Formation and hydrogenation of p(2 × 2)-N on Pt(1 1 1)

The formation of a well-ordered p(2 × 2) overlayer of atomic nitrogen on the Pt(1 1 1) surface and its reaction with hydrogen were characterized with reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), temperature programmed desorption (TPD), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The p(2 × 2)-N overlayer is formed by exposure of ammonia to a surface at 85 K that is covered with 0.44 monolayer (ML) of molecular oxygen and then heating to 400 K. The reaction between ammonia and oxygen produces water, which desorbs below 400 K. The only desorption product observed above 400 K is molecular nitrogen, which has a peak desorption temperature of 453 K. The absence of oxygen after the 400 K anneal is confirmed with AES. Although atomic nitrogen can also be produced on the surface through the reaction of ammonia with an atomic, rather than molecular, oxygen overlayer at a saturation coverage of 0.25 ML, the yield of surface nitrogen is significantly less, as indicated by the N₂ TPD peak area. Atomic nitrogen readily reacts with hydrogen to produce the NH species, which is characterized with RAIRS by an intense and narrow (FWHM ∼ 4 cm⁻¹) peak at 3322 cm⁻¹. The areas of the H₂ TPD peak associated with NH dissociation and the XPS N 1s peak associated with the NH species indicate that not all of the surface N atoms can be converted to NH by the methods used here.     

Synthesis, binding affinity, and relaxivity of target-specific MRI contrast agents

Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most important imaging modalities of the central nervous system (CNS), one of the main drawbacks of MRI is its limited specificity. This can potentially be partially alleviated by target-specific contrast agents. In the present paper we describe a simple high yield synthesis of two such gadolinium-based spiperone targeted MRI contrast agents, 1a and 1b. The R₁ relaxivities of 1a and 1b were evaluated and found to be 5.94 and 8.31 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively at 9.4T, while their R₂ relaxivities at the same magnetic field were found to be 18.05 and 22.60 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively. In addition and very importantly compound 1a, which is a gadolinium-based, spiperone-targeted MRI contrast agent, was found to preserve some of the spiperone affinity toward the dopamine D2 receptor. Compounds 1a and 1b thus represent potential agents for in vitro dopamine receptor imaging using MRI in experimental models. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Viscous fingering and the shape of an electronic droplet in the quantum Hall regime

We show that the semiclassical dynamics of an electronic droplet, confined in a plane in a quantizing inhomogeneous magnetic field in the regime where the electrostatic interaction is negligible, is similar to viscous (Saffman-Taylor) fingering on the interface between two fluids with different viscosities confined in a Hele-Shaw cell. Both phenomena are described by the same equations with scales differing by a factor of up to 10(-9). We also report the quasiclassical wave function of the droplet in an inhomogeneous magnetic field.     

A preconditioning technique for a class of PDE-constrained optimization problems

We investigate the use of a preconditioning technique for solving linear systems of saddle point type arising from the application of an inexact Gauss?CNewton scheme to PDE-constrained optimization problems with a hyperbolic constraint. The preconditioner is of block triangular form and involves diagonal perturbations of the (approximate) Hessian to insure nonsingularity and an approximate Schur complement. We establish some properties of the preconditioned saddle point systems and we present the results of numerical experiments illustrating the performance of the preconditioner on a model problem motivated by image registration.     

A fast method for the solution of the Helmholtz equation

In this paper, we consider the numerical solution of the Helmholtz equation, arising from the study of the wave equation in the frequency domain. The approach proposed here differs from those recently considered in the literature, in that it is based on a decomposition that is exact when considered analytically, so the only degradation in computational performance is due to discretization and roundoff errors. In particular, we make use of a multiplicative decomposition of the solution of the Helmholtz equation into an analytical plane wave and a multiplier, which is the solution of a complex-valued advection–diffusion–reaction equation. The use of fast multigrid methods for the solution of this equation is investigated. Numerical results show that this is an efficient solution algorithm for a reasonable range of frequencies.     

Necessary and sufficient conditions for current conservation in the framework of Relativistic Quantum Field Theory

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the conservation of vector currents covariant under translations and of the Conformal currents, are formulated and proven. Only the weak spectrum condition is assumed, thus the theorems serve as generalizations of a well-known theorem due to Coleman. This is done under the axioms of Relativistic Quantum Field Theory due to Wightman.     

Spontaneous breakdown in two dimensional space-time

We prove that in two-dimensional space-time, symmetry transformations which are generated by Poincaré covariant currents can not be spontaneously broken. This is also the case with the dilation current. We argue that other currents which involve explicit space-time dependence might lead to spontaneously broken symmetries accompanied by massless Goldstone bosons. We construct a trivial example where this phenomenon occurs.     

A Multilevel Method for the Solution of Time Dependent Optimal Transport

In this paper we present a new computationally efficient numerical scheme for the minimizing flow for the computation of the optimal $L_2$mass transport mapping using the fluid approach. We review the method and discuss its numerical properties. We then derive a new scaleable, efficient discretization and a solution technique for the problem and show that the problem is equivalent to a mixed form formulation of a nonlinear fluid flow in porous media. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using a number of numerical experiments.     

Reversible hydrogenation of surface N atoms to form NH on Pt(111)

The formation and dissociation chemistry of the NH species on Pt(111) was characterized with reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption. Irradiation of a chemisorbed bilayer of ammonia with a 100 eV electron beam at 85 K leads to a mixture of NH, N, and H on the surface. Annealing to temperatures in the range of 200-300 K leads to reaction of N and H to form additional NH. The NH species has an intense and narrow NH stretch peak at 3320 cm(-1), while no peak due to the PtNH bend is observed above 800 cm(-1). The NH species is stable up to a temperature of approximately 400 K. The surface N atoms produced from NH dissociation are readily hydrogenated back to NH by exposure of the surface to H2. However, NH cannot be further hydrogenated to generate adsorbed NH2 or to NH3 under the conditions used here. Exposure of the NH/Pt(111) surface to D2 at 380 K produces the ND species. Comparison with the results of density functional theory calculations based on small Pt clusters indicates that NH occupies three-fold hollow sites with the molecular axis perpendicular to the surface.     

Application of inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with an internal reference to the determination of sulfate and calcium in waters and brines

A method is described for the determination of sulfate and calcium in waters and brines; an inductively-coupled plasma is used with a multichannel vacuum spectrometer. Study of the behavior of the line-to-background intensity ratios for the S I 180.734, Ca II 317.933, Sc I 402.04 and Sc II 361.384-nm lines as functions of the observation height, aerosol carrier gas, power, and concentration of an easily ionized element shows that Sc II 361.384 nm can be used as an internal reference for sulfur and calcium. In the presence of high salt concentrations, the efficiency and quality of nebulization are degraded and at high aerosol gas flows in the presence of sodium, the line-to-background ratios for the ion lines are depressed and those of the atom lines are enhanced. However, under compromise conditions, the S I 180.734-nm and Ca II 317.933-nm lines exhibit significant freedom from interference caused by an easily ionized element. With the Sc II 361.384-nm line used as the internal reference, short-term precision is improved by a factor of 1.5–4, and long-term precision is improved by a factor of 2, producing data for sulfate and calcium that compare favorably with those obtained by gravimetry, titrimetry, and atomic absorption spectrometry. A detection limit of 70 μg l^?1 and a linear dynamic range of 1 g l^?1 were obtained for sulfate.