Cobalt improves nickel hydroxide electrodes for batteries

Positive nickel hydroxide electrodes containing 20 mole percent of cobalt hydroxide are more efficient than when impregnated to the same degree by weight with nickel hydroxide alone. Charge-acceptance and oxygen-evolution tests indicate cobalt electrodes are more efficient than plain positive nickel hydroxide electrodes at all rates of charge

Evaluation of the Strecker synthesis as a source of amino acids on carbonaceous chondrites

The Strecker synthesis (SS) has been proposed as the source of amino acids (AA) formed during aqueous alteration of carbonaceous chondrites. It is postulated that the aldehyde and ketone precursors of the meteoritic AA originated in interstellar syntheses and accreted on the meteorite parent body along with other reactant species in cometesimal ices. The SS has been run with formaldehyde, acetyldehyde, propionaldehyde, acetone, and methyl ketone as starting materials. To study the effect of minerals on the reaction, the SS was run in the presence and absence of dust from the Allende meteorite using deuterated aldehydes and ketones as starting materials. The products were studied by GC/MS. With the exception of glycine, the retention of deuterium in the AA was greater than 90 pct. Some D exchange with water does occur, however, and determination of the rate of exchange as a function of pH and temperature may allow some bounds to be placed on the duration of parent body aqueous alteration. The retention of D by the AA under conditions studied thus far is consistent with the model that a SS starting from interstellar aldehydes and ketones led to the production of meteoritic AA

The State of State Science Standards 2012

American science performance is lagging as the economy becomes increasingly high tech, but our current science standards are doing little to solve the problem. Reviewers evaluated science standards for every state for this report and their findings were deeply troubling: The majority of states earned Ds or Fs for their standards in this crucial subject, with only six jurisdictions receiving As. Explore all the state report cards and see how your state performed

MoodBar: Increasing new user retention in Wikipedia through lightweight socialization

Socialization in online communities allows existing members to welcome and recruit newcomers, introduce them to community norms and practices, and sustain their early participation. However, socializing newcomers does not come for free: in large communities, socialization can result in a significant workload for mentors and is hard to scale. In this study we present results from an experiment that measured the effect of a lightweight socialization tool on the activity and retention of newly registered users attempting to edit for the first time Wikipedia. Wikipedia is struggling with the retention of newcomers and our results indicate that a mechanism to elicit lightweight feedback and to provide early mentoring to newcomers improves their chances of becoming long-term contributors.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for presentation at CSCW'1

Gene identification for the cblD defect of vitamin B12 metabolism

Background Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is an essential cofactor in several metabolic pathways. Intracellular conversion of cobalamin to its two coenzymes, adenosylcobalamin in mitochondria and methylcobalamin in the cytoplasm, is necessary for the homeostasis of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. Nine defects of intracellular cobalamin metabolism have been defined by means of somatic complementation analysis. One of these defects, the cblD defect, can cause isolated methylmalonic aciduria, isolated homocystinuria, or both. Affected persons present with multisystem clinical abnormalities, including developmental, hematologic, neurologic, and metabolic findings. The gene responsible for the cblD defect has not been identified. Methods We studied seven patients with the cblD defect, and skin fibroblasts from each were investigated in cell culture. Microcell-mediated chromosome transfer and refined genetic mapping were used to localize the responsible gene. This gene was transfected into cblD fibroblasts to test for the rescue of adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin synthesis. Results The cblD gene was localized to human chromosome 2q23.2, and a candidate gene, designated MMADHC (methylmalonic aciduria, cblD type, and homocystinuria), was identified in this region. Transfection of wild-type MMADHC rescued the cellular phenotype, and the functional importance of mutant alleles was shown by means of transfection with mutant constructs. The predicted MMADHC protein has sequence homology with a bacterial ATP-binding cassette transporter and contains a putative cobalamin binding motif and a putative mitochondrial targeting sequence. Conclusions Mutations in a gene we designated MMADHC are responsible for the cblD defect in vitamin B12 metabolism. Various mutations are associated with each of the three biochemical phenotypes of the disorder

Dynamic equation for quantum Hall bilayers with spontaneous interlayer coherence: The low-density limit

