Compact spherical neutron polarimeter using high-T(c) YBCO films.

We describe a simple, compact device for spherical neutron polarimetry measurements at small neutron scattering angles. The device consists of a sample chamber with very low (<0.01 G) magnetic field flanked by regions within which the neutron polarization can be manipulated in a controlled manner. This allows any selected initial and final polarization direction of the neutrons to be obtained. We have constructed a prototype device using high-T(c) superconducting films and mu-metal to isolate regions with different magnetic fields and tested device performance in transmission geometry. Finite-element methods were used to simulate the device's field profile and these have been verified by experiment using a small solenoid as a test sample. Measurements are reported using both monochromatic and polychromatic neutron sources. The results show that the device is capable of extracting sample information and distinguishing small angular variations of the sample magnetic field. As a more realistic test, we present results on the characterization of a 10 µm thick Permalloy film in zero magnetic field, as well as its response to an external magnetic field.

Porosity of silica Stöber particles determined by spin-echo small angle neutron scattering.

Stöber silica particles are used in a diverse range of applications. Despite their widespread industrial and scientific uses, information on the internal structure of the particles is non-trivial to obtain and is not often reported. In this work we have used spin-echo small angle neutron scattering (SESANS) in conjunction with ultra small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) and pycnometry to study an aqueous dispersion of Stöber particles. Our results are in agreement with models which propose that Stöber particles have a porous core, with a significant fraction of the pores inaccessible to solvent. For samples prepared from the same master sample in a range of H2O : D2O ratio solutions we were able to model the SESANS results for the solution series assuming monodisperse, smooth surfaced spheres of radius 83 nm with an internal open pore volume fraction of 32% and a closed pore fraction of 10%. Our results are consistent with USAXS measurements. The protocol developed and discussed here shows that the SESANS technique is a powerful way to investigate particles much larger than those studied using conventional small angle scattering methods.

Superconducting magnetic Wollaston prism for neutron spin encoding.

A magnetic Wollaston prism can spatially split a polarized neutron beam into two beams with different neutron spin states, in a manner analogous to an optical Wollaston prism. Such a Wollaston prism can be used to encode the trajectory of neutrons into the Larmor phase associated with their spin degree of freedom. This encoding can be used for neutron phase-contrast radiography and in spin echo scattering angle measurement (SESAME). In this paper, we show that magnetic Wollaston prisms with highly uniform magnetic fields and low Larmor phase aberration can be constructed to preserve neutron polarization using high temperature superconducting (HTS) materials. The Meissner effect of HTS films is used to confine magnetic fields produced electromagnetically by current-carrying HTS tape wound on suitably shaped soft iron pole pieces. The device is cooled to ~30 K by a closed cycle refrigerator, eliminating the need to replenish liquid cryogens and greatly simplifying operation and maintenance. A HTS film ensures that the magnetic field transition within the prism is sharp, well-defined, and planar due to the Meissner effect. The spin transport efficiency across the device was measured to be ~98.5% independent of neutron wavelength and energizing current. The position-dependent Larmor phase of neutron spins was measured at the NIST Center for Neutron Research facility and found to agree well with detailed simulations. The phase varies linearly with horizontal position, as required, and the neutron beam shows little depolarization. Consequently, the device has advantages over existing devices with similar functionality and provides the capability for a large neutron beam (20 mm × 30 mm) and an increase in length scales accessible to SESAME to beyond 10 µm. With further improvements of the external coupling guide field in the prototype device, a larger neutron beam could be employed.

Dynamical transition in a large globular protein: Macroscopic properties and glass transition.

Hydrated soy-proteins display different macroscopic properties below and above approximately 25% moisture. This is relevant to the food industry in terms of processing and handling. Quasi-elastic neutron spectroscopy of a large globular soy-protein, glycinin, reveals that a similar moisture-content dependence exists for the microscopic dynamics as well. We find evidence of a transition analogous to those found in smaller proteins, when investigated as a function of temperature, at the so-called dynamical transition. In contrast, the glass transition seems to be unrelated. Small proteins are good model systems for the much larger proteins because the relaxation characteristics are rather similar despite the change in scale. For dry samples, which do not show the dynamical transition, the dynamics of the methyl group is probably the most important contribution to the QENS spectra, however a simple rotational model is not able to explain the data. Our results indicate that the dynamics that occurs above the transition temperature is unrelated to that at lower temperatures and that the transition is not simply related to the relaxation rate falling within the spectral window of the spectrometer.

