Effects of the presence of pyrite and carbonate minerals on the kinetics of the uranium release from a natural rock

Summary The influence of calcite, dolomite, pyrite and vaterite on the kinetics of uranium release from a natural rock under relevant, i.e., field conditions has been investigated. The time dependence of the U release has been studied in two different experimental procedures (open and closed systems) at laboratory temperature (21±2 °C). Performing batch experiments in tap water, the U release efficiency of a natural U-bearing rock was characterized in the presence of varying amounts of three different carbonate bearing minerals for experimental durations of up to 782 days. Another experiment was conducted for a period of 14 days in the presence of a pyrite mineral. The results demonstrate that the presence of carbonate minerals does not have any significant influence on U release in closed systems where the U concentration at saturation was ca. 54 mg/l. In contrast, in open systems, the U concentration was ca. 8 mg/l at saturation and the effects of all additives both on kinetics and saturation concentration of U were apparent.     

Spectral methods with sparse matrices

Summary Spectral methods employ global polynomials for approximation. Hence they give very accurate approximations for smooth solutions. Unfortunately, for Dirichlet problems the matrices involved are dense and have condition numbers growing asO(N ⁴) for polynomials of degree N in each variable. We propose a new spectral method for the Helmholtz equation with a symmetric and sparse matrix whose condition number grows only asO(N ²). Certain algebraic spectral multigrid methods can be efficiently used for solving the resulting system. Numerical results are presented which show that we have probably found the most effective solver for spectral systems.     

Matched/Mismatched interaction of a cyclic hexapeptide with ion pairs containing chiral cations and chiral anions

The binding of a chiral quaternary ammonium ion to a cyclopeptide containing aromatic amino acid subunits is affected not only by the configuration of the cation but also by the configuration of the chiral counterion. Analysis of the binding equilibria shows that complex formation involves interaction of the whole ion pair with the host indicating that steric requirements of the anion influence complex geometry and stability.     

Quantum treatment of Brownian motion and influence of dissipation on diffusion in dynamically disordered systems

The time-dependent hamiltonian formulation of the Langevin equation is used as a starting point for a quantum treatment of the motion of a free Brownian particle. From an exact solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the density-matrix in one dimension we obtain the mean square displacement, x ²(t), of the Brownian particle, as well as the mean displacement induced by a uniform electric fieldE(t). While quantum effects are significant for time intervals up to the frictional relaxation time, the long time results are identical to those obtained directly from the solution of the Langevin equation. Next, we analyse in a similar way the motion of an electron in a dynamically disordered continuum where the effect of a classical friction force (dissipation) is taken into account. The friction effect is described using the phenomenological time-dependent hamiltonian inferred from the Langevin equation and the potential fluctuations are assumed to have a generalized gaussian white-noise form. The final result for x ² (t) shows a time-dependence similar to that obtained for the case of Brownian motion. In particular, it corresponds to diffusive behavior at long times, in contrast to thet ³-dependence obtained in a recent study for the case where friction is absent.     

Internal Biokinetic Behaviour of Molybdenum in Humans Studied with Stable Isotopes as Tracers

Abstract

Although molybdenum is considered to be an essential trace metal for humans, the knowledge about its metabolism is rather limited. The present study was aimed at the assessment of biokinetics following intravenous injection of trace amounts of ⁹⁵Mo or ⁹⁶Mo into five healthy volunteers. In a total of 11 investigations, the plasma clearance up to eight hours and the urinary excretion for at least three days after the injection were evaluated. The tracer concentrations were determined by proton nuclear activation analysis in blood plasma and by thermal ionization mass spectrometry in urine samples respectively. In all subjects, the plasma clearance is much faster than expected from the literature. The data obtained for the plasma clearance of the tracer can reasonably be fitted by a two exponential equation. The half times of the fast component range between 4 and 70 minutes and for the slow component between 3 and 30 hours. The urinary excretion of the injected tracer seems also to be faster than expected and the fractions lost are higher for larger doses administered. For the smallest dose given, 34% of the injected tracer were excreted within one day whereas for the four times larger dose about 60% were lost. These findings on urinary excretion are in agreement with recently published results.     

Self-consistent theory of localization in weakly disordered systems

An analytic treatment of localization in a weakly disordered system is presented for the case where the real lattice is approximated by a Cayley tree. Contrary to a recent assertion we find that the mobility edge moves inwards into the band as disorder increases from zero.