Analytical study of the interface in fibre-reinforced 2D composite material

Imperfect bonding between the constitutive components can greatly affect the properties of the composite structures.An asymptotic analysis of different types of imperfect interfaces arising in the problem of 2D fibrereinforced composite materials are proposed.The performed study is based on the asymptotic reduction of the governing biharmonic problem into two harmonic problems.All solutions are obtained in a closed analytical form.The obtained results can be used for the calculation of pull-out and pushout tests,as well as for the investigation of the fracture of composite materials.     

Impact of sorption phenomena on multiphase conveying processes

Twin-screw multiphase pumps are employed increasingly to convey multiphase mixtures of crude oil, accompanying fluids, associated gas and solid particles. They are positive displacement pumps and suitable for handling products containing liquid accompanied by large amounts of gas. Experimental investigations on the conveying characteristic, namely measuring the delivered volume flow as a function of the pressure difference, provide results for selected mixtures. By means of the on hand work, the influence of sorption phenomena occurring due to pressure variations alongside the conveying process on the conveying characteristics of twin-screw pumps delivering mixtures of oil and gases is measured. The employed gases are air and carbon dioxide, which differ strongly in solubility in oil. All experiments are conducted in a closed loop test facility, where oil and gas volume flows are mixed before the inlet and separated after the outlet of the multiphase pump. In order to simulate the influence of the suction side pressure drop in the reservoir on the conveying characteristic, packed beds are employed as oil-filed model. Sorption processes inside of the oil-field model and within the multiphase pump affect the conveying behaviour significantly. The two-phase flow in the inlet and outlet pipe is visualised by means of a capacitance tomography system. Results show that the oil fraction of the total delivered volume flow is decreased due to desorption at the pump inlet. The gas fraction at the pump outlet is further decreased due to absorption. Experimental results are compared to calculated solubilities of the on-hand gases in oil and to the theoretically derived gas volume flow fraction expected at the multiphase pump.     

Characterizing geometric designs, II

We provide a characterization of the classical point-line designs PG₁(n,q), where n?3, among all non-symmetric 2-(v,k,1)-designs as those with the maximal number of hyperplanes. As an application of this result, we characterize the classical quasi-symmetric designs PGn−2(n,q), where n?4, among all (not necessarily quasi-symmetric) designs with the same parameters as those having line size q+1 and all intersection numbers at least qn−4+?+q+1. Finally, we also give an explicit lower bound for the number of non-isomorphic designs having the same parameters as PG₁(n,q); in particular, we obtain a new proof for the known fact that this number grows exponentially for any fixed value of q.     

Optimal control of the Stokes equations: conforming and non-conforming finite element methods under reduced regularity

This paper deals with a control-constrained linear-quadratic optimal control problem governed by the Stokes equations. It is concerned with situations where the gradient of the velocity field is not bounded. The control is discretized by piecewise constant functions. The state and the adjoint state are discretized by finite element schemes that are not necessarily conforming. The approximate control is constructed as projection of the discrete adjoint velocity in the set of admissible controls. It is proved that under certain assumptions on the discretization of state and adjoint state this approximation is of order 2 in L ²(Ω). As first example a prismatic domain with a reentrant edge is considered where the impact of the edge singularity is counteracted by anisotropic mesh grading and where the state and the adjoint state are approximated in the lower order Crouzeix-Raviart finite element space. The second example concerns a nonconvex, plane domain, where the corner singularity is treated by isotropic mesh grading and state and adjoint state can be approximated by a couple of standard element pairs.     

Characterisation of Taxlllaids A–G; Natural Products from Xenorhabdus indica

Six new lipodepsipeptides and an additional linear derivative named taxlllaids A–G ( 1 – 7 ) have been identified in the entomopathogenic bacterium Xenorhabdus indica. The structures of the main compounds have been solved by detailed NMR spectroscopic analysis and the structures of minor derivatives were elucidated by a combination of labelling experiments and detailed MS experiments. The absolute configuration of the taxlllaids was deduced by using the advanced Marfey method and analysis of the biosynthesis gene cluster showing the presence of epimerisation domains, which was subsequently proved to be correct by solid‐phase peptide synthesis of all taxlllaids. The exchange of a single amino acid in the adenylation domain was shown to be responsible for substrate promiscuity of the third A domain, resulting in the incorporation of leucine, phenylalanine or tyrosine. Bioactivity testing revealed the taxlllaids to be weakly active against Plasmodium falciparum and against a number of eukaryotic cell lines.     

