Influence of aliphatic spacer group on adsorption mechanisms of phosphonate derivatives of l-phenylalanine: Surface-enhanced Raman, Raman, and infrared studies

The nature of phosphonopeptides containing N-terminal l-phenylalanine (l-Phe), namely l-Phe-dl-NH-CH(CH(CH₃)₂)-PO₃H₂ (A), l-Phe-l-NH-CH(CH₃)-PO₃H₂ (B), and l-Phe-dl-NH-CH(CH₂CH₂COOH)-PO₃H₂ (C) (Fig. 1 presents molecular structure of these molecules), adsorbed on electrochemically roughened and colloidal silver surfaces has been explored by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). To reveal adsorption mechanism of these species on the basis of their SERS spectra at first Fourier-transform Raman (FT-RS) and absorption infrared (FT-IR) spectra of non-adsorbed molecules were measured. Examination of enhancement, frequency shifts, and changes in relative intensities of SERS bands due to adsorption and surface roughens variation reveals that the tilted compounds adsorb on the electrochemically roughened silver substrate in similar way, while they behave differently on the colloidal silver surface. A stronger enhancement of in-plane ring vibrations of the l-Phe ring, i.e., ν₃ and ν_18b (B₂), over these of the A₂ symmetry in all SERS spectra on the electrochemically roughened silver substrate suggests that the ring interacts with this surface adopting slightly deflect orientation from the perpendicular one. Also, enhancement of PO and -CH₂-/-CH₃ fragments vibrations points out that they are involved in adsorption process on this substrate. This conclusion was drawn on the basis of the enhancement of 1274-1279 and 1138-1152 (ν(PO)), 1393-1400 (δ(CH) + ρ_b(CNH₂) + ν(C-C_O) + δ(CH₃)), ∼1455 (δ(CCH₃/CCH₂) + ρ_b(CH₃/CH₂), and 1505-1512 cm⁻¹ (δ(CH₂) + Phe(ν_19a)) bands. Although a relative intensity ratio of these bands in the presented SERS spectra is different. On the other hand, on the colloidal silver nanoparticles, the aromatic ring of all molecules is lying flat or takes almost parallel orientation to this surface. Besides, A interacts also via P-terminal group (568, 765, 827, 1040, and 1150 cm⁻¹), whereas B mainly through NH₂-C-(CO)-CNH-(712 and 1255 cm⁻¹). In the case of C, it adsorbs on the silver colloidal surface mainly through the aromatic ring of l-Phe, while other fragments of the molecule are in close proximity to this surface as comes off the weak enhancement of bands due to the aliphatic vibrations.     

Adsorption mechanism of physiologically active l-phenylalanine phosphonodipeptide analogues: Comparison of colloidal silver and macroscopic silver substrates

Here we present SERS spectra of several l-phenylalanine (Phe) phosphonodipeptides, i.e., l-Phe-l-Ala-PO₃H₂ (MD1), l-Phe-l-Val-PO₃H₂ (MD2), l-Phe-β-Ala-CH(OH)-PO₃H₂ (MD3), l-Phe-l-Ala-CH(OH)-PO₃H₂ (MD4), l-Ala-(3,4-dimethoxy)-l-Phe-PO₃H₂ (MD5), and l-Ala-(3,4-dimethoxy)-(des-CH₂)-l-Phe-PO₃H₂ (MD6), immobilized on electrochemically roughened silver electrodes. These spectra are analyzed by theoretical calculations using density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP level with 6-31++G∗∗ basis set. In addition, these spectra are compared with SERS spectra of these species adsorbed on a colloidal silver surface. We showed that on the macroscopic silver substrate, the Phe aromatic ring of MD3 and MD4 is oriented vertically, while for MD1 it almost “stands up” on this surface. In the other three cases, the Phe ring adopts a tilted orientation in regard to the substrate. We also find that the phosphonate , methyl/methane, or dimethoxy groups of MD1, MD2, MD3, MD5, and MD6 are involved in the interaction of these phosphonodipeptides with the electrochemically roughened surface. This phenomenon is clearly seen for -CH₂-/-CH₃/-OCH₃ moieties as well as for the group that adsorbs on the macroscopic silver substrates mainly via the PO fragment. We also showed that MD4 binds to the macroscopic silver substrate through the hydroxyl, amine, and phosphonate groups, while the methylene/methane moieties are remote from this surface. We found that studied phosphonodipeptides often adsorb differently on the macroscopic silver substrate and on the colloidal silver nanoparticles. For example, MD1 adopts an almost vertical orientation on the electrochemically roughened silver substrate and is tilted or close to flat on the silver nanoparticles.     

