Transfer measurements for the Ti+Ni systems at near barrier energies

Large enhancements have been observed in the sub-barrier fusion cross sections for Ti+Ni systems in our previous studies. Coupled channel calculations incorporating couplings to 2⁺ and 3⁻ states failed to explain these enhancements completely. A possibilty of transfer channels contributing to the residual enhancements had been suggested. In order to investigate the role of relevant transfer channels, measurements of one- and two-nucleon transfer were carried out for ^46,48Ti+⁶¹Ni systems. The present paper gives the results of these studies.     

The effect of treating air samples with magnesium perchlorate for water removal during analysis for non-methane hydrocarbons

A comparison has been made between two cryogenic preconcentration - high resolution gas chromatography techniques for the analysis of non-methane hydrocarbons in ambient air, one involving treatment of air samples with magnesium perchlorate to remove water, the other involving analysis without treatment. Recoveries of C₁-, C₂-, and C₃-substituted benzenes in treated samples were 80%, 50%, and 50%, respectively. Incomplete recovery of C₇-C₉ n-1-olefins was also observed. C₂-C₈ hydrocarbons and C₂-C₆ n-1-olefins were recovered with greater than 90% efficiency. Analyses of certified audit samples containing a mixture of C₂-C₈ aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons at the 20 ppbv level in humidified zero-grade air indicated that the accuracy of the technique for untreated air samples was approximately 90%. The use of magnesium perchlorate for water removal cannot be recommended for the analysis of non-methane hydrocarbons in ambient air.     

Dispersive power and crossover temperature,TCO, of two polar nematic liquid crystals in the visible spectral region

Refractive index studies are carried out on two highly polar liquid crystals: 1. N-(p-n-methoxy benzylidene)-p-amino benzonitrile, PmBAB, 2. N-(p-n-ethoxy benzylidene)-p-amino benzonitrile, PeBAB. The experimental investigations are carried out in the visible region at four different wavelengths, namely, 633, 589, 546 and 436 nm. The two compounds exhibit only the nematic liquid crystalline phase in between the isotropic and crystalline solid. The dispersive power ω is estimated for two consecutive wavelengths for the case of <n>, n_e and n_o for different wavelengths and found to be constant with temperature. Further the temperature gradients of n_e and n_o are estimated, and the crossover temperature is obtained using dn_o/dT for all the wavelengths.     

Direct thermal desorption of semivolatile organic compounds from diffusion denuders and gas chromatographic analysis for trace concentration measurement

A novel method for collection and analysis of vapor-phase semivolatile organic compounds (SOCs) in ambient air is presented. The method utilizes thermal desorption of SOCs trapped in diffusion denuders coupled with cryogenic preconcentration on Tenax-TA and analysis by high resolution gas chromatography (GC)-electron-capture detection (ECD). The sampling and analysis methods employ custom-fabricated multicapillary diffusion denuders, a hot gas spike (HGS) apparatus to load known quantities of thermally stable standards into diffusion denuders prior to sample collection, a custom-fabricated oven to thermally desorb SOCs from the diffusion denuder, and a programmable temperature vaporization (PTV) inlet containing a liner packed with Tenax-TA for effective preconcentration of the analytes and water management. High flow rates into the PTV inlet of 750mLmin(-1)during thermal desorption are ca. a factor of ten greater than typically used. To improve resolution and retention time stability, the thermal desorption and PTV inlet programming procedure includes three steps to prevent water from entering the analytic column while effectively transferring the analytes into the GC system. The instrumentation and procedures provide virtually complete and consistent transfer of analytes collected from ambient air into the GC evidenced by recovery of seven replicates of four internal standards of 90.7+/-4.0-120+/-23% (mean+/-95% confidence interval, CI). Retention time based compound identification is facilitated by low retention time variability with an average 95% CI of 0.024min for sixteen replicates of eight standards. Procedure details and performance metrics as well as ambient sampling results are presented.     

Steering in computational science: Mesoscale modelling and simulation

This paper outlines the benefits of computational steering for high performance computing applications. Lattice-Boltzmann mesoscale fluid simulations of binary and ternary amphiphilic fluids in two and three dimensions are used to illustrate the substantial improvements which computational steering offers in terms of resource efficiency and time to discover new physics. We discuss details of our current steering implementations and describe their future outlook with the advent of computational grids.     

