Structural and optical properties of liquid CO2 for pressures up to 1 TPa

We report on the use of first-principles molecular dynamics calculations to examine properties of liquid carbon dioxide in the pressure-temperature range of 0-1 TPa and 200-100 000 K. The computed equations of state points are used to predict a series of shock Hugoniots with initial starting conditions that are relevant to existing and ongoing shock-wave experiments. A comparison with published measurements up to 70 GPa shows excellent agreement. We find that the liquid undergoes a gradual phase transition along the Hugoniot and have characterized this transition based on changes in bonding and structural properties as well as the conductivity and reflectivity of the fluid.     

Deciphering the molecular details for the binding of the prion protein to main ganglioside GM1 of neuronal membranes

The prion protein (PrP) resides in lipid rafts in?vivo, and lipids modulate misfolding of the protein to infectious isoforms. Here we demonstrate that binding of recombinant PrP to model raft membranes requires the presence of ganglioside GM1. A combination of liquid- and solid-state NMR revealed the binding sites of PrP to the saccharide head group of GM1. The binding epitope for GM1 was mapped to the folded C-terminal domain of PrP, and docking simulations identified key residues in the C-terminal region of helix C and the loop between strand S2 and helix B. Crucially, this region of PrP is linked to prion resistance in?vivo, and structural changes caused by lipid binding in this region may explain the requirement for lipids in the generation of infectious prions in?vitro.     

Water in planetary and cometary atmospheres: H2O/HDO transmittance and fluorescence models

We developed a modern methodology to retrieve water (H₂O) and deuterated water (HDO) in planetary and cometary atmospheres, and constructed an accurate spectral database that combines theoretical and empirical results. On the basis of a greatly expanded set of spectroscopic parameters, we built a full non-resonance cascade fluorescence model and computed fluorescence efficiencies for H₂O (500 million lines) and HDO (700 million lines). The new line list was also integrated into an advanced terrestrial radiative transfer code (LBLRTM) and adapted to the CO₂ rich atmosphere of Mars, for which we adopted the complex Robert–Bonamy formalism for line shapes. We retrieved water and D/H in the atmospheres of Mars, comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini), and Earth by applying the new formalism to spectra obtained with the high-resolution spectrograph NIRSPEC/Keck II atop Mauna Kea (Hawaii). The new model accurately describes the complex morphology of the water bands and greatly increases the accuracy of the retrieved abundances (and the D/H ratio in water) with respect to previously available models. The new model provides improved agreement of predicted and measured intensities for many H₂O lines already identified in comets, and it identifies several unassigned cometary emission lines as new emission lines of H₂O. The improved spectral accuracy permits retrieval of more accurate rotational temperatures and production rates for cometary water.     

Some Data on the Dynamics of Corrosion Processes in Water Circulation Cooling Systems

 Both origin and changes in phase composition of corrosion products deposited on Standard Carbon Steel during 313 days of exposure were monitored by X-ray diffraction analysis. The corrosion was caused by water from industrial cooling systems in the presence as well as in the absence an inhibitor. The predominant components of the corrosion products were initially found to be carbonates such as CaCO₃ as well as hydroxycarbonates like Fe₂(OH)₂CO₃; they were followed by the appearance of other products such as γ-FeOOH, Fe₃O₄, and α-FeOOH. The corresponding chemical reactions were found to comply with first-order kinetics. The rate constants were calculated from changes in the relative intensities of the corresponding X-ray patterns of Standard Carbon Steel samples. In absence of the inhibitor the rate of the corrosion processes were found to be 2.3 to 3 times higher than in its presence.     

Heteronuclear chemical shift correlation and J-resolved MAS NMR spectroscopy of lipid membranes

Direct observation of J-couplings remains a challenge in high-resolution solid-state NMR. In some cases, it is possible to use Lee-Goldburg (LG) homonuclear decoupling during rare spin observation in MAS NMR correlation spectroscopy of lipid membranes to obtain J-resolved spectra in the direct dimension. In one simple implementation, a wide line separation-type (13)C-(1)H HETCOR can provide high-resolution (1)H/(13)C spectra, which are J-resolved in both dimensions. Coupling constants, (1)J(HC), obtained from (1)H doublets, can be compared with scaled (1)J(θ)(CH)-values obtained from the (13)C multiplets to assess the LG efficiency and scaling factor. The use of homonuclear decoupling during proton evolution, LG-HETCOR-LG, can provide J-values, at least in the rare spin dimension, and allows measurements in less mobile membrane environments. The LG-decoupled spectroscopic approach is demonstrated on pure dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) membranes and used to investigate lipid mixtures of DOPC/cholesterol and DOPC/cholesterol/sphingomyelin.     

Activity of some crystal faces of supported palladium catalysts for benzene hydrogenation

Using known coverages of preadsorbed carbon monoxide as a specific poison on supported polycrystalline Pd, the degree of benzene conversion into cyclohexane was measured and compared with the conversion over a CO-free catalyst surface. Palladium crystal faces adsorbing carbon monoxide in various manners are uniformly active for benzene hydrogenation, which appears to be a structure insensitive reaction.

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High-pressure molecular phases of solid carbon dioxide

We present a theoretical study of solid CO2 up to 50 GPa and 1500 K using first-principles calculations. In this pressure-temperature range, interpretations of recent experiments have suggested the existence of CO2 phases which are intermediate between molecular and covalent-bonded solids. We reexamine the concept of intermediate phases in the CO2 phase diagram and propose instead molecular structures, which provide an excellent agreement with measurements.     

Enhanced Friedel structure and proton pairing in dense solid hydrogen

The mechanism of proton pairing in dense solid hydrogen, and its progression with density, are both studied using effective potentials between protons which include electronic response up to quadratic terms. For high pressures nonlinear effects originating with different pairs are crucial in establishing the net attraction within a given pair, and in this picture Friedel oscillations are considerably enhanced by quadratic response, subsequently playing a very important role in the overall pairing. Calculated vibron frequencies also show substantial agreement with experiment, reflecting at the same time significant changes in the physical character of the pairing itself.     

Ab initio calculations of the equation of state of hydrogen in a regime relevant for inertial fusion applications

We describe ab initio electronic structure calculations (density functional theory molecular dynamics and coupled electron-ion quantum Monte Carlo) of the equation of state (EOS) of hydrogen in a pressure-temperature regime relevant for simulating the initial phase of an inertial confinement fusion capsule implosion. We find the computed EOS to be quite close to that of the most recent SESAME table (constructed by G. Kerley, 2003). A simple density-dependent but temperature-independent correction brings the 2003-Kerley EOS into excellent agreement with ours in the chosen region of the hydrogen phase diagram. Simulations of fusion ignition experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) with this modified 2003-Kerley table are shown to produce results nearly indistinguishable from those of the 2003-Kerley EOS, which was used to design the capsule. In this sense, we do not expect that further improvements to the hydrogen EOS in this particular regime will impact the capsule design.