Dynamic anisotropy and heterogeneity of polystyrene thin films as studied by inelastic neutron scattering

We studied the dynamic anisotropy and heterogeniety of polystyrene thin films in glassy state with inelastic neutorn scattering. Adjusting the scattering vector to the directions parallel and perpendicular to the film surface, we observed the elastic scattering intensities as a function of temperature. It was found for the 200 A film that the elastic intesity decreased with increasing temperature more rapidly in the perpendicular direction than in the pararell direction, showing the higher mobility in the perpendicular direction. However, such dynamical anisotropy was not observed in the 1000 A film. The decrease in the mobility was observed with the film thickness in both the directions. These results were explained in terms of an interface hard layer. We also evelauated the dynamical heterogeniety from the non-Gaussian parameter A0, which increased with decreasing the film thickness, showing the increase in the dynamical heterogeneity. Assuming a simple bi-layer model consisting of the interface hard layer and the bulk-like layer, we analyzed the thickness dependence of the non-Gaussian parameter A0 and the mean square displacement (u2) to find that the hard layer has a thickness of approximately 130 A and a mean square displacement of approximately 0.018 A2 at 230 K.     

Beam-helicity asymmetry in photon and pion electroproduction in the Δ(1232)-resonance region at Q2 = 0.35(GeV/c)2

The beam-helicity asymmetry has been measured simultaneously for the reactions p→epγ and p→epπ ⁰ in the Δ(1232)-resonance region at Q ² = 0.35(GeV/c)². The experiment was performed at MAMI with a longitudinally polarized beam and an out-of-plane detection of the proton. The results are compared with calculations based on dispersion relations for virtual Compton scattering and with the MAID model for pion electroproduction. There is an overall good agreement between experiment and theoretical calculations. The remaining discrepancies may be ascribed to an imperfect parametrization of some γ ^(*) N→πN multipoles, mainly contributing to the non-resonant background. The beam-helicity asymmetry in both channels (γ and π ⁰) shows a good sensitivity to these multipoles and should allow future improvement in their parametrization.     

Inverse scattering problem with Levinson formula for eigenparameter-dependent discrete Sturm–Liouville equation

In this paper, an inverse scattering problem for discrete Sturm–Liouville equation with eigenparameter-dependent boundary condition is investigated. In quest of finding scattering function and the main equation of this problem, the uniqueness of the kernel is proven. Also, an appropriate Levinson-type formula based on the continuity of scattering function is given.     

有限元/边界元耦合方法在海洋生物目标强度特性研究的应用*

目标强度特性是海洋生物声学识别与资源量评估的重要依据,其中,基于近似几何体和声阻抗特性的理论模型法是研究海洋生物目标强度的重要手段。由于对几何形态近似处理以及数值求解方法的限制,传统理论模型对声波频率、入射方位以及目标声阻抗、形态尺寸等均有各自不同的适用范围,单一模型难以满足不同种类或同一种类但不同尺寸海洋生物的目标强度求解。本文尝试将逐渐见诸应用的有限元/边界元耦合方法用于海洋生物目标强度特性研究,分别以球形生物、纺锤形鱼类尾明角灯鱼(Ceratoscopelus warmingii)和细长形浮游动物南极大磷虾(Euphausia superba)为例进行仿真计算,并与相适应的经典理论模型进行对比分析。结果表明,对于球形生物,有限元/边界元耦合方法与解析模型的目标强度频响曲线完全吻合;对于纺锤形鱼类,有限元/边界元耦合方法可有效弥补基于模态级数解的形变圆柱体模型在中低频和两端入射时的准确性问题;对于细长形浮游动物,有限元/边界元耦合方法与畸变波玻恩近似模型高度吻合。综上,有限元/边界元耦合方法对多种海洋生物目标强度求解均具有较好的适用性,未来有待进一步结合实验测定进行验证。     