The bilayer systems exhibit the Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons that emerge due to Coulomb pairing of electrons belonging to one layer with the holes belonging to the other layer. Here we present the microscopic derivation of the dynamic equation for the condensate wave function at a low density of electron-hole ($e-h$) pairs in a strong magnetic field perpendicular to the layers and an electric field directed along the layers. From this equation we obtain the dispersion law for collective excitations of the condensate and calculate the electric charge of the vortex in the exciton condensate. The critical interlayer spacing, the excess of which leads to a collapse of the superfluid state, is estimated. In bilayer systems with curved conducting layers, the effective mass of the $e-h$ pair becomes the function of the $e-h$ pair coordinates, the regions arise, where the energy of the $e-h$ pair is lowered (exciton traps), and lastly $e-h$ pairs can gain the polarization in the basal plane. This polarization leads to the appearance of quantized vortices even at zero temperature.Comment: 8 page

Cosine and Sine Operators Related with Orthogonal Polynomial Sets on the Intervall [-1,1]

The quantization of phase is still an open problem. In the approach of Susskind and Glogower so called cosine and sine operators play a fundamental role. Their eigenstates in the Fock representation are related with the Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind. Here we introduce more general cosine and sine operators whose eigenfunctions in the Fock basis are related in a similar way with arbitrary orthogonal polynomial sets on the intervall [-1,1]. To each polynomial set defined in terms of a weight function there corresponds a pair of cosine and sine operators. Depending on the symmetry of the weight function we distinguish generalized or extended operators. Their eigenstates are used to define cosine and sine representations and probability distributions. We consider also the inverse arccosine and arcsine operators and use their eigenstates to define cosine-phase and sine-phase distributions, respectively. Specific, numerical and graphical results are given for the classical orthogonal polynomials and for particular Fock and coherent states.Comment: 1 tex-file (24 pages), 11 figure

The complex molecular absorption line system at z=0.886 towards PKS1830-211

New millimeter wave observations of the molecular absorption line system in the gravitational lens to PKS1830-211 at z=0.88582 is presented. Self-calibrated interferometer data shows unequivocally that the previously detected absorption component is associated with the gravitationally lensed south-west image of the background source. A second absorption line of HCO+(2-1) at z=0.88582 is detected. This component is shifted in velocity by -147 km/s relative to the main absorption line, and is shown to be associated with the north-east image. These two absorption lines are used to constrain the mass of the lensing galaxy. Upper limits to absorption and emission lines from the possible absorption system at z=0.1927, seen in 21cm HI by Lovell et al, are reported.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

A two-dimensional, two-electron model atom in a laser pulse: exact treatment, single active electron-analysis, time-dependent density functional theory, classical calculations, and non-sequential ionization

Owing to its numerical simplicity, a two-dimensional two-electron model atom, with each electron moving in one direction, is an ideal system to study non-perturbatively a fully correlated atom exposed to a laser field. Frequently made assumptions, such as the ``single active electron''- approach and calculational approximations, e.g. time dependent density functional theory or (semi-) classical techniques, can be tested. In this paper we examine the multiphoton short pulse-regime. We observe ``non-sequential'' ionization, i.e.\ double ionization at lower field strengths as expected from a sequential, single active electron-point of view. Since we find non-sequential ionization also in purely classical simulations, we are able to clarify the mechanism behind this effect in terms of single particle trajectories. PACS Number(s): 32.80.RmComment: 10 pages, 16 figures (gzipped postscript), see also http://www.physik.tu-darmstadt.de/tqe

Ejection Energy of Photoelectrons in Strong Field Ionization

We show that zero ejection energy of the photoelectrons is classically impossible for hydrogen-like ions, even when field ionization occurs adiabatically. To prove this we transform the basic equations to those describing two 2D anharmonic oscillators. The same method yields an alternative way to derive the anomalous critical field of hydrogen-like ions. The analytical results are confirmed and illustrated by numerical simulations. PACS Number: 32.80.RmComment: 7 pages, REVTeX, postscript file including the figures is available at http://www.physik.th-darmstadt.de/tqe/dieter/publist.html or via anonymous ftp from ftp://tqe.iap.physik.th-darmstadt.de/pub/dieter/publ_I_pra_pre.ps, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.