Gas-phase polymerization: ultraslow chemistry

The mechanism of formation of polymer molecules in the gas phase is difficult to study because the involatile polymers tend to condense out of that phase. However, new techniques, involving the use of cloud chambers, have enabled workers to use the nucleation of liquid drops in supersaturated monomer vapors to detect single polymer molecules and therefore to work with so few simultaneously growing polymers that aggregation and condensation are avoided. Chain polymerization in which the chain carriers are either radicals or ions can therefore be studied in the vapor. Furthermore, the ability to work with such small concentrations of growing polymeric radicals, for example, makes it possible to avoid encounters between them that lead to recombination and the formation of "dead" polymers that are incapable of further growth. Many aspects of gas-phase polymerization can be studied including, besides radical and ion chains, ring-opening polymerization, initiation, radiation-induced polymerization, and especially "ultraslow" chemistry.     

Gas-phase infrared spectrum of the protonated water dimer

The protonated water dimer is a prototypical system for the study of proton transfer in aqueous solution. We report infrared photodissociation spectra of cooled H+(H2O)2 [and D+(D2O2] ions, measured between 620 and 1900 wave numbers (cm-1). The experiment directly probes the shared proton region of the potential energy surface and reveals three strong bands below 1600 cm-1 and one at 1740 cm-1 (for H5O2+). From a comparison to multidimensional quantum calculations, the three lower energy bands were assigned to stretching and bending fundamentals involving the O...H+...O moiety, and the highest energy band was assigned to a terminal water bend. These results highlight the importance of intermode coupling in shared proton systems.     

Gas-phase ionic reactions: dynamics and mechanism of nucleophilic displacements

Nucleophilic displacement reactions (the SN2 reaction) of ions in the gas phase are a prototypical reaction system that allows a study of dynamics, mechanisms, and structure-energy relations. This article reviews aspects of the kinetics (especially the applicability of statistical reaction rate theory), the relation of structure and reactivity, and the effects of small numbers of solvent molecules on the reaction and compares the behavior of the ionic reaction in the gas phase with that in solution.     

Gas-phase inorganic chemistry: monovalent derivatives of calcium and strontium

The chemistry and spectroscopy of monovalent derivatives of calcium and strontium are described. Laser-driven chemical reactions of calcium and strontium vapors with a variety of small molecules have provided many new free radicals. In general, these species are analogous to the stable molecules obtained in traditional inorganic or organometallic chemistry, but some new families of molecules have been discovered.     

跨越管理学案例教学障碍的若干思考

案例教学是一种引导式、启发式、参与式教学,很适合于教授管理课程,应该在管理学教学实践中大力推广。近几年来,我们在大学本科管理课教学中推进案例教学法遇到了不少障碍和问题,本文针对这些障碍和问题提出相应的对策与措施。     

Gone with the wind: the origin of S0 galaxies in clusters

We present three-dimensional, high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction between the hot ionized intracluster medium and the cold interstellar medium of spiral galaxies. Ram pressure and turbulent/viscous stripping remove 100% of the atomic hydrogen content of luminous galaxies like the Milky Way within 100 million years. These mechanisms naturally account for the morphology of S0 galaxies and the rapid truncation of star formation implied by spectroscopic observations, as well as a host of observational data on the neutral hydrogen (HI) morphology of galaxies in clusters.     

Suspended particulate matter: concentration in the major oceans

Quantitative data from over 500 concentrates of suspended particulate material has been summarized statistically for the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. From clear ocean water a majority of samples were in the range of 0 to 9.9 milligrams per 200 liters and the next largest number were in the range of 10 to 19.9 milligrams per 200 liters. Certain areas of cloudy or nepheloid water, observed photographically, contain relatively more samples in heavier concentration ranges and have larger mean values than clear ocean water.     

最小生成树算法的一种实现方法及其在代数理论上的探讨

图论中最小生成树问题的算法在现实中应用非常广泛,本文先根据其中的Kruskal算法的步骤并结合数据结构中单链表的特点对在计算机中如何实现这一问题进行了阐述和分析,最后又更加深入地探讨了如何利用代数理论来判定最小生成树涉及到的简单无向图连通性问题。     

Large clusters of metal ions: the transition from molecular to bulk magnets

Clusters of metal ions are a class of compounds actively investigated for their magnetic properties, which should gradually change from those of simple paramagnets to those of bulk magnets. However, their interest lies in a number of different disciplines: chemistry, which seeks new synthetic strategies to make larger and larger clusters in a controlled manner; physics, which can test the validity of quantum mechanical approaches at the nanometer scale; and biology, which can use them as models of biomineralization of magnetic particles.     

Age estimates of globular clusters in the Milky Way: constraints on cosmology

Recent observations of stellar globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy, combined with revised ranges of parameters in stellar evolution codes and new estimates of the earliest epoch of globular cluster formation, result in a 95% confidence level lower limit on the age of the Universe of 11.2 billion years. This age is inconsistent with the expansion age for a flat Universe for the currently allowed range of the Hubble constant, unless the cosmic equation of state is dominated by a component that violates the strong energy condition. This means that the three fundamental observables in cosmology-the age of the Universe, the distance-redshift relation, and the geometry of the Universe-now independently support the case for a dark energy-dominated Universe.     

Littoral of the northeastern United States: late quaternary warping

Isobases constructed from recently published data are strikingly parallel to both the edge of the continental shelf off the northeastern United States and the Fall Zone. Our analyses suggest that the downwarping recorded by these isobases may be explained by Daly's hypothesis of a collapsing peripheral or marginal "bulge."     

Bacterial injectisomes: needle length does matter

Many pathogenic bacteria use a type III secretion nanomachine (an injectisome) to deliver virulence proteins into the cytosol of their eukaryotic host cells. Most injectisomes possess a stiff needlelike structure of a genetically defined length. We found that a minimal needle length was required for efficient functioning of the Yersinia enterocolitica injectisome. This minimal needle length correlated with the length of the major adhesin at the bacterial surface. The needle may be required for triggering type III secretion, and its length may have evolved to match specific structures at the bacterial and host cell surfaces.     

Meteorites: optical activity in organic matter

A low- amplitude, positive, Cotton effect, centered at about 340 millimicrons, has been observed in organic extracts of samples from ordinary (noncarbonaceous) chondrites. Ancillary evidence renders it likely that this optical activity derived from contamination by biologic materials on Earth.