The 146 Sm half-life re-measured: consolidating the chronometer for events in the early Solar System.

The half-life of the extinct radiolanthanide 146 Sm , important for both geochronological and astrophysical applications, was re-determined by a combination of mass spectrometry and α -decay counting. Earlier studies provided only limited information on all potential factors that could influence the quantification of the half-life of 146 Sm . Thus, special attention was given  here to a complete documentation of all experimental steps to provide information about any possible artifacts in the data analysis. The half-life of 146 Sm was derived to be 92.0 Ma ± 2.6 Ma, with an uncertainty coverage factor of k = 1 .

Determination of the activity and nuclear decay data of 157Tb.

Terbium-157 was radiochemically extracted from an irradiated tantalum target. Since the resulting material contained a significant impurity of 158Tb, 157Tb was isotopically purified using laser resonance ionization at the RISIKO mass separator in Mainz and then implanted on an aluminum (Al) foil. The implanted 157Tb was measured by two different calibrated gamma-ray spectrometers to determine photon emission rates. After dissolving the Al foil, a high purity 157Tb solution was obtained. The corresponding activity concentration was determined with a low relative uncertainty of 0.52% through a combination of liquid scintillation counting using the TDCR method and 4π(X,e)(LS)-(X,γ)(CeBr3) coincidence counting. By combining the results from all measurement techniques, emission intensities for K X-rays and gamma-rays were derived and found to be 16.05(31)% and 0.0064(2)%, respectively. The probability for K electron capture of the first forbidden non-unique transition to the ground state was determined to be 17.16(35)%. The probabilities for the electron-capture branch to the excited level and the ground state were found to be 0.084(4)% and 99.916(4)%, respectively. A Q+ value of 60.23(18) keV was estimated based on simplified BetaShape calculations, assuming an allowed transition.

Determination of the half-life of gadolinium-148.

The half-life of the alpha-emitter 148Gd was measured using the "direct method", in which the number of atoms is directly determined and their activity is then measured. Pure Gd samples containing megabecquerels of 148Gd were obtained by reprocessing proton-irradiated tantalum material. Multicollector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was performed to determine the amount of 148Gd atoms retrieved. The activity of the 148Gd atoms contained in the Gd sample was measured by means of alpha-spectrometry. The half-life of 148Gd was deduced to be 86.9 years, with a combined uncertainty of 4.5%.

Chemical Characterization of a Volatile Dubnium Compound, DbOCl3.

The formation and the chemical characterization of single atoms of dubnium (Db, element 105), in the form of its volatile oxychloride, was investigated using the on-line gas phase chromatography technique, in the temperature range 350-600 °C. Under the exactly same chemical conditions, comparative studies with the lighter homologues of Group 5 in the Periodic Table clearly indicate the volatility sequence being NbOCl3 > TaOCl3 ≥ DbOCl3 . From the obtained experimental results, thermochemical data for DbOCl3 were derived. The present study delivers reliable experimental information for theoretical calculations on chemical properties of transactinides.

Removal of radioactive cesium from contaminated water by whey protein amyloids-carbon hybrid filters.

We report on the application of an innovative whey protein amyloids-carbon hybrid filter for the removal and disposal of the long-lived radioactive fission product 137Cs from aqueous samples. Test experiments revealed a reduction of 137Cs radioactivity by a factor of 340 compared to the initial solution, with an efficiency as high as 99.7%. The adsorption capacity of the membrane was explored by performing several cycles of filtration, indicating a potential retention of more than 115 MBq per gram of filtering material at the applied experimental conditions. These results pave the way for further investigations on the applicability of this filter material to other nuclear fission products.

Unexpected impact of the number of glutamine residues on metal complex stability.

The emerging question which this study aims to answer is: what impact do glutamines have on the stability of metal-peptide complexes? We focused our attention on the N-terminal domain of Hpn and Hpn-like proteins from Helicobacter pylori. Cu(2+) and Ni(2+) complexes of the model peptides MAHHE-NH2, MAHHEEQ-NH2, MAHHEQQ-NH2 and MAHHEQQHQA-NH2 were studied by means of different thermodynamic and spectroscopic techniques, as well as through molecular modelling computation. Experimental results, in very good agreement with theoretical findings, lead to the not obvious conclusion that the stability of metal complexes distinctly increases with the number of glutamine residues present in the peptide, although glutamine side-chains do not directly take part in coordination. This peculiar finding allows one to look at polyglutamine sequences, not only the ones present in some bacterial chaperones but also those involved in several neurodegenerative diseases, from a new perspective.