104 research outputs found
Halogen bonding stabilizes a cis-azobenzene derivative in the solid state: A crystallographic study
Crystals of trans- and cis-isomers of a fluorinated azobenzene derivative have been prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The presence of F atoms on the aromatic core of the azobenzene increases the lifetime of the metastable cis-isomer, allowing single crystals of the cis-azobenzene to be grown. Structural analysis on the cis-azobenzene, complemented with density functional theory calculations, highlights the active role of the halogen-bond contact (N...I synthon) in promoting the stabilization of the cis-isomer. The presence of a long aliphatic chain on the azobenzene unit induces a phase segregation that stabilizes the molecular arrangement for both the trans- and cis-isomers. Due to the rarity of cis-azobenzene crystal structures in the literature, our paper makes a step towards understanding the role of non-covalent interactions in driving the packing of metastable azobenzene isomers. This is expected to be important in the future rational design of solid-state, photoresponsive materials based on halogen bonding. We show by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies and computational analysis that halogen bonding can stabilize a metastable cis-azobenzene derivative in the solid state
Renormalization of the weak hadronic current in the nuclear medium
The renormalization of the weak charge-changing hadronic current as a
function of the reaction energy release is studied at the nucleonic level. We
have calculated the average quenching factors for each type of current (vector,
axial vector and induced pseudoscalar). The obtained quenching in the axial
vector part is, at zero momentum transfer, 19% for the sd shell and 23% in the
fp shell. We have extended the calculations also to heavier systems such as
Ni and Sn, where we obtain stronger quenchings, 44% and 59%,
respectively. Gamow--Teller type transitions are discussed, along with the
higher order matrix elements. The quenching factors are constant up to roughly
60 MeV momentum transfer. Therefore the use of energy-independent quenching
factors in beta decay is justified. We also found that going beyond the zeroth
and first order operators (in inverse nucleon mass) does not give any
substantial contribution. The extracted renormalization to the ratio
at q=100 MeV is -3.5%, -7.1$%, -28.6%, and +8.7% for mass 16, 40, 56, and 100,
respectively.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figure
Efficient light-induced phase transitions in halogen-bonded liquid crystals
Here, we present a new family of light-responsive, fluorinated supramolecular liquid crystals (LCs) showing efficient and reversible light-induced LC-to-isotropic phase transitions. Our materials design is based on fluorinated azobenzenes, where the fluorination serves to strengthen the noncovalent interaction with bond-accepting stilbazole molecules, and increase the lifetime of the cis-form of the azobenzene units. The halogen-bonded LCs were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, hot-stage polarized optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. Simultaneous analysis of light-induced changes in birefringence, absorption, and optical scattering allowed us to estimate that <4% of the mesogenic units in the cis-form suffices to trigger the full LC-to-isotropic phase transition. We also report a light-induced and reversible crystal-to-isotropic phase transition, which has not been previously observed in supramolecular complexes. In addition to fundamental understanding of light-responsive supramolecular complexes, we foresee this study to be important in the development of bistable photonic devices and supramolecular actuators
Towards the solution of the anomaly in shell-model calculations of muon capture
Recently many authors have performed shell-model calculations of nuclear
matrix elements determining the rates of the ordinary muon capture in light
nuclei. These calculations have employed well-tested effective interactions in
large scale shell-model studies. For one of the nuclei of interest, namely
Si, there exists recent experimental data which can be used to deduce
the value of the ratio by using the calculated matrix elements.
Surprisingly enough, all the abovementioned shell-model results suggest a very
small value () for , quite far from the PCAC prediction
and recent data on muon capture in hydrogen. We show that this rather
disturbing anomaly is solved by employing effective transition operators. This
finding is also very important in studies of the scalar coupling of the weak
charged current of leptons and hadrons.Comment: Revtex, 6 pages, 2 figs include
Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov description of sizes and shapes of A=20 isobars
Ground-state properties of A = 20 nuclei (N, O, F,
Ne, Na, Mg) are described in the framework of Relativistic
Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) theory. The model uses the NL3 effective interaction
in the mean-field Lagrangian, and describes pairing correlations by the pairing
part of the finite range Gogny interaction D1S. Binding energies, quadrupole
deformations, nuclear matter radii, and differences in radii of proton and
neutron distributions are compared with recent experimental data.Comment: LaTeX 11 pages, 6 eps figs, submitted to Nucl. Phys.