Self‐Assembly of a Highly Organized,Hexameric Supramolecular Architecture: Formation,Structure and Properties

Two derivatives, ³ L and ⁹ L , of a ditopic, multiply hydrogen‐bonding molecule, known for more than a decade, have been found, in the solid state as well as in solvents of low polarity at room temperature, to exist not as monomers, but to undergo a remarkable self‐assembly into a complex supramolecular species. The solid‐state molecular structure of ³ L , determined by single‐crystal X‐ray crystallography, revealed that it forms a highly organized hexameric entity ³ L ₆ with a capsular shape, resulting from the interlocking of two sets of three monomolecular components, linked through hydrogen‐bonding interactions. The complicated ¹H NMR spectra observed in o‐dichlorobenzene (o‐DCB) for ³ L and ⁹ L are consistent with the presence of a hexamer of D₃ symmetry in both cases. DOSY measurements confirm the hexameric constitution in solution. In contrast, in a hydrogen‐bond‐disrupting solvent, such as DMSO, the ¹H NMR spectra are very simple and consistent with the presence of isolated monomers only. Extensive temperature‐dependent ¹H NMR studies in o‐DCB showed that the L ₆ species dissociated progressively into the monomeric unit on increasing th temperature, up to complete dissociation at about 90 °C. The coexistence of the hexamer and the monomer indicated that exchange was slow on the NMR timescale. Remarkably, no species other than hexamer and monomer were detected in the equilibrating mixtures. The relative amounts of each entity showed a reversible sigmoidal variation with temperature, indicating that the assembly proceeded with positive cooperativity. A full thermodynamic analysis has been applied to the data.     

Contamination of therapeutic human immunoglobulin preparations with apolipoprotein H (β2‐glycoprotein I)

Polyclonal immunoglobulin (Ig) concentrates are important biological medicinal products and the assurance of their quality and safety is crucial. In our present approach we used proteomic methods to check the purity of commercial Ig products of different origin. The experimental setup included nonreducing 2DE or DIGE combined with MALDI‐TOF and the thrombin generation assay, a routine safety test for pharmaceutical Ig preparations, and was complemented by a specific immunoassay. 2DE patterns displayed contaminations with trace amounts of human apolipoprotein H (Apo‐H), transferrin, albumin, and its fragments. In contrast to the latter, Apo‐H is a protein that is active in the coagulation cascade, and thus a potential involvement in thromboembolic events in vivo cannot be excluded. It was found by 2DE and MALDI‐TOF to be a contaminant of several Ig preparations. Spiking experiments of Ig preparations with pure Apo‐H demonstrated an Apo‐H concentration dependent increase in thrombin generation assay values. Traces of Apo‐H are possibly also contributing to unwanted side effects, as already known for factor XIa. The significance of Apo‐H contaminations for these side effects might be verified by detailed analyses of pharmacovigilance data.     

Cyclic dimers of tetrafluorobutatriene

1,1,4,4-Tetrafluorobutatriene polymerizes even at ?78?°C within a short time yielding a red insoluble polymer. Possible closed-shell cyclic dimers and oligomers resulting from several reaction paths were analyzed by computational methods??with CCSDT/cc-pVTZ as the highest order calculation and several other calculations of lower level. For a better understanding of fluorination effects, the perhydrogen triene dimers were included in this study. The destabilization of the central cumulenic double bond of tetrafluorobutatriene relative to ethylene and the further destabilizing fluorine substitution makes the formation of most of the dimers exothermic with only one exception for the perfluoro derivatives. Astonishingly, the geometry of some of the discussed molecules is highly affected by fluorine substitution, while for others there is nearly no effect on the geometry of the carbon backbone. ¹⁹F-NMR shifts of the potential dimers were calculated using the GIAO method.