Full-scale two-phase flow measurements on Athena research vessel

Measurements of gas volume fraction, bubble velocity, chord length and bubble size distributions were performed on the research vessel Athena II operating in Saint Andrew Bay in the gulf coast near Panama City, FL. Double tipped sapphire optical local phase-detection probes were used to acquire indicator functions downstream of the breaking bow wave, behind the masker and at the stern. These indicator functions were also taken at different depths, operating speeds and headings respect to the waves. The data processing includes the computation of velocity of individual bubbles and chord lengths, resulting in chord length distributions. These chord length distributions are used to obtain bubble size distributions using a novel procedure described in detail herein. Uncertainty analysis is performed for gas volume fraction, average bubble velocity and chord length. The results indicate that air entrainment increases with ship speed and sailing against the waves at all positions. The bow wave exhibits unsteady breaking that creates bubble clouds, which were characterized and identified by signal processing. At the stern a very strong dependence of bubble size with depth was found, with evidence that small bubