An easy method for the preparation of 4-acylisoxazoles from C(α),O-dianions of oximes

Several C(α),O-dilithiooximes of aromatic ketones were condensed with aroyl chlorides. The presumed diacyl intermediates were not isolated, and the reaction mixtures containing them were acid-cyclized to give 4-acylisoxazoles in 22–62% yield.     

Interaction of H2 and CO with carbided and nitrided Ni(100)

A comparison is made of the chemisorption behavior of H₂ and CO over a carbided and nitrided Ni(100) surface. These results together with previous results for S and Cl support the argument that adatom electronegativity rather than radius is primarily responsible for modification of chemisorption behavior.     

Vocalization and breathing during the first year of life

Vocalization and breathing were studied in 40 healthy infants, including five boys and five girls each at ages 5 weeks, 2.5 months, 6.5 months, and 12 months. Breathing was monitored through the use of a variable inductance plethysmograph that enabled estimates of the volume changes of the rib cage, abdomen, and lung, as well as estimates of selected temporal features of the breathing cycle. Four vocalization types were studied intensively. These included cries, whimpers, grunts, and syllable utterances. Breathing behavior was highly variable across the four vocalization types, demonstrating the degrees of freedom of performance available to the infant to accomplish the aeromechanical drive required. Such behavior was influenced by body length, body position, and age, but not by vocalization type and sex. The protocol established is a useful tool for observing the natural course of the emergence of vocalization and breathing during the first year of life.     

A simple jitter-free picosecond streak camera

Using a DC-biased room-temperature photoconductive switching element, a picosecond resolution optical streak camera is operated at sweep rates up to 7 ps/mm. Single-shot jitter is 2 ps with complete absence of short and long-term drift characteristic of all other sweep drivers. This high accuracy allows the streak camera to be used in a single-shot averaging mode which leads to a sub-picosecond absolute timing accuracy. When operated in this manner, the streak camera becomes a highly reliable and accurate device for measuring transient events on a time scale of single picoseconds. The simplicity of this method makes it highly attractive for many applications in laser fusion and picosecond chemistry and photophysics studies where reliable no-drift operation is highly desirable.     

Double deoxygenation of PPN(NO2) using metal carbonyl clusters of cobalt,rhodium, and iridium

The reaction of PP(NO₂) with M₄(CO)₁₂ (M = Co, Rh) gives the nitrido clusters [M₆N(CO)₁₅]^? in 13 and 21% yields, respectively. A high yield synthesis (77%) of [Rh₆N(CO)₁₅)]^? directly from Rh₆(CO)₁₆ and PPN(NO₂) is also presented. PPN(NO₂) reacts with Ir₄(CO)₁₂ to give the new isocyanato cluster, [Ir₄(NCO)(CO)₁₁]^? in 34% yield, while the direct synthesis of this isocyanate product occurs in 77% yield from PPN(N₃) and Ir₄(CO)₁₂. Modifications of published procedures for the preparation of [N(C₂H₅)₄]₂ [Ir₆(CO)₁₅] and Ir₆(CO)₁₆ are reported that allow shorter reaction times and give higher yields. The reaction of Ir₆(CO)₁₆ with one equivalent of PPN(NO₂) generates a new cluster, PPN[Ir₆(CO)₁₅(NO)], in 57% yield which is proposed to contain a bent nitrosyl ligand. An additional equivalent of PPN(NO₂) gives (PPN)₂[Ir₆(CO)₁₅] in 84% yield with the evolution of N₂O as well as CO₂.     

Far-infrared microbolometer detectors

The bismuth microbolometer is a simple, easily made detector suitable for use throughout the far-infrared, which has been integrated with a variety of planar antennas. The general thermal properties of these devices and some of the constraints on bolometer materials are discussed. The fabrication and performance of several different types of microbolometers and microthermocouples are described.Supported by the Department of Energy contract DE-AM03-765F-00010 Task IIA; Army Research Office contract DAAG29-82-K-0165; and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory through Dr. M. Litvak.     

Pure states and P-commutative Banach *-algebras

A Banach *-algebra A with bounded approximate identity is shown to be P-commutative if the spectrum of each element x in A coincides with the set of values at x of all pure states of A. An isomorphism theorem for P-commutative Banach *-algebras is established, and a result on the computation of the norm of a positive functional on a symmetric, P-commutative, Banach *-algebra with bounded approximate identity with bound one is proved.