Spin-rotation measurements in π−p → K0Λ

The first measurements of spin-rotation in meson-baryon scattering in the resonance region are presented. These measurements, for the reaction π^?p → K⁰Λ, confirm the main predictions of a previous partial-wave analysis. Comments are made on resonant couplings in the reaction π^?p → K⁰Λ.     

Synthesis and development of porous chelating polymers for the decontamination of nuclear waste

The alkaline synthesis of porous phenol-formaldehyde polymers containing iminodiacetic acid is described. Porosity is induced by the addition of a finely divided solid material (template) that is insoluble under the reaction conditions. This template is removed by dissolution after the polymerization is complete. Silica gel, carbonate salts and various other salts are used as templates. Resins containing different phenols are synthesized and their effectiveness for the removal of radioactive cesium and strontium from alkaline concentrated sodium salt brines is examined. This matrix typifies the composition of soluble defense nuclear waste.This paper was prepared in connection with work done under Contract No. DE-AC09-76SR00001 with the U.S. Department of Energy.     

Structural and transport properties of β″-Al2O3

We report results of a molecular dynamics simulation of sodium β″-Al₂O₃. We confirm that the superiotic properties of this material require deviation from the stoichiometric composition. Our results yield values for the transport coefficients of the material that are in good agreement with experiment. Thermal parameters, measured by diffraction studies are well reproduced by the calculations. The simulations suggest a change in the diffusion mechanism from hopping, at low temperatures, to liquid-like at higher temperatures. The change in migration mechanism isaccompanied by corresponding structural changes.     

The effects of multichannel compression/expansion amplification on the intelligibility of nonsense syllables in noise

The effects of six-channel compression and expansion amplification on the intelligibility of nonsense syllables embedded in speech spectrum noise were examined for four hearing-impaired subjects. For one condition (linear) the stimulus was given six-channel amplification with frequency shaping to suit the subject's hearing loss. The other condition (nonlinear) was the same except that low level inputs, to any given channel, received expansion amplification and high level inputs received compression. For each condition, each subject received the nonsense syllables at three different input levels, representing low, average, and high intensity speech. The results of this study, like those of most other studies of multichannel compression, are mainly negative. Nonlinear processing (mainly expansion) of low intensity speech resulted in a significant degradation of speech intelligibility for two subjects and in no improvement for the others. One subject showed a significant improvement in intelligibility for the nonlinearly processed average intensity speech and another subject showed significant improvement for the high intensity input (mainly compression). Clearly, nonlinear processing is beneficial for some subjects, under some listening conditions, but further research is needed to identify the relevent characteristics of such subjects. An acoustic analysis of selected items revealed that the failure of expansion to improve intelligibility was primarily due to the very low intensity consonants /e/ and /k/, in final position, being presented at an even lower intensity in the expansion condition than in the linear condition. Expansion may be worth further investigation with different parameters. Several other problems caused by the multichannel processing were also revealed. These included alteration of spectral shapes and band interaction effects. Ways of overcoming these problems, and of capitalizing on the likely advantages of multichannel amplification, are currently being investigated.     

Thermodynamic properties of a fluid of hard spheres with water-like dipole and quadrupole moments

The thermodynamic properties of a fluid of hard spheres with dipole and tetrahedral quadrupole moments are investigated using thermodynamic perturbation theory. The drpole-quadrupole coupling is found to be very important at values of the multipole moments that are close to those of water.