[2,6-Bis(dimethyl­amino­meth­yl)phen­yl]selenium bromide monohydrate

In the title hydrated molecular salt, C12H19N2Se+·Br−·H2O, the two independent bromide anions lie on a twofold rotation axis. Strong intra­molecular N→Se inter­actions [2.185 (3) and 2.181 (3) Å] are established by both N atoms of the organic group in the cation, in trans positions to each other, with an N—Se—N angle of 161.6 (1)°, resulting in a T-shaped (C,N,N′)Se core. In the crystal, dimeric associations are formed by Br⋯Se [3.662 (2) Å] and Br⋯H inter­actions [2.56 (6) and 2.63 (7) Å] involving two bromide anions, two cations and two water mol­ecules

Tunable membranes incorporating artificial water channels for high-performance brackish/low-salinity water reverse osmosis desalination

Membrane-based technologies have a tremendous role in water purification and desalination. Inspired by biological proteins, artificial water channels (AWCs) have been proposed to overcome the permeability/selectivity trade-off of desalination processes. Promising strategies exploiting the AWC with angstrom-scale selectivity have revealed their impressive performances when embedded in bilayer membranes. Herein, we demonstrate that self-assembled imidazole-quartet (I-quartet) AWCs are macroscopically incorporated within industrially relevant reverse osmosis membranes. In particular, we explore the best combination between I-quartet AWC and m-phenylenediamine (MPD) monomer to achieve a seamless incorporation of AWC in a defect-free polyamide membrane. The performance of the membranes is evaluated by crossflow filtration under real reverse osmosis conditions (15 to 20 bar of applied pressure) by filtration of brackish feed streams. The optimized bioinspired membranes achieve an unprecedented improvement, resulting in more than twice (up to 6.9 L center dot m-2 center dot h-1 center dot bar-1) water permeance of analogous commercial membranes, while maintaining excellent NaCl rejection (>99.5%). They show also excellent performance in the purification of low-salinity water under low-pressure conditions (6 bar of applied pressure) with fluxes up to 35 L center dot m-2 center dot h-1 and 97.5 to 99.3% observed rejection

In-beam fast-timing measurements in 103,105,107Cd

Fast-timing measurements were performed recently in the region of the medium-mass 103,105,107Cd isotopes, produced in fusion evaporation reactions. Emitted gamma-rays were detected by eight HPGe and five LaBr3:Ce detectors working in coincidence. Results on new and re-evaluated half-lives are discussed within a systematic of transition rates. The $7/2_1^+$ states in 103,105,107Cd are interpreted as arising from a single-particle excitation. The half-life analysis of the $11/2_1^-$ states in 103,105,107Cd shows no change in the single-particle transition strength as a function of the neutron number

Fast-timing measurements in 95,96Mo

Half-lives of the 19/2+ and 21/2+ states in 95Mo and of the 8+ and 10+ states in 96Mo were measured. Matrix elements for yrast transitions in 95Mo and 96Mo are discussed.Comment: Proceedings of XIX International School on Nuclear Physics, Neutron Physics and Applications, Varna, Bulgaria, 2011, 5 pages, 6 figure

Search for particle–vibration coupling in 65Cu

The lifetime of the 9/2 + state of 65 Cu, at 2534 keV, has been measured by fast timing techniques, in order to establish wether such state arises from a weak coupling between a p3=2 proton and the 3 octupole vibration at 3.56 MeV in the 64 Ni core. The 65 Cu nucleus was populated by the reaction 7 Li + 64 Ni at 32 MeV, at the Horia Hu- lubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (NIPNE) in Bucharest, and its -decay was detected by the ROSPHERE array. The measured lifetime coresponds to a B(E3) reduced transition probability to the ground state equal to 8.89 W.u., in agreement with theoretical predictions in the weak coupling limit

Quadrupole collectivity in neutron-rich Cd isotopes

4 pags., 2 figs. -- INPC 2013 – International Nuclear Physics ConferenceThe investigation of the excitation energies of the 21+ –states in the neutron-rich Cd isotopes shows an irregular behaviour when approaching the neutron shell-closure at N = 82. The energy of the 21+–state in 128Cd is lower than the one in 126Cd. The transition strength B(E2, 0gs+ → 21+) in the even isotopes 122−128Cd was measured in Coulomb excitation experiments with the high-purity germanium detector array MINIBALL at REXISOLDE (CERN). The values for 122,124Cd coincide with beyond-mean-field calculations with a resultant prolate deformation, whereas 126,128Cd are better described by shell-model calculations.This project is supported by BMBF (No. 06 DA 9036I, No. 05 P12 RDCIA, No. 05 P12 RDCIB and No. 05 P12 PKFNE), HIC for FAIR, EU through EURONS (No. 506065) and ENSAR (No. 262010) and the MINIBALL and REX-ISOLDE collaborations