Search for charm-quark production via dimuons in neutrino telescopes

Dimuon events induced by charm-quark productions from neutrino deep inelastic scattering (DIS) processes have been studied in traditional DIS experiments for decades. The recent progress in neutrino telescopes makes it possible to search for such dimuon events at energies far beyond the laboratory scale. In this study, we construct a simulation framework to calculate yields and distributions of dimuon signals in an IceCube-like km³ scale neutrino telescope. Owing to the experimental limitation in the resolution of double-track lateral distance, only dimuons produced outside the detector volume are considered. Detailed information about simulation results for a 10-year exposure is presented. As an earlier paper[Physical Review D 105, 093005 (2022)] and ours report on a similar situation, we use that paper as a baseline to conduct comparisons. We then estimate the impacts of different calculation methods of muon energy losses. Finally, we study the experimental potential of dimuon searches under the hypothesis of single-muon background only. Our results based on a simplified double-track reconstruction indicate a moderate sensitivity, especially with the ORCA configuration. Further developments on both the reconstruction algorithm and possible detector designs are thus required and are under investigation.     

Role of a high ground-state centrifugal barrier in the breakup of the 31Ne nucleus

An analysis of the breakup of the \begin{document}$ ^{31}{\rm Ne} $\end{document} weakly-bound neutron-halo system on a lead target is presented, considering the \begin{document}$ 2p_{3/2} $\end{document} and \begin{document}$ 1f_{7/2} $\end{document} ground-state configurations. It is shown that a high centrifugal barrier almost wipes out the breakup channel, thus assimilating the breakup of a weakly-bound system to that of a tightly-bound system, and also reduces the range of the monopole nuclear potential. Consequently, a high centrifugal barrier prevents the suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference (CNI) peak by weakening couplings to the breakup channel and reducing the range of the monopole nuclear potential, two main factors that would otherwise suppress such a peak. The present study also identifies couplings to the breakup channel and a long-ranged monopole nuclear potential as the main factors that lead to the suppression of the CNI peak. A low centrifugal barrier together with a Coulomb barrier would also effectively prevent the suppression of the CNI peak in proton-halos as reported in the case of the \begin{document}$ ^8{\rm B} $\end{document} proton-halo.     

Analysis of the interaction between the ? meson and nucleus

In this study, we systematically investigate the ? meson and nucleus interaction by analyzing and fitting the cross sections of \begin{document}$ \gamma N $\end{document}\begin{document}$ \rightarrow \phi $\end{document}N reactions near the threshold, where N represents the nucleus. Using the vector meson dominant model, the distribution of the ?-N scattering length is presented as a function of energy, and the results show that there is a slight increase in scattering length with increasing energy. Based on this, the average scattering length of a ?-proton is obtained as\begin{document}$ 0.10\pm0.01 $\end{document} fm by combining experimental data and theoretical models. Moreover, the average scattering length of the ?-deuteron interaction is derived to be \begin{document}$ 0.014\pm0.002 $\end{document} fm for the first time. Furthermore, the effect of the momentum transfer \begin{document}$|t_{{\rm min}}|$\end{document} on the ?-N scattering length at the threshold is discussed. The obtained results not only provide important theoretical information for a more comprehensive and accurate study of the ?-N scattering length, but also a basis for future experimental measurements of ? meson production.     

激光散射,透射消光方法应用于测量同质核化率的实验研究

应用激光散射方法和透射消光方法，对戊醇在２５０Ｋ、１．０ｂａｒ状态附近同质核化凝结过程中微滴浓度和尺度进行了测算，并根据脉冲成核时间长短确定了戊醇同质核化率大小。实验结果表明：戊醇在携带气体—氦气中，在２５０Ｋ、１．０ｂａｒ附近的同质核化率范围为１．６０３×１０１５～６．６４５×１０１５ｍ－３ｓ－１，相应的饱和比范围为１３．０４～２０．７６。