Study of sulfur heterogeneous nucleation from supersaturated vapor on tungsten oxide and sodium chloride seed particles. Determination of contact angle of critical sulfur nuclei

A procedure has been developed for determining the contact angle of a critical nucleus formed on seed particles during the heterogeneous nucleation of a vapor in a flow chamber. The procedure comprises the determination of the fraction of enlarged particles, as well as the selective separation of nanoparticles over sizes to locate the zone of intense nucleation. The concentration and size distribution of aerosol particles have been measured with a diffusion spectrometer of aerosols. Vapor concentration distributions and supersaturation fields have been determined by solving the mass-transfer problem. The calculated supersaturation fields are in good agreement with the location of the intense nucleation zone experimentally found with the help of selective separation. The fractions of enlarged particles have been determined as functions of supersaturation in the chamber. A formula has been derived for calculating the fraction and size distribution function of enlarged particles at known supersaturation and temperature fields and a preset contact angle. The contact angles are selected in a manner such that the calculated fraction of enlarged particles coincides with that measured experimentally. It has been revealed that the contact angle of critical sulfur nuclei formed on tungsten oxide seed particles with average radii 〈R _p〉 ≈ 5.8?4.4 nm is in a range of 21.2?20.5°, while, in the case of sodium chloride seed particles with 〈R _p〉 ≈ 6.0?4.4 nm, the contact angle is 20.4?17.4°. The size of a critical nucleus has been found to be proportional to calculated average radius of a seed particle 〈R _p〉 in both cases.     

First example of intramolecular [2π + 2π] alkene-arene photocyclization in the chromone series and its synthetic utility

Diels-Alder adducts of chromones are shown to undergo an intramolecular [2_π+2_π] alkene-arene photocyclization, leading to a versatile polycyclic diene, which is capable of dimerization or can be introduced into a high-yielding photoprotolytic oxametathetic sequence. This allows for an expeditious growth of molecular complexity over a few experimentally simple steps with stereochemistry being defined and locked at the very first Diels-Alder step. The overall reaction can potentially be utilized in diversity-oriented synthesis as it allows for three or more diversity inputs furnishing novel unique polycyclic scaffolds, which can readily be decorated with a variety of functionalities and aromatic/heterocyclic pendants.     

DYNGA: a general purpose QM-MM-MD program. I. Application to water

We present a general purpose QM-MM-MD engine (DYNGA) designed to test alternative hybrid Hamiltonians geared towards the treatment of problems of interest in structural biology including the use of experimental data constraints. In this first presentation we use DYNGA to explore the behaviour of a traditional QM-MM approach in the treatment of the water—water interaction. We find the potential energy hypersurface for the water dimer computed with the HF 4–31G*/TIP3P hybrid Hamiltonian tends to be too flat. We also explore the effect of using traditional QM-MM techniques on proton wires and conclude there is a need for improvement, possibly addressed by using polarizable force fields.     

PAST AND FUTURE MANAGEMENT OF A COLLAPSED FISHERY: THE BAY OF BISCAY ANCHOVY

Abstract We analyze the efficiency of the international management of the Bay of Biscay anchovy. While a sharing agreement between France and Spain has been in place since 1992, the fish stock collapsed in 2005 and the fishery closed from 2005 to spring 2010. We consider differences in production technologies between both countries and calibrate our model using data from 1987 to 2009. Our results suggest two sources of rent dissipation under the existing sharing agreement: inefficient quota allocation and production inefficiencies due to inflexible national regulations. We discuss several alternatives to improve management.     

ConFlo III - an interface for high precision delta(13)C and delta(15)N analysis with an extended dynamic range

A newly developed interface coupling a CHN combustion device (elemental analyser 'EA') to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer is described and evaluated. The purpose of the device is to extend the dynamic range of delta(13)C and delta(15)N analysis from less than 2 orders of magnitude to more than 3 orders of magnitude. Carbon isotope ratio measurements of atropine as a model compound have been performed analysing between 1 μg to 5 mg C with acceptable to excellent precision (0.6 to 0.06 per thousand, delta-notation). The correction due to the blank signal is critical for sample amounts smaller than 4 μg C. The maximum sample weight is determined by the combustion capacity of the EA. Larger sample amounts are measured using dilution of a small part of the EA effluent with helium. The dilution mechanism works virtually free of isotope fractionation. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Helical Quantum States in a Strongly Frustrated Two-Dimensional Magnet

Thermodynamic properties of the J₁–J₂–J₃ quantum Heisenberg model are investigated on a square lattice with spin S = 1/2. The calculation of spin–spin correlators, spin excitation spectra, susceptibility, and heat capacity within a spherically symmetric approach shows that the third exchange J₃ may qualitatively change the properties of the system. Along with standard short-range order (antiferromagnetic, ferromagnetic, and stripe) structures, various quantum helices arise. In particular, these structures may be isotropic with a local minimum of the spectrum along a circle in the Brillouin zone. The character of these states represents both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic “twisted” quantum spin ordering. Moreover, a range of parameters is determined in which heat capacity exhibits two-peak temperature behavior.