Right ventricle to pulmonary artery coupling after transcatheter aortic valve implantation—Determinant factors and prognostic impact

IntroductionRight ventricular (RV) dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension (PH) have been previously associated with unfavorable outcomes in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), but little is known about the effect of right ventricle (RV) to pulmonary artery (PA) coupling. Our study aimed to evaluate the determinant factors and the prognostic value of RV-PA coupling in patients undergoing TAVI.MethodsOne hundred sixty consecutive patients with severe AS were prospectively enrolled, between September 2018 and May 2020. They underwent a comprehensive echocardiogram before and 30 days after TAVI, including speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for myocardial deformation analysis of the left ventricle (LV), left atrium (LA), and RV function. Complete data on myocardial deformation was available in 132 patients (76.6 ± 7.5 years, 52.5% men) who formed the final study population. The ratio of RV free wall longitudinal strain (RV-FWLS) to PA systolic pressure (PASP) was used as an estimate of RV-PA coupling. Patients were analyzed according to baseline RV-FWLS/PASP cut-off point, determined through time-dependent ROC curve analysis, as follows: normal RV-PA coupling group (RV-FWLS/PASP ≥0.63, n = 65) and impaired RV-PA coupling group (RV-FWLS/PASP < 0.63, n = 67).ResultsA significant improvement of RV-PA coupling was observed early after TAVI (0.75 ± 0.3 vs. 0.64 ± 0.3 before TAVI, p < 0.001), mainly due to PASP decrease (p < 0.001). LA global longitudinal strain (LA-GLS) is an independent predictor of RV-PA coupling impairment before and after TAVI (OR = 0.837, p < 0.001, OR = 0.848, p < 0.001, respectively), while RV diameter is an independent predictor of persistent RV-PA coupling impairment after TAVI (OR = 1.174, p = 0.002). Impaired RV-PA coupling was associated with a worse survival rate (66.3% vs. 94.9%, p-value < 0.001) and emerged as an independent predictor of mortality (HR = 5.97, CI = 1.44–24.8, p = 0.014) and of the composite endpoint of death and rehospitalization (HR = 4.14, CI = 1.37–12.5, p = 0.012).ConclusionOur results confirm that relief of aortic valve obstruction has beneficial effects on the baseline RV-PA coupling, and they occur early after TAVI. Despite significant improvement in LV, LA, and RV function after TAVI, RV-PA coupling remains impaired in some patients, it is mainly related to persistent pulmonary hypertension and is associated with adverse outcomes

Energy separation of the 1⁺/1⁻ parity doublet in ²⁰Ne

The parity doublet of 1⁺/1⁻ states of Ne⁻²⁰ at 11.26 MeV excitation energy is one of the best known test cases to study the weak part of the nuclear Hamiltonian. The feasibility of parity violation experiments depend on the effective nuclear enhancement factor (RN/|E(1⁺) − E(l⁻)|) which amplifies the impact of the matrix element of the weak interaction on observables indicating parity mixing. An extreme large value of Rn/|E(1⁺) − E(l⁻)| = (670 ± 7000) MeV⁻¹ was reported for the doublet in ²⁰Ne. The large uncertainty depends amongst others on the large uncertainty of |E(1⁺) − E(l⁻)| = 7.7±5.5 keV of the parity doublet. Nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) experiments with linearly and circularly polarized photon beams were performed at the High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, to determine the energy difference of the parity doublet with higher precision. The different angular distributions for 0⁺ → 1⁻ → 0⁺ and 0⁺ → 1⁺ → 0⁺ NRF cascades in polarized γ-ray beams were used to determine the energy difference of the parity doublet to 2.9(13) keV

Probing particle-phonon-coupled states in the neutron-rich nucleus Cu-65 by lifetime measurements with fast-timing techniques

The Cu-65 nucleuswas populated by the Ni-64(Li-7,alpha 2n)Cu-65 reaction and the lifetime of the 9/2(+) state at 2.5 MeV was measured by electronic fast-timing technique, providing the value tau = 37(3) ps. The reduced transition probability B(E3) = 8.82(165) W.u. is deduced and compared to theoretical predictions in the framework of a particle-vibration (weak) coupling model. The results indicate that the 9/2(+) state is a member of the 3(-)circle times pi p3/2 multiplet, built by coupling the octupole 3(-) phonon of Ni-64 to an unpaired proton in the p(3/2) level, confirming the robustness of core excitations in the medium mass nucleus Ni-64