Collinear collision of an atom with a homonuclear diatomic molecule

The problem of collinear scattering of an atom from a homonuclear diatomic molecule is formulated in terms of a first-order nonlinear matrix differential equation for the variable coefficient of reflection. For a homonuclear molecule when the target Hamiltonian is invariant under the parity transformation, only transitions between even states or odd states are possible. This selection rule reduces the number of open or closed channels that contribute to the reflection and transmission coefficients. But for numerical calculation, under the conditions of the problem, one can approximate the target Hamiltonian by the Hamiltonian of a displaced harmonic oscillator. In this approximation, the reflectional symmetry of the Hamiltonian is not preserved and transitions between any two levels of the target are possible. To simplify the problem further, the interaction between the projectile and the target is assumed to be a sum of two Gaussian terms. For this combination of the potentials the many-channel interaction can be expressed analytically. By fitting the Lennard–Jones potential with a sum of two Gaussian potentials and solving the matrix differential equation, transition probabilities are obtained for the He? H₂ collision. The numerical results are compared with the results found by Secrest and Johnson, and by Clark and Dickinson.     

Copolar and cross-polar signals received at 30 GHz from ATS-6

From the end of July 1975 until August 1976 the reception of signals from the geostationary satellite ATS-6was possible since at that time the satellite was brought into a position above Victoria Lake at 35° East. The copolar signal showed attenuation which varies strongly with the amount of rain. The rain was measured by a rain gauge located close to the 3 meter precision Cassegrain antenna. The attenuation measured at the satellite link did not always correspond with the attenuation measured at the nearby line of sight link at 34 GHz. For example during heavy thunderstorms the attenuation might have reach values as high as 20 dB or more. For smaller attenuations comparison is possible with a radiometer experiment at 30.1 GHz. In general this comparison shows good results for attenuations less than 10 dB. The crosspolar signal measured showed values of — 55 dB to about — 20 dB relative to the copolar depending upon several reasons. First of all the rain showed mostly a strong increase in the crosspolar signal but satellite movements and errors in the antenna pointing will also increased this level. Various examples are shown. It appears that the copolar — cross-polar isolation reached the lowest value at attenuations of 3–6 dB. Although the time that the satellite was available for measurements was limited, some statistic results can be given despite the fact the signal transmitted from the satellite was not always constant.     

The orientation of porphins in n-alkane Shpolskii hosts

When a solution of a porphin in n-octane is slowly frozen the guests predominantly occupy a single site (A) in which the porphin has been shown to replace a number of host molecules displaced along the b-direction; if the solution is quickly frozen the optical spectra reveal the presence of a second site (B). In the present paper it is shown that the occurrence of these two types of sites, A and B, is a common phenomenon throughout the series from n-heptane (C₇) to n-decane (C ₁₀) as hosts and phenomenological criteria are formulated to distinguish between the two kinds of sites.

The orientation of palladiumporphin (PdP) in the A and B sites of a C₇ host is determined from Zeeman experiments on the S ₁← S ₀ and T ₀ →S ₀ transitions in a single crystal of C₇ doped with PdP. The porphin nuclei in the B sites replace a number of alkanes displaced along the a-axis. In the course of the experiments signals related to a third type of site, B', grew in intensity in the spectra. This site is coplanar with the B site and it differs from the latter by an in-plane rotation of the trapped molecule over 20°. The origins of the S ₁ ←S ₀ transition for the two types of site are assigned for H₂P, ZnP and PdP as solutes in C₇, C₈, C₉ and C₁₀ as hosts.

Finally, the Zeeman shifts observed in the S ₁ ←S ₀ transition of PdP in the three sites of C₇ yield an effective orbital angular momentum for PdP in the state S ₁ of (4·4 ± 0·1)?, in excellent agreement with previous determinations.     

On the Stability of Pt-Based Catalysts in HBr/Br2 Solution

Stability studies on supported metal nanoparticles are essential for gaining insight into the design and optimization of high-performance materials. In this work, the dissolutions of Pt-based catalysts in HBr/Br₂ mixture of various concentration regimes were studied and correlated with material structural properties. The dissolution of metal nanoparticles was enhanced by adding Br₂ to the HBr solution. Comparing with commercial Pt/C catalyst, the well-alloyed PtIr/C catalyst was observed to exhibit high resistance towards dissolution. In addition, regulating the accessibility of the metal sites to dissolution-inducing species contributed to the marked stability of the nanoparticles in HBr/Br₂ solutions, as shown for the surface-modified PtIr/C catalysts with organic diamine molecules.     

Nanoscale organization of the pathogen receptor DC-SIGN mapped by single-molecule high-resolution fluorescence microscopy.

DC-SIGN, a C-type lectin exclusively expressed on dendritic cells (DCs), plays an important role in pathogen recognition by binding with high affinity to a large variety of microorganisms. Recent experimental evidence points to a direct relation between the function of DC-SIGN as a viral receptor and its spatial arrangement on the plasma membrane. We have investigated the nanoscale organization of fluorescently labeled DC-SIGN on intact isolated DCs by means of near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) combined with single-molecule detection. Fluorescence spots of different intensity and size have been directly visualized by optical means with a spatial resolution of less than 100 nm. Intensity- and size-distribution histograms of the DC-SIGN fluorescent spots confirm that approximately 80 % of the receptors are organized in nanosized domains randomly distributed on the cell membrane. Intensity-size correlation analysis revealed remarkable heterogeneity in the molecular packing density of the domains. Furthermore, we have mapped the intermolecular organization within a dense cluster by means of sequential NSOM imaging combined with discrete single-molecule photobleaching. In this way we have determined the spatial coordinates of 13 different individual dyes, with a localization accuracy of 6 nm. Our experimental observations are all consistent with an arrangement of DC-SIGN designed to maximize its chances of binding to a wide range of microorganisms. Our data also illustrate the potential of NSOM as an ultrasensitive, high-resolution technique to probe nanometer-scale organization of molecules on the cell membrane.     

Characteristics of distortion product otoacoustic emissions in the frog from L1,L2 maps

For a given set of stimulus frequencies (f1 ,f2), the level of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) varies with the levels of the stimulus tones. By variation of the stimulus levels, L1,L2-maps for DPOAEs can be constructed. Here, we report on L1 ,L2-maps for DPOAEs from the frog ear. In general, these maps were similar to those obtained from the mammalian cochlea. We found a conspicuous difference between the equal-level contour lines for low-level and high-level DPOAEs, which could be modeled by a saturating and an expansive nonlinearity, respectively. The transition from the high-level to the low-level response was accompanied by a DPOAE phase-change, which increased from 0 to pi rad with increasing frequency. These results suggest that in the frog low-level and high-level DPOAEs are generated by separate nonlinear mechanisms. Also, there was a conspicuous difference in the growth of the low-level emissions from the two anuran auditory papillae. In the basilar papilla, this growth was expansive for the lowest stimulus levels and saturated for intermediate levels. This is consistent with the behavior of a Boltzman nonlinearity. In the amphibian papilla this growth was compressive, suggesting the additional effect of a compressive amplification mechanism on the generation of DPOAEs.     

Closed queueing networks with batch services

In this paper we study queueing networks which allow multiple changes at a given time. The model has a natural application to discrete-time queueing networks but describes also queueing networks in continuous time. It is shown that product-form results which are known to hold when there are single changes at a given instant remain valid when multiple changes are allowed.