X-ray and ellipsometric study of strong critical adsorption.

Carpenter [Phys. Rev. E 61, 532 (2000)] succeeded in determining a single universal model, called the P1 model, that could describe the ellipsometric critical adsorption data from the liquid-vapor interface of four different critical binary liquid mixtures near their critical demixing temperatures. The P1 model also recently has been used to describe neutron reflectometry data from a critical liquid mixture/crystalline quartz interface. However, in another recent study, the P1 model failed to simultaneously describe x-ray reflectometry and ellipsometry data from the liquid-vapor surface of the critical mixture n -dodecane + tetrabromoethane (DT). In this paper, we resolve this discrepancy between x-ray and ellipsometric data for the DT system. At large length scales (far from the interface) the local concentration is described by the P1 model in order to correctly reproduce the temperature dependence of the ellipsometric data. Close to the interface, however, the molecular structure must be correctly accounted for in order to quantitatively explain the x-ray data. An important conclusion that arises from this study is that neutron or x-ray reflectometry is most sensitive to short-range interfacial structure, but may provide misleading information about long-range interfacial structure. Ellipsometry provides a more accurate measure of this long-range interfacial structure. Complex interfacial structures, possessing both short- and long-range structure, are therefore best studied using multiple techniques.

Comparison of critical adsorption scaling functions obtained from neutron reflectometry and ellipsometry.

Carpenter et al. [Phys. Rev. E 59, 5655 (1999); 61, 532 (2000)] managed to explain ellipsometric critical adsorption data collected from the liquid-vapor interface of four different critical binary liquid mixtures near their demixing critical temperature using a single model. This was the first time a single universal function had been found which could quantitatively describe the surface critical behavior of many different mixtures. There have also been various attempts to investigate this surface critical behavior using neutron and x-ray reflectometries. Results have been mixed and have often been at variance with Carpenter et al. In this paper, the authors show that neutron reflectometry data collected from a crystalline quartz-critical mixture interface, specifically deuterated water plus 3-methylpyridine, can be quantitatively explained using the model of Carpenter et al. derived from ellipsometric data.

Shear-induced collapse in a lyotropic lamellar phase.

An entropically stabilized cetylpyridinium chloride, hexanol, and heavy brine lyotropic lamellar phase subjected to shear flow has been observed here by small angle neutron scattering to undergo collapse of smectic order above a threshold shear rate. The results are compared with theories predicting that such a lamellar phase sheared above a critical rate should lose its stability by a loss of resistance to compression due to the suppression of membrane fluctuations.

Topological relaxation of a shear-induced lamellar phase to sponge equilibrium and the energetics of membrane fusion.

We report time-resolved small angle neutron scattering (t-SANS) measurements of the topological relaxation of Couette shear-induced stacked L(alpha) lamellar states to their multiconnected isotropic L3 sponge equilibrium phases in a surfactant bilayer membrane system. Comparison of this structural relaxation time to the interval between diffusive membrane contacts, as determined from dynamic light scattering or estimated from the shear rates required for L(alpha) saturation, allows us to determine the activation energy barrier to the membrane fusion process reestablishing the solution channel handles that characterize the sponge phase.

Microbially influenced corrosion as a model system for the study of metal microbe interactions: a unifying electron transfer hypothesis.

The general term biomineralisation refers to biologically induced mineralisation in which an organism modifies its local microenvironment creating conditions such that there is chemical precipitation of mineral phases extracellularly. Most usually this results from an oxidation or reduction carried out by some microbial species, with the formation of a recognised biomineralised product. These reactions play a major role in microbial physiology and ecology, and are of central importance to such engineering consequences as microbial mining and microbially influenced corrosion. This paper will examine metal microbe interactions, both in naturally occurring microbial ecosystems and in two particular cases of biocorrosion, with the objective of putting forward a unifying hypothesis relevant to the understanding of each of these apparently disparate processes.

