Chiroptical activity of holmium pyrogermanate: tetragonal Ho2Ge2O7

Chiroptical luminescence and circular dichroism measurements are reported for single crystals of Ho₂Ge₂O₇. These crystals belong to the tetragonal space group P4,2,2 (or P4₃2₁2) with Z=4. Each Ho³⁺ ion in the crystal structure is coordinated to seven oxygens to form a distorted pentagonal bipyramid. The Ho³⁺ ions exhibit luminescence from several excited multiplet levels; chiroptical luminescence spectra are reported for ⁶I₈ → ⁶F₆, ⁶S₂, and ⁶F₃ at a sample temperature of 10 K. Room-temperature absorption and circular dichroism measurements are reported for the ⁶I₈ → ⁶F₆, ⁵S₂, ⁶F₄, and ⁶F₃ transition regions.     

Surface electronic structure of rare earth metals

Angle-resolved UV photoemission has been used to investigate the electronic structure of the (0001) surfaces of scandium, yttrium, praseodymium and gadolinium. Off-normal emission spectra were recorded with high angular resolution, enabling detailed mapping of the dispersion of valence band features. Yttrium and gadolinium show similar results to published data from Ho(0001), suggesting minimal 4f influence in the lanthanide bandstructures. Differences seen on praseodymium and scandium may be due to 4f derived states and surface states respectively.     

Survey of animal livers for vitamin A content.

Retail samples of livers from calf (23), ox (18), lamb (17), pig (15), chicken (16) and turkey (1) were analysed to determine levels of vitamin A (all trans-retinol) and to aid assessment of the effects of using vitamin supplemented compound feedingstuffs for livestock. For comparison, 22 liver samples from lambs reared on diets not containing vitamin-supplemented compound feedingstuffs and four samples of liver from ox which had received supplemented feed but not during the last four months prior to slaughter were also analysed. The chosen method of analysis utilized saponification, solvent extraction and normal-phase high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. For all species analysed, the levels of vitamin A ranged from 10 to 1100 mg/kg, with all but seven at or below 400 mg/kg. For lamb and ox livers, the mean levels were 310 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg respectively for retail samples. The mean levels were 220 mg/kg (lamb) and 120 mg/kg (ox) in liver samples from animals fed controlled diets. The results are of the same order as those reported over recent years.     

Genetic and physical mapping of the WBP1 locus close to CENV.

The WBP1 locus, encoding an essential component of the N-oligosaccharyl transferase, was mapped both genetically and physically. The gene is located on chromosome V between CENV and gcn4. The distance from CENV sequences is 2 kb.     

Comparison of six methylation methods for analysis of the fatty acid composition of albacore lipid

Six methods widely used to produce methyl esters for the gas chromatographic determination of the fatty acid composition of a marine lipid were compared. Four acid-catalyzed methods (1% H₂SO₄: CH₃OH; 5% HCl: CH₃OH; 7% and 14% BF₃: CH₃OH) and two base-catalyzed methods [0.5M NaOCH₃: CH₃OH; (1:4) tetramethylguanidine: CH₃OH] were used.
The use of BF₃: CH₃OH (7% and 14%) gave a lower content of 18:1 n9 than the other methods and produced an artefact (2.7–3.2% of total fatty acid content) eluting between the 20:5 and 24:1 fatty acid methyl esters. No significant differences were obtained between the other four methods.
Accordingly the use of BF₃: CH₃OH for transmethylation of marine lipids is not recommended. Results obtained in the other four methods showed that all are comparable.     

Dough mixing and breadmaking properties of quinoa-wheat flour blends

Flour blends of quinoa-wheat containing 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% of manually dehulled quinoa meal or flour were evaluated for dough mixing and breadmaking properties and liking of the bread by a small panel. Increasing amounts of quinoa meal or flour increased farinograph absorption and dislike of bread for most of the panel. Dough development time increased with increase in meal but decreased with increase in quinoa flour. At 10% inclusion levels differences in liking from control 100% wheat flour bread were smaller for flour or water extracted meal to most of the panel, than with 10% non-extracted meal. This suggests that 10% inclusion of flour or water extracted meal may have potential for further investigation.     

Electrical conductivity in iodine-doped ethyl cellulose

The electrical conductivity of solution-grown ethyl cellulose (EC) films, 5–30 μm thick, has been studied in the sandwich configuration (metal–EC–metal) as a function of iodine concentration from 0.5 to 5.0 wt% ratio. The studies were conducted in the temperature range 333–383 K, while the field was varied over the range (3.0–5.5) × 10⁴V/cm. Aluminium was used as the lower electrode, while the upper electrode was of Al, Ag, Cu, Au or Sn. Certain transient effects such as a large burst of current immediately after the application of field were observed. An attempt was made to identify the nature of the current by comparing the observed dependence on electric field, electrode material and temperature with the respective characteristic features of the existing theories of electrical conduction. The results show that the electrical conduction follows Ohm's law at lower fields, while at higher fields, space-charge limited current (SCLC) was observed. It was also found that Richardson–Schottky emission was responsible, to some extent, for the transport of charge carriers in the polymer. The conductivity of the films increased on doping with iodine. The dopant molecules are considered to act as additional trapping centes and provide links between the polymer molecules in the amorphous region, thus resulting in the formation of charge transfer complexes.     

Maintaining quality lead-free [circuit board inspection]

The change to lead-free solders means that circuit board inspection will become more important than ever. The author investigates differences between lead and lead-free solders.     

Modification of the method of simulation of truncated random variables

A new method for simulation of truncated random variables is described. Several similar methods are considered. It is shown that a substantial reduction in computation time is achieved by utilizing the proposed method.Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 4, pp. 12–13, April, 1995.     

Effect of thermal load on heat-transfer coefficient in porous-sublimation cooling

It was shown that, under thermal loads that are sufficiently larger (smaller) than a certain value, the heat transfer coefficient for porous-sublimation cooling increases (decreases) with an increase in the thermal load.Physico-Technical Low Temperatures Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Inzlieneron-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 62, No. 6, pp. 783–785, June, 1992.