Recent Work

Filters that output noncoherent detector statistics have, in our recent work [1], shown to be very powerful for grain noise suppression in ultrasonics. However, such filters require the operator to carefully specify a transient prototype as a model of the defect echoes which should be detected. Here a new approach is presented, based on the above ideas about perception, which eliminates the need for the operator to manually specify a defect prototype. 

Gilman [124] and Westwood and Hitch [135] have applied the cleavage technique to a variety of crystals. The salts studied (with cleavage plane and best surface tension value in parentheses) were LiF (100, 340), MgO (100, 1200), CaFa (111, 450), BaFj (111, 280), CaCOa (001, 230), Si (111, 1240), Zn (0001, 105), Fe (3% Si) (100, about 1360), and NaCl (100, 110). Both authors note that their values are in much better agreement with a very simple estimate of surface energy by Bom and Stem in 1919, which used only Coulomb terms and a hard-sphere repulsion. In more recent work, however, Becher and Freiman [126] have reported distinctly higher values of y, the critical fracture energy. ... 

The silanization reaction has been used for some time to alter the wetting characteristics of glass, metal oxides, and metals [44]. While it is known that trichlorosilanes polymerize in solution, only very recent work has elucidated the mechanism for surface reaction. A novel FTIR approach allowed Tripp and Hair to prove that octadecyl trichlorosilane (OTS) does not react with dry silica. 

SERS. A phenomenon that certainly involves the adsorbent-adsorbate interaction is that of surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy, or SERS. The basic observation is that for pyridine adsorbed on surface-roughened silver, there is an amazing enhancement of the resonance Raman intensity (see Refs. 124—128). More recent work has involved other adsorbates and colloidal... 

Two other examples will sufhce. Methane physisorbs on NaCl(lOO) and an early study showed that the symmetrical, IR-inactive v mode could now be observed [97]. In more recent work, polarized FTIR rehection spectroscopy was used to determine that on being adsorbed, the three-fold degeneracies of the vs and v modes were partially removed [98]. This hnding allowed consideration of possible adsorbate-adsorbent geometries one was that of a tripod with three of the methane hydrogens on the surface. The systems were at between 4 and 40 K so that the equilibrium pressure was very low, about 10 atm. 

Of course, condensed phases also exliibit interesting physical properties such as electronic, magnetic, and mechanical phenomena that are not observed in the gas or liquid phase. Conductivity issues are generally not studied in isolated molecular species, but are actively examined in solids. Recent work in solids has focused on dramatic conductivity changes in superconducting solids. Superconducting solids have resistivities that are identically zero below some transition temperature [1, 9, 10]. These systems caimot be characterized by interactions over a few atomic species. Rather, the phenomenon involves a collective mode characterized by a phase representative of the entire solid. 

The strong dependence of the PES on molecular orientation also leads to strong coupling between rotational states, and hence rotational excitation/de-excitation in the scattering. This has been observed experimentally for H2 scattering from Cu surfaces. Recent work has shown that for H2 the changes m rotational state occur almost exclusively when the molecular bond is extended, that is, longer than the gas-phase equilibrium value [ ]. 

Note that equation (A3.11.1881 includes a quantum mechanical trace, which implies a sum over states. The states used for this evaluation are arbitrary as long as they form a complete set and many choices have been considered in recent work. Much of this work has been based on wavepackets [46] or grid point basis frmctions [47]. 

With spectroscopic detection of the products, the angular distribution of the products is usually not measured. In principle, spectroscopic detection of the products can be incorporated into a crossed-beam scattering experiment of the type described in section B2.3.2. There have been relatively few examples of such studies because of the great demands on detection sensitivity. The recent work of Keil and co-workers (Dhannasena et al [16]) on the F + H2 reaction, mentioned in section B2.3.3, is an excellent example of the implementation... 

The homonuclear rare gas pairs are of special interest as models for intennolecular forces, but they are quite difficult to study spectroscopically. They have no microwave or infrared spectmm. However, their vibration-rotation energy levels can be detennined from their electronic absorjDtion spectra, which he in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region of the spectmm. In the most recent work, Hennan et al [24] have measured vibrational and rotational frequencies to great precision. In the case of Ar-Ar, the results have been incoriDorated into a multiproperty analysis by Aziz [25] to develop a highly accurate pair potential. 

An explanation for these size-dependent optical properties, tenned quantum confinement , was first outlined by Bms and co-workers in the early 1980s, [156, 158, 159, 160 and 161] and has fonned the basis for nearly all subsequent discussions of these systems. Though recent work has modified and elaborated on this simple model, its basic predictions are surjDrisingly accurate. The energy of the lowest-lying exciton state is given by the following simple fonnula ... 

Some of the most interesting recent work in the optical properties of nanocrystals involves the study of single nanocrystals rather than ensembles, using near-field optical teclmiques. These relatively new optical methods can... 

Recent work indicates the existence offluoric I) acid. HFO, formed by the reaction of fluorine and water at 273 K. The acid forms colourless crystals, m.p. 156 K. is very unstable, and has, as expected, very strong oxidising properties. 

The literature of surface diffusion is now quite extensive. A review of the basic ideas, with reference to many of the earlier papers, is given by Dacey [44], and a good selection of references including more recent work can be found in Aris [45]... 

The most recent work indicates that in anhydrous sulphuric acid the above conversion is complete. The slightly modified absorption band in oleum arises from the hydrogen pyrosulphate ion formed in the following way ... 

First the protected oligopeptide is coupled with polymer-bound nitrophenol by DCC. N"-Deblocking leads then to simultaneous cycliiation and detachment of the product from the polymer (M. Fridkin, 1965). Recent work indicates that high dilution in liquid-phase cycli-zation is only necessary, if the cyclization reaction is sterically hindered. Working at low temperatures and moderate dilution with moderately activated acid derivatives is the method of choice for the formation of macrocyclic lactams (R.F. Nutt, 1980). 

Recent work, however, has shown that provided the solid is truly non-porous, the value of s for nitrogen does not dilfer greatly from 2-7, even when the surface of the solid is nonpolar (cf. lines (ii) and (v) of Table 2.13). 

A rather more specific mechanism of microbial immobilization of metal ions is represented by the accumulation of uranium as an extracellular precipitate of hydrogen uranyl phosphate by a Citrobacter species (83). Staggering amounts of uranium can be precipitated more than 900% of the bacterial dry weight Recent work has shown that even elements that do not readily form insoluble phosphates, such as nickel and neptunium, may be incorporated into the uranyl phosphate crystallites (84). The precipitation is driven by the production of phosphate ions at the cell surface by an external phosphatase. 

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