Doping of KDP single crystals with cerium: Growth and optical properties

The features of doping of KDP crystals with cerium ions and organocerium complexes with alizarin complexon and arsenazo III have been investigated. It is established that “direct” doping by introducing cerium salts into the initial solution cannot be implemented. The effect of organometallic complexes of cerium on the crystal growth has been studied. Organocerium complexes predominantly enter the prismatic or pyramidal growth sectors. It is shown that the complex arsenazo III + Ce blocks the growth of the prismatic sector. Cerium-doped KDP crystals exhibit a photoluminescence band peaking at the wavelength λ_max= 350 nm.     

Mental representations of important real-life decisions

Two studies investigated how decision makers characterize alternatives in important real-life decisions, which they themselves had made (to leave a partner, to choose an education and to choose a home). First, the participants indicated a very high degree of involvement in the decisions studied and about half of the participants gave maximum involvement ratings for the partner decision. Second, the results showed that concepts that are essential in most decision theories, such as, consequence, probability and value were important characteristics of the decisions. Third, emotion, positive and negative affect were also important characteristics. Fourth, value and emotion were uncorrelated. Fifth, the patterns of characteristics of decisions made in the past did not differ markedly from the characteristics given to future decisions. Principal component analyses were performed on the ratings of applicability of the different characteristics across participants for each decision situation. Three factors were extracted. There was one factor for positive affect/emotions and another factor for negative affect/emotions verified in oblique solutions. Thus, different scales are needed to represent emotion/affect components (and not bipolar scales) in real-life important decisions. The third factor represented the way in which a decision was represented (moving pictures dialogue etc.). An analysis restricted to the participants who rated 100% involvement showed an additional fourth factor with “what others would think”, “similar situations”, “values” and “money” as the most prominent characteristics. This points to the importance of controlling for participant involvement in studies of human decision making to enable generalizations to real-life decisions.     

Ultraviolet B irradiation modulates the immune system of fish (Rutilus rutilus, Cyprinidae). II: Blood

The effects of a single dose of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (0.4 J/cm2) on immunological functions by blood leukocytes and on hematological parameters was studied in roach (Rutilus rutilus), a teleostean fish. The respiratory burst of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate stimulated whole blood phagocytes increased significantly after UVB irradiation but spontaneous cytotoxicity of blood leukocytes toward 51chromium-labeled K562 target cells was not markedly altered. Differential cell counting revealed that UVB exposure significantly increased the proportion of granulocytes and significantly decreased the proportion of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, whereas hematocrit and the total number of white and red blood cells were unchanged. Plasma cortisol concentration increased in UVB-exposed fish. Severe handling stress caused similar, although not as potent, effects on the measured parameters of fish blood as UVB irradiation. These observations suggest that in fish UVB brings about a stress response, which may account for the observed alterations in the immune parameters and leukocyte composition of blood. Exposure of fish to strong visible light induced no alterations in immunological or hematological parameters, making it unlikely that ultraviolet radiation mediates its effects through visual perception.     

Electronic spectra of dithieno analogues of phenanthrene

The magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra of some dithieno analogues of phenanthrene: benzo [2,1-b;3,4-b′] dithiophene (I) benzo [1,2-b;4,3-b′] dithiophene (II), benzo [1,2-c;3,4-c′] dithiophene (III) and benzo [1,2-b;3,4-b′] dithiophene (IV) are reported. For I–III the spectra corresponding to two different transition moment directions could be obtained from low-temperature linear dichroism spectra. The results compare well with theoretical energies, oscillator strengths, moment directions and MCD B-terms which were obtained from semi-empirical quantum mechanical calculations in the π-electron approximation.     

Synthesis of 5-cyclopropyluracil and 5-cyclopropylcytosine by the Pd(0)-catalyzed coupling reaction

5-Cyclopropyluracil and cyclopropylcytosine were prepared by the Pd(0)-catalyzed coupling reaction of 5-bromo-2,4-di(trimethylsilyloxy)pyrimidine and 5-bromo-2,4-O,N-bis-trimethylsilylcytosine with tributylstan-nylcyclopropane. The reactions also gave dehalogenated pyrimidine bases as by-products. Attempts to use 2,4-O,N-bis-trimethylsilyl-5-iodocytosine as the halide gave complete dehalogenation.     

The temperature-dependent red-shift of the visible absorption spectra of crystal violet in alcohol solutions

The visible absorption spectrum of the triphenylmethane dye, crystal violet, in various alcohol solutions at several temperatures has been recorded and subsequently analyzed by computer fitting. The observed spectral changes do not sustain either the earlier temperature-dependent absorption results of Lewis and co-workers or the concept of two ground-state species in equilibrium.     

Energetics and vibrational states for hydrogen on Pt(111)

We present a combination of theoretical calculations and experiments for the low-lying vibrational excitations of H and D atoms adsorbed on the Pt(111) surface. The vibrational band states are calculated based on the full three-dimensional adiabatic potential energy surface obtained from first-principles calculations. For coverages less than three quarters of a monolayer, the observed experimental high-resolution electron peaks at 31 and 68 meV are in excellent agreement with the theoretical transitions between selected bands. Our results convincingly demonstrate the need to go beyond the local harmonic oscillator picture to understand the dynamics of this system.     

Determination of oxycodone hydrochloride in oral solutions by high-performance thin-layer chromatography/densitometry

A thin-layer chromatography/densitometry method was developed and validated for the determination of oxycodone hydrochloride in oral solutions by using silica gel plates. A horizontal technique was used for development of the plates. The optimum composition for the mobile phase, which provided a suitable Rf value of 0.6 for oxycodone, was propanol-acetic acid-water-25% ammonia-methanol (20 + 1 + 1 + 3 + 10). Detection was at 234 nm. Oxycodone hydrochloride was stable on the sorbent and was precisely and accurately measured in the range of 0.3-1.5 microg/band.     

Weakly nonlinear model for oscillatory instability in Saturn's dense rings

Viscous overstability (oscillatory instability) may play an important role in the formation of small scale structure in dense planetary rings such as Saturn's B ring. We investigate the growth and saturation of such modes in local particle simulations. Starting from a hydrodynamic model, we develop a set of ordinary differential equations to model the evolution of the amplitudes of the linearly overstable modes in the nonlinear regime. The NASA/ESA space probe Cassini can make direct observations of these modes in Saturn's rings, including their sizes and temporal development.     

High-performance thin-layer chromatography method for assessment of the quality of combinatorial libraries,and comparison with liquid chromatography-ultraviolet-mass spectrometry

A high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed for fast evaluation of the purity of solid-phase synthesis products. The results obtained were in good agreement with results obtained by the LC-MS method (r(2) = 0.8404) or by the LC-UV method (r(2) = 0.8053), confirming the suitability of HPTLC for purity analysis of combinatorial syntheses. The synthesis products can be quantified and identified by measuring UV densitograms or in situ UV spectra or by ESI-MS after isolation of the zone of interest. A new, simple, and fast method for transferring the zone of the analyte from the plate to the ESI-MS equipment is described. The new HPTLC method enables rapid and efficient analysis of approximately 40 samples in parallel. As such, it offers a cheaper and easier way to analyze the purity of synthesis products than the commonly used LC-UV-MS.