High-volume sampling of airborne polychlorobiphenyls with amberlite xad-2 resin

Polyurethane foam, polyurethane foam coated with DC-200, Florisil, and Amberlite XAD-2 resin have been evaluated in a small-scale comparative study of their ability to sample airborne polychlorobiphenyls. XAD-2 resin has an excellent collection efficiency for tetrachlorobiphenyl at 1 l min^-1 flow rates and is also suitable for high-volume air sampling. A high-volume air sampler was modified to sample both particulate and vapor-phase polychlorobiphenyls by incorporating the XAD-2 resin behind a glass fiber filter. When the sampling system was operated at a flow rate of 0.7 m³ min^-1 for 24 h, the collection efficiencies for tetrachlorobiphenyl and Aroclor 1221 were 96.5% and 83.0%, respectively.     

Isolobal analogy between trivalent boron and divalent silicon

Singlet organosilylenes with a lone pair and an emptyp orbital are isolobal to trivalent borane if a B-H is equated to the lone pair on Si. Using this analogy, a particular isomer of CSi₂H₂ (24) is predicted to be a stable structure. MNDO calculations on24 and many of its possible isomers suggest that24 is at global minimum on the potential energy surface of CSi₂H₂.Ab initio calculations using a, minimal STO-3G basis set, on some selected structures also support these results.     

A Measurement Technique for Organic Nitrates and Halocarbons in Ambient Air

A cryogenic preconcentration/high-resolution gas chromatographic technique has been developed for the rapid, simultaneous quantitation of C₁–C₄ organic nitrates and halocarbons in ambient air. Whole-air samples are collected in Tedlar^TM bags by an evacuated-chamber method. Samples were stable in 0.010-cm-thick bags for 24 h if they were immediately stored in a freezer at −25°C. Analytes in a 50-cm³ air sample were efficiently preconcentrated on fused-silica beads at −180°C and thermally desorbed at 30°C. High-resolution gas chromatography with a cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane fused-silica capillary column and an electron-capture detector were used for separation and quantitation of the analytes. An analysis time of about 12 min was facilitated by sample cryofocusing at −180°C and oven temperature programming. Recoveries of the analytes by the evacuated-chamber method were better than 95%. The sensitivity of the technique for sample volumes of 50 cm³ is in the sub-parts-per-trillion by volume (ppt[v]) range for many of the analytes, with an average precision of about ±5% for analytes at levels of about 10 ppt(v).     

Evaluation of a valveless thermal desorption system for organic aerosols and vapors. Transfer lines and preconcentration module

Semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are distributed in the atmosphere between the gas- and aerosol-phases. The low vapor pressures of some SVOCs makes thermal extraction and transfer through gas chromatographic (GC) systems difficult. We evaluated a programmable temperature vaporization (PTV) GC inlet, which served as the preconcentration module, and four open-tubular capillaries (Silcosteel- and Siltek-treated stainless steel, Silcosteel-treated stainless steel coated with 100% dimethylpolysiloxane, and deactivated fused silica) as transfer lines in a valveless, whole-sample analytic system. Thermal extraction of C(9)-C(36)n-alkanes at 300 and 320 degrees C from fused silica and quartz wool in the PTV inlet was equally efficient. Adsorptive losses of C(22)-C(36)n-alkanes to stainless steel surfaces that protruded into the PTV inlet were suspected. Thus, treatment of the outer surfaces of transfer lines is recommended for effective thermal transfer of SVOCs. Transfer efficiencies began to decline after n-C(24), n-C(28), and n-C(30) in Silcosteel-treated stainless steel, deactivated fused silica, and Siltek-treated stainless steel transfer lines, respectively. Thus, quantitative recovery at 320 degrees C of compounds with vapor pressures less than about 3 x 10(-8)Pa is not expected in valveless SVOC thermal desorption systems that use Siltek-treated stainless steel transfer lines and fused silica or quartz wool as preconcentration substrates.