Optical conductivity and electron interaction in the one-dimensional metal K2Pt (CN)4 Br0.3 · 3H2O

Experimental and theoretical investigations of the optical conductivity of K₂Pt (CN)₄Br_0,3 · 3H₂O single crystals for phonon energies near the plasma edge are reported. The imaginary part of the dielectric function is determined by only two scattering processes: Elastic scattering of holes by the Coulomb potentials of randomly distributed Br-ions and inelastic scattering by excitation of plasmons.     

Number conserving relaxation-time approximation for second-order quantum response

The effect of damping on the quantum response of an electronic system is studied up to second order in an applied electro-magnetic field. This is accomplished by introducing a relaxation term into the equation of motion for the single particle density operator. This relaxation term contains a local chemical potential which is determined by requirements of gauge invariance and number conservation.     

Calculation of the indirect contribution to the heavy-ion nucleon transfer reaction amplitude

The indirect contribution to the heavy-ion nucleon transfer reaction amplitude has been evaluated using the distorted-wave Born approximation neglecting recoil effects. This contribution is usually ignored. Two different formulations of the indirect interaction were tried. One of these formulations gives a completely negligible contribution to the nucleon transfer reaction amplitude. The other gives a negligible effect for the angular dependence of the differential cross section but nevertheless produces a considerable change in the magnitude of the cross section.     

A model calculation to explain the existence of bulk photo-currents in ferroelectrics

We present a quantum mechanical calculation of the bulk photovoltaic current in ferroelectrics which leads to the correct order of magnitude compared with experimental data. Our theory is based on the model of “asymmetric” transition probabilities which has been recently proposed by Glass to explain the anomalous photovoltaic effect in LiNbO₃.     

Expansion and relaxation of magnetic mirror domains in a Pt/Co/Pt/Co/Pt multilayer with antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling

We detail measurements of field-driven expansion and zero-field relaxation of magnetic mirror domains in antiferromagnetically coupled perpendicularly magnetized ultrathin Co layers. The zero-field stability of aligned ('mirror') domains in such systems results from non-homogeneous dipolar stray fields which exist in the vicinity of the domain walls. During field-driven domain expansion, we evidence a separation of the domain walls which form the mirror domain boundary. However, the walls realign, thereby reforming a mirror domain, if their final separation is below a critical distance at the end of the field pulse. This critical distance marks the point at which the effective net interaction between the walls changes from attractive to repulsive.     

Acoustic plasmons in a two-component Fermi system

The dispersion and line width of the longitudinal collective modes of a two-component degenerate Fermi-system (T=0) are obtained from the zeros of the dielectric function (q,). The basis of our theory are kinetic equations for the distribution function including elastic electron-impurity scattering. Our results area) there is only one acoustic branchb) this mode is overdamped forq0, andc) acoustic plasmons contribute only little to the energy loss-function (or the screened electron-ion and electron-electron potential).     

Cloning and analysis of the spinosad biosynthetic gene cluster of Saccharopolyspora spinosa

BACKGROUND: Spinosad is a mixture of novel macrolide secondary metabolites produced by Saccharopolyspora spinosa. It is used in agriculture as a potent insect control agent with exceptional safety to non-target organisms. The cloning of the spinosyn biosynthetic gene cluster provides the starting materials for the molecular genetic manipulation of spinosad yields, and for the production of novel derivatives containing alterations in the polyketide core or in the attached sugars. RESULTS: We cloned the spinosad biosynthetic genes by molecular probing, complementation of blocked mutants, and cosmid walking, and sequenced an 80 kb region. We carried out gene disruptions of some of the genes and analyzed the mutants for product formation and for the bioconversion of intermediates in the spinosyn pathway. The spinosyn gene cluster contains five large open reading frames that encode a multifunctional, multi-subunit type I polyketide synthase (PKS). The PKS cluster is flanked on one side by genes involved in the biosynthesis of the amino sugar forosamine, in O-methylations of rhamnose, in sugar attachment to the polyketide, and in polyketide cross-bridging. Genes involved in the early common steps in the biosynthesis of forosamine and rhamnose, and genes dedicated to rhamnose biosynthesis, were not located in the 80 kb cluster. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the S. spinosa genes involved in spinosyn biosynthesis are found in one 74 kb cluster, though it does not contain all of the genes required for the essential deoxysugars. Characterization of the clustered genes suggests that the spinosyns are synthesized largely by mechanisms similar to those used to assemble complex macrolides in other actinomycetes. However, there are several unusual genes in the spinosyn cluster that could encode enzymes that generate the most striking structural feature of these compounds, a tetracyclic polyketide aglycone nucleus.     

A host-guest optical sensor for aliphatic amines based on lipophilic cyclodextrin

A host-guest optical sensor for the determination of aliphatic amines as exemplified by octylamine is proposed. It is based on the reversible fluorescence enhancement of heptakis(2,6-di-O-isobutyl)-β-cyclodextrin(DOB-β-CD) hosting tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) immobilized in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane by aliphatic amine extracted from aqueous phase into membrane phase. The optimum membrane contained 1.15 wt % TPP, 6.15 wt % DOB-β-CD as sensing reagent and other membrane materials. The fluorescence enhancement of the membrane resulted from the formation of a stable three-component complex among DOB-β-CD, TPP, and aliphatic amines. With the optimum conditions described, the fluorescence response of the sensor to octylamine shows a good correlation with the theoretically derived equation in the range 1.0 × 10^–6 to 8.0 × 10^–4 mol/L. The response characteristics including reversibility, response time, reproducibility and lifetime and selectivity of this optical device are also discussed in detail. This sensor has also been applied for the determination of octylamine in water samples containing interferents with satisfactory recovery.     

Polarization potentials in heavy-ion scattering

A polarization potential is defined in terms of the Feshbach projection operator formalism to represent the effect upon the elastic channel of the coupling to non-elastic channels in heavy-ion scattering. The polarization potential represents coupling to specific surface degrees of freedom of the particular reaction considered and it is contrasted to the complementary global approaches for the volume potential such as the folding model and the proximity potential. The coupled channels method is used both as a source of exact model solutions for comparison with the various approximate potential forms and also as a numerical means of constructing trivially equivalent local potentials. The imaginary Coulomb polarization potential is due in lowest order to quadrupole coupling to the lowest collective 2⁺ state of a nucleus. It is considered in detail since it provides the insight of closed analytical forms in various approximations. Multistep coupling to higher states, energy loss and off-energy shell effects are also considered analytically. The real Coulomb polarization potential due to the virtual excitation of multipole giant resonances, and the polarization potential arising from relativistic corrections, are investigated in detail. Polarization potential components due to nuclear coupling are investigated numerically. Analytical cross section approaches are contrasted with the polarization potential approach and with coupled channels.