Scaling of shear-induced transformations in membrane phases.

Surfactant sponges are complex-fluid phases made up of convolutions of bilayer sheets. Although isotropic and free flowing they exhibit transient birefringence when stirred, reminiscent of the birefringence of lamellar phases. Previous attempts to understand this effect have led to confusing and often conflicting results. We have used a novel approach to designing the chemical system that gives us control over the relevant parameters needed to study microstructural and macroscopic responses of these phases to shear. We find a remarkable universal scaling behavior for both sponge and shear-induced lamellar states, which resolves a number of long-standing questions about these systems.

Adsorbed layer structure of cationic surfactants on quartz.

Recent atomic force microscopy (AFM) surface images of surfactant adsorbed at solid and solution interfaces have shown apparent micellar aggregates familiar from bulk self-assembly. This contradicts the classical picture of laterally unstructured bilayers within which neutron reflectometry (NR) measurements have previously been analyzed. Applying both techniques to surfactant adsorption on quartz, we show that film thickness and coverage parameters derived from NR results are generally consistent with those from AFM and bulk self-assembly. NR by itself allows us to distinguish between actual bilayer and probable aggregate adsorption, which will be of particular importance when a solution's rheology makes AFM imaging impractical.

The same species of sulphate-reducing Desulfomicrobium occur in different oil field environments in the north sea.

Several metabolic types of sulphate-reducing bacteria, including mesophiles and thermophiles, were successfully obtained from four samples from two different North Sea oil fields. The Gram-negative, rod-shaped, sulphate-reducing strains MM6, EF2, FM2, and GF2 were isolated from drain water, and from drilling muds E, F, and G, respectively. All four isolates grew on lactate, pyruvate, glycerol, and ethanol, with optimal growth temperatures between 25 degrees C and 35 degrees C and at salinities between 0 and 5% NaCl. They were capable of using sulphate, thiosulphate or sulphite, but not nitrate, as electron acceptors. These isolates were tentatively identified to be the same species of Desulfomicrobium based on physiological and biochemical characterization, and 16S rRNA gene analysis. Therefore, the same Desulfomicrobium species was present in different samples from distant oil fields. This result suggests that these microorganisms are likely to be widespread throughout oil field systems, and possibly play an important role in the generation of sulphide.

Fast relaxation of a hexagonal Poiseuille shear-induced near-surface phase in a threadlike micellar solution.

The dynamics of near-surface conformations in complex fluids under flow should dramatically affect their rheological properties. We have made the first measurements resolving the decay kinetics of a hexagonal phase induced in a threadlike polyionic micellar system under Poiseuille shear near a quartz surface. Upon cessation of shearing flow, this minimum interference crystalline phase formed within approximately 20 microm of the surface "melts" to a metastable two-dimensional liquid of aligned micelles in approximately 0.7 s. This is some three orders of magnitude shorter than the time required for bulk (Couette) shear-aligned micelles in this system to reach a fully entangled state.

Bioenergetics of sulphate-reducing bacteria in relation to their environmental impact.

The cellular physiology of the sulphate-reducing bacteria, and of other sulphidogenic species, is determined by the energetic requirements consequent upon their respiratory mode of metabolism with sulphate and other oxyanions of sulphur as terminal electron acceptors. As a further consequence of their, relatively, restricted catabolic activities and their requirement for conditions of anaerobiosis, sulphidogenic bacteria are almost invariably found in nature as component organisms within microbial consortia. The capacity to generate significant quantities of sulphide influences the overall metabolic activity and species diversity of these consortia, and is the root cause of the environmental impact of the sulphidogenic species: corrosion, pollution and the souring of hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Identification and Phylogenetic analysis of thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria in oil field samples by 16S rDNA gene cloning and sequencing.

Thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) have been recognized as an important source of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in hydrocarbon reservoirs and in production systems. Four thermophilic SRB enrichment cultures from three different oil field samples (sandstone core, drilling mud, and production water) were investigated using 16S rDNA sequence comparative analysis. In total, 15 different clones were identified. We found spore-forming, low G+C content, thermophilic, sulfate-reducing Desulfotomaculum-related sequences present in all oil field samples, and additionally a clone originating from sandstone core which was assigned to the mesophilic Desulfomicrobium group. Furthermore, three clones related to Gram-positive, non-sulfate-reducing Thermoanaerobacter species and four clones close to Clostridium thermocopriae were found in enrichment cultures from sandstone core and from production water, respectively. In addition, the deeply rooted lineage of two of the clones suggested previously undescribed, Gram-positive, low G+C content, thermophilic, obligately anaerobic bacteria present in production water. Such thermophilic, non-sulfate-reducing microorganisms may play an important ecological role alongside SRB in oil field environments.

A comparison of field techniques used to pressure-infuse intravenous fluids.

Application of pressure infusion bags may increase intravenous (IV) flow rates three-fold. Commercially available pressure infusers, manual squeezing of the IV fluid bag, inflating a blood pressure (BP) cuff around the bag, and kneeling on the bag have been used by prehospital personnel attempting to augment fluid infusion rates. To test the efficacy of each these methods, seven experienced paramedics were asked to employ each method in two trials using a 1-liter bag of saline through a 14-gauge, 5.7cm catheter and a standard administration set. Gravity flow from 80 cm served as the control. Pressure infusers generated flow rates of 257+/-54 ml/min and 296+/-53 ml/min when inflated to 300 mmHg and maximum pressure respectively. This rate was 2-2.5 times that of gravity flow (123+/-2 ml/min) and significantly greater than those rates obtained by any other method (p less than .0005). Manually squeezing the bag also was significantly better than was gravity flow with flow rates of 184+/-46 ml/min and 173+/-40 ml/min achieved by each of two different squeezing methods (p less than .01). Neither blood pressure (BP) cuff application and inflation (135+/-28 ml/min) nor kneeling on the bag (125+/-36 ml/min) was better than gravity alone. These results indicate that pressure infusers should be used to the exclusion of other field methods of supplying infusion pressure. If pressure infusers are not available, manually squeezing the bag is the only alternative acceptable in the field.

Axillofemoral and femorofemoral grafts: a 6-year experience with emphasis on the relationship of peroperative flow measurement to graft survival.

Over a 6-year period 64 axillofemoral bypass and femorofemoral crossover grafts have been performed in 58 patients, most of whom were considered unfit for intra-abdominal surgery. Indications were peripheral ischaemia in 78 per cent and disabling claudication in 22 per cent. The limb salvage rate at 3 years was 75 per cent. No claudicants lost limbs, but only one-third of patients presenting with forefoot gangrene or ulceration avoided amputation. Most patients presenting with ischaemic symptoms at rest had associated femoropopliteal and distal disease, confirmed by the ankle pressure index measurements, and this influenced graft patency. Although the cumulative patency at 3 years for all grafts combined was 57 per cent with similar patencies for both the axillofemoral and femorofemoral grafts, early occlusion was more common in axillofemoral grafts and this may be reduced in bifemoral grafts by the increased flow rate in the vertical limbs. Peroperative electromagnetic flowmeter measurements were made after reconstruction on 55 femoral arteries in 46 of the patients and graft flow velocities were derived from these measurements. Comparison between velocities from those grafts remaining patent and those subsequently occluding showed a high incidence of occlusion in grafts with a maximal velocity after distal vasodilatation of less than 8 cm/s. Graft occlusion after the first postoperative month was more commonly associated with other factors such as continued smoking, severity of distal disease and perigraft infection.

Simple Assay for Accurate Determination of [S]sulfate Reduction Activity.

A method is described for the assay of [S]sulfate reduction in which filter paper wicks are used to trap [S]sulfide. The simplicity of the technique enables large numbers of samples to be conveniently processed. Enhanced sensitivity is achieved since all acid-volatile [S]sulfides produced during the incubation period are counted. Recovery of radioactivity from added Na(2)S is excellent (mean, 100.1%; standard deviation, 1.81; n = 9) and is unaffected by sulfide concentrations of up to 400 mug per sample. Field trial results with anoxic sediment samples are presented.