stage of UPD is one-dimensional decoration of the (100)- or (110)-orientated steps, then copper monolayer forms at (111)-terraces. The final stage is the secondary step decoration. Quantum-chemical modelling, with the using of long-distance potentials of the Cu-Pt and Cu-Cu pair interactions, allows estimating the energy of copper adsorption at different structure elements of the substrate (steps, kinks, terraces) and revealing the succession of the adatom monolayer formation; it also provides additional information for the identifying of the nature of voltametric peaks for different stages of the copper adsorption-desorption.     

Quantification of key red blood cell folates from subjects with defined MTHFR 677C>T genotypes using stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

Red blood cell (RBC) folate levels are established at the time of erythropoiesis and therefore provide a surrogate biomarker for the average folate status of an individual over the preceding four months. Folates are present as folylpolyglutamates, highly polar molecules that cannot be secreted from the RBCs, and must be converted into their monoglutamate forms prior to analysis. This was accomplished using an individual's plasma pteroylpolyglutamate hydrolase by lysing the RBCs in whole blood at pH 5 in the presence of ascorbic acid. Quantitative conversion of formylated tetrahydrofolate derivatives into the stable 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate (5,10-MTHF) form was conducted at pH 1.5 in the presence of [(13)C(5)]-5-formyltetrahydrofolate. The resulting [(13)C(5)]-5,10-MTHF was then used as an internal standard for the formylated forms of tetrahydrofolate that had been converted into 5,10-MTHF as well any 5,10-MTHF that had been present in the original sample. A stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring/mass spectrometry method was validated and then used for the accurate and precise quantification of RBC folic acid, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), tetrahydrofolate (THF), and 5,10-MTHF. The method was sensitive and robust and was used to assess the relationship between different methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677C>T genotypes and RBC folate phenotypes. Four distinct RBC folate phenotypes could be identified. These were classified according to the relative amounts of individual RBC folates as type I (5-MTHF >95%; THF <5%; 5,10-MTHF <5%), type II (5-MTHF <95%; THF 5% to 20%; 5,10-MTHF <5%), type III (5-MTHF >55%; THF >20%; 5,10-MTHF >5%), and type IV (5-MTHF <55%; THF >20%; 5,10-MTHF >5%).