On the history of the discovery of nanodiamond synthesis

The history of the discovery of nanodiamond synthesis, the investigation of nanodiamond properties, and the application and organization of their production in the second half of the 20th century is expounded. It is noted that this history is unique, since nanodiamond synthesis was discovered in the USSR three times over 19 years: first by K.V. Volkov, V.V. Danilenko, and V.I. Elin at the VNIITF (Snezhinsk) in 1963 and then, in 1982, by A.M. Staver and A.I. Lyamkin at the Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Division, Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Novosibirsk), and by G.I. Savvakin at the Institute of Problems of Materials Science, Academy of Sciences of the UkSSR (Kiev). All of these researchers discovered nanodiamond synthesis accidentally while studying diamond synthesis by shock compression of nondiamond carbon modifications in blast chambers. The priority of work by Russian scientists in this field is demonstrated.     

Influence of the conditions of manufacture of nanomeric zirconium dioxide,stabilized with yttrium oxide,on its catalytic properties in the oxidation of CO

The morphological and catalytic properties of samples of nanomeric zirconium dioxide, stabilized with yttrium oxide, manufactured via the effect of a UHF field during the process of drying precipitated zirconium hydroxide and calcination at temperatures from 300 to 1000 °C, were studied. It was shown that the highest activity in the oxidation of CO occurred with 40 nm particles of zirconium dioxide prepared at 1000 °C. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 96–101, March–April, 2007.     

Chemistry of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N,N</Emphasis>-bis(silyloxy)enamines 7. Quaternization of tertiary amines and nitrogen-containing heterocycles by <Emphasis Type="Italic">N,N</Emphasis>-bis(silyloxy)enamines

Coupling of N,N-bis(silyloxy)enamines with tertiary amines and nitrogen-containing heterocycles affording the corresponding functionalized ammonium or iminium salts was studied. The area of its application was determined, and optimal procedures for the synthesis of the target products were proposed. The mechanism including the formation of conjugated nitroso alkene or a silylnitrosonium cation as key intermediates is discussed.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2137–2143, October, 2004.     

Heat capacities of aqueous solutions of amino acid and dipeptide derivatives of fullerene

The concentration dependences of heat capacities of aqueous solutions of several amino acid and peptide derivatives of fullerene were measured by scanning differential calorimetry at 298 K. The heat capacities for the arginine, alanylalanine, and glycylvaline derivatives dissolved in water depend slightly on concentration. The concentration dependences of the heat capacities of aqueous solutions of the serine and alanine derivatives display extrema. The calculated contributions of hydration to the heat capacities of the dissolved fullerene derivatives have both positive and negative signs. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2202–2204, November, 1998.     

X-ray diffraction studies of imperfect crystals by the example of fluorinated graphites

An X-ray diffraction technique for the study of imperfect crystals of natural graphite and its fluorinated products is proposed. The diffraction patterns measured are free from the preferred orientation effect and provide the simulation based on a 1D disordered crystal.     

Multiple and Polynomial Recurrence for Abelian Actions in Infinite Measure

The (C,F)-construction from a previous paper of the first authoris applied to produce a number of funny rank one infinite measurepreserving actions of discrete countable Abelian groups G with‘unusual’ multiple recurrence properties. In particular,the following are constructed for each p N{}:

1. a p-recurrent actionT=(T_g)_gG such that (if p) no one transformationT_g is (p+1)-recurrentfor every element g of infinite order;
2. an action T=(T_g)_gGsuch that for every finite sequence g1,...,g_rGwithout torsionthe transformation T_g1x...x T_gr is ergodic,p-recurrent but(if p) not (p+1)-recurrent;
3. a p-polynomially recurrent (C,F)-transformationwhich (if p)is not (p+1)-recurrent.

-recurrence here meansmultiple recurrence. Moreover, it is shown that there existsa (C,F)-transformation which is rigid (and hence multiply recurrent)but not polynomially recurrent. Nevertheless, the subset ofpolynomially recurrent transformations is generic in the groupof infinite measure preserving transformations endowed withthe weak topology.     

Analysis of the spatial orientation distribution of building blocks in polycrystals as determined using transmission electron microscopy and a backscattered electron beam in a scanning electron microscope

The advantages and disadvantages of the method of automatic analysis of electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) patterns for studying spatial orientation distributions are considered as compared to transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A misorientation spectrum in a test alloy (Kh20N80 alloy) having a high content of annealing twins is experimentally studied using both TEM and EBSD, and the results obtained are compared.     

Mixing rank-one actions for infinite sums of finite groups

LetG be a countable direct sum of finite groups. We construct an uncountable family of pairwise disjoint mixing (of any order) rank-one strictly ergodic free actions ofG on a Cantor set. All of them possess the property of minimal self-joinings (of any order). Moreover, an example of rigid weakly mixing rank-one strictly ergodic freeG-action is given. The work was supported in part by CRDF, grant UM1-2546-KH-03.