Orientational order parameters of a de Vries-type ferroelectric liquid crystal obtained by polarized Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction.

The orientational order parameters (P{2}) and (P{4}) of the ferroelectric, de Vries-type liquid crystal 9HL have been determined in the SmA and SmC phases by means of polarized Raman spectroscopy, and in the SmA phase using x-ray diffraction. Quantum density functional theory predicts Raman spectra for 9HL that are in good agreement with the observations and indicates that the strong Raman band probed in the experiment corresponds to the uniaxial, coupled vibration of the three phenyl rings along the molecular long axis. The magnitudes of the orientational order parameters obtained in the Raman and x-ray experiments differ dramatically from each other, a discrepancy that is resolved by considering that the two techniques probe the orientational distributions of different molecular axes. We have developed a systematic procedure in which we calculate the angle between these axes and rescale the orientational order parameters obtained from x-ray scattering with results that are then in good agreement with the Raman data. At least in the case of 9HL, the results obtained by both techniques support a "sugar loaf" orientational distribution in the SmA phase with no qualitative difference to conventional smectics A. The role of individual molecular fragments in promoting de Vries-type behavior is considered.

Two-dimensional microrheology of freely suspended liquid crystal films.

Smectic liquid crystals form freely-suspended, fluid films of highly uniform structure and thickness, making them ideal systems for studies of hydrodynamics in two dimensions. We have measured particle mobility and shear viscosity by direct observation of the gravitational drift of silica spheres and smectic islands included in these fluid membranes. In thick films, we observe a hydrodynamic regime dominated by lateral confinement effects, with the mobility of the inclusion determined predominantly by coupling of the fluid flow to the fixed boundaries of the film. In thin films, the mobility of inclusions is governed primarily by coupling of the fluid to the surrounding air, as predicted by Saffman-Delbrück theory.

[Comparative immunomorphological study of the immunogenic activity of dysentery vaccines produced by different methods]. / Sravnitel'noe immunomorfologicheskoe izuchenie immunogennoi aktivnosti dizenteriinykh vaktsin razlichnogo sposoba izgotovleniia.

The morphological study of the ophthalmic mucosa of guinea pigs immunized locally with different dysentery vaccines has demonstrated the advantages of live dysentery vaccine prepared from Shigella sonnei 6S over heated vaccine and Shigella antigen extracts. The protective properties of dysentery vaccines, their capacity for protecting the mucous membrane from the penetration and intracellular multiplication of shigellae correlates with the degree of the manifestation of vaccine-induced plasmatocellular reaction in the epithelial and subepithelial zones. The importance of the virulence of the strains used for the preparation of vaccines, as well as the method of their preparation, for the immunogenic potency of vaccines is shown.