Calculated beam quality correction factors for ionization chambers in MV photon beams
The beam quality correction factor, , which corrects for the difference in the ionization chamber response between the reference and clinical beam quality, is an integral part of radiation therapy dosimetry. The uncertainty of is one of the most significant sources of uncertainty in the dose determination. To improve the accuracy of available data, four partners calculated factors for 10 ionization chamber models in linear accelerator beams with accelerator voltages ranging from 6 MV to 25 MV, including flattening-filter-free (FFF) beams. The software used in the calculations were EGSnrc and PENELOPE, and the ICRU report 90 cross section data for water and graphite were included in the simulations. Volume averaging correction factors were calculated to correct for the dose averaging in the chamber cavities. A comparison calculation between partners showed a good agreement, as did comparison with literature. The values from TRS-398 were higher than our values for each chamber where data was available. The values for the FFF beams did not follow the same , relation as beams with flattening filter (values for 10 MV FFF beams were below fits made to other data on average by 0.3%), although our FFF sources were only for Varian linacs.Peer reviewe
Sex differences associated with adverse drug reactions resulting in hospital admissions
Background Adverse drug events, including adverse drug reactions (ADRs), are responsible for approximately 5% of unplanned hospital admissions: a major health concern. Women are 1.5-1.7 times more likely to develop ADRs. The main objective was to identify sex differences in the types and number of ADRs leading to hospital admission. Methods ADR-related hospital admissions between 2005 and 2017 were identified from the PHARMO Database Network using hospital discharge diagnoses. Patients aged >= 16 years with a drug possibly responsible for the ADR and dispensed within 3 months before admission were included. Age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% CIs for drug-ADR combinations for women versus men were calculated. Results A total of 18,469 ADR-related hospital admissions involving women (0.35% of all women admitted) and 14,678 admissions involving men (0.35% of all men admitted) were included. Most substantial differences were seen in ADRs due to anticoagulants and diuretics. Anticoagulants showed a lower risk of admission with persistent haematuria (ORadj 0.31; 95%CI 0.21, 0.45) haemoptysis (ORadj 0.47, 95%CI 0.30,0.74) and subdural haemorrhage (ORadj 0.61; 95%CI 0.42,0.88) in women than in men and a higher risk of rectal bleeding in women (ORadj 1.48; 95%CI 1.04,2.11). Also, there was a higher risk of admission in women using thiazide diuretics causing hypokalaemia (ORadj 3.03; 95%CI 1.58, 5.79) and hyponatraemia (ORadj 3.33, 95%CI 2.31, 4.81) than in men. Conclusions There are sex-related differences in the risk of hospital admission in specific drug-ADR combinations. The most substantial differences were due to anticoagulants and diuretics.Peer reviewe
Induced pseudoscalar coupling of the proton weak interaction
The induced pseudoscalar coupling is the least well known of the weak
coupling constants of the proton's charged--current interaction. Its size is
dictated by chiral symmetry arguments, and its measurement represents an
important test of quantum chromodynamics at low energies. During the past
decade a large body of new data relevant to the coupling has been
accumulated. This data includes measurements of radiative and non radiative
muon capture on targets ranging from hydrogen and few--nucleon systems to
complex nuclei. Herein the authors review the theoretical underpinnings of
, the experimental studies of , and the procedures and uncertainties
in extracting the coupling from data. Current puzzles are highlighted and
future opportunities are discussed.Comment: 58 pages, Latex, Revtex4, prepared for Reviews of Modern Physic
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