New cross section functions for hot 18F atom collisions with H2, HD and D2

New analytic reaction cross-section functions are reported for hot ¹⁸F atoms reacting with H₂, HD and D₂. A realistic model is proposed for the total non-reactive cross section in these systems throughout the center-of-mass collision energy range 0–100 eV.     

Elongational and shear rheology of carbon nanotube suspensions

Rheological behavior of concentrated suspensions of chemical vapor deposition carbon nanotubes in uniaxial elongation and simple shear is studied experimentally and theoretically. Nanotubes are suspended in viscous host liquids—castor oil or its blends with n-decane. The elongational measurements are performed by analyzing self-thinning (due to surface tension effect) liquid threads of nanotube suspensions. A quasi-one-dimensional model is used to describe the self-thinning process, whereas corrections accounting for thread nonuniformity and necking are introduced a posteriori. The effects of nanotube concentration and aspect ratio, viscosity of the suspending liquid, and initial diameter of the self-thinning thread in uniaxial elongation are elucidated. The results for uniaxial elongation are compared with those for simple shear. The correspondence in the results of the shear and elongational measurements is addressed and interpreted. The results conform to the Herschel–Bulkley rheological constitutive equation (i.e., power law fluids with yield stress). However, the yield stress in elongation is about 40% higher than in simple shear flow, which suggests that the original Herschel–Bulkley model need modification with the yield stress being a function of the second invariant of the deviatoric stress tensor. The present effort is the first to study capillary self-thinning of Herschel–Bulkley liquids, which are exemplified here by suspensions of carbon nanotubes.     

Wave scattering in hyperbolic balance laws and the zero relaxation limit

Ricerche di Matematica - In the context of a simple hyperbolic system of balance laws that relaxes to a scalar conservation law, the paper investigates the process by which the synergy of waves...     

Groupable lattices

A lattice is called groupable provided it can be endowed with the structure of an l-group (lattice ordered group). The primary objective of this paper is to introduce an order theoretic property of groupable lattices which implies that all associated l-groups are subdirect products of totally ordered groups. This is an analog to Iwasawa's well-known result which asserts that a conditionally complete l-group is abelian. A secondary objective is to outline a general method for identifying classes of l-groups determined by order theoretic properties.     

Miconazole induces fungistasis and increases killing of Candida albicans subjected to photodynamic therapy

Cutaneous and mucocutaneous Candida infections are considered to be important targets for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (PDT). Clinical application of antimicrobial PDT will require strategies that enhance microbial killing while minimizing damage to host tissue. Increasing the sensitivity of infectious agents to PDT will help achieve this goal. Our previous studies demonstrated that raising the level of oxidative stress in Candida by interfering with fungal respiration increased the efficiency of PDT. Therefore, we sought to identify compounds in clinical use that would augment the oxidative stress caused by PDT by contributing to reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation themselves. Based on the ability of the antifungal miconazole to induce ROS in Candida, we tested several azole antifungals for their ability to augment PDT in vitro. Although miconazole and ketoconazole both stimulated ROS production in Candida albicans, only miconazole enhanced the killing of C. albicans and induced prolonged fungistasis in organisms that survived PDT using the porphyrin TMP-1363 and the phenothiazine methylene blue as photosensitizers. The data suggest that miconazole could be used to increase the efficacy of PDT against C. albicans, and its mechanism of action is likely to be multifactorial.     

Entropy rigidity for finite volume strictly convex projective manifolds

Geometriae Dedicata - We prove entropy rigidity for finite volume strictly convex projective manifolds in dimensions $$\ge 3$$ , generalizing the work of [1] to the finite volume setting. The...     

Lattice-theoretic properties of algebras of logic

In the theory of lattice-ordered groups, there are interesting examples of properties — such as projectability — that are defined in terms of the overall structure of the lattice-ordered group, but are entirely determined by the underlying lattice structure. In this paper, we explore the extent to which projectability is a lattice-theoretic property for more general classes of algebras of logic. For a class of integral residuated lattices that includes Heyting algebras and semi-linear residuated lattices, we prove that a member of such is projectable iff the order dual of each subinterval [a,1]$[a,1]$ is a Stone lattice. We also show that an integral GMV algebra is projectable iff it can be endowed with a positive Gödel implication. In particular, a ΨMV or an MV algebra is projectable iff it can be endowed with a Gödel implication. Moreover, those projectable involutive residuated lattices that admit a Gödel implication are investigated as a variety in the expanded signature. We establish that this variety is generated by its totally ordered members and is a discriminator variety.     

High-Solids,Solvent-Free Modification of Engineered Polysaccharides

The nature-identical engineered polysaccharide α-(1,3) glucan, produced by the enzymatic polymerization of sucrose, was chemically modified by acylation with succinic anhydride. This modification reaction was initially performed at the micro scale in a TGA reactor to access a range of reaction conditions and to study the mechanism of the reaction. Subsequently, the best performing conditions were reproduced at the larger laboratory scale. The reaction products were characterized via coupled TGA/DSC analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, solution viscosity and pH determination. The acylation path resulted in partially modifying the polysaccharide by altering its behavior in terms of thermal properties and solubility. The acylation in a solvent-free approach was found promising for the development of novel, potentially melt-processable and fully bio-based and biodegradable ester compounds.     

Droplet spindown in a high-temperature gas environment

The spindown and heating of a spherical droplet in an initially undisturbed infinite fluid is investigated by means of a numerical model based on finite-difference discretization techniques. The nonevaporating droplet enters the hot gas while rotating about a diameter and has no translational motion with respect to the suspending medium. Special attention is given to the transient secondary (nonrotational) motion developed as a result of shear interaction between the two phases. The results indicate that for droplet sizes and rotation frequencies representative of droplet combustion applications; i.e., Reynolds ∼ O(0.1), the secondary motion in both phases remains weak and heat transport is conduction-dominated. On the other hand, the secondary motion is strengthened with increased values of the rotational Reynolds number. The characteristic time for droplet spindown is found to be proportional to the square of the droplet radius. The results also show that the rotational deceleration time is of the same order of magnitude with the translational response time of the droplet. Finally, the thermocapillary stress effects on fluid dynamics and heat transfer are investigated in this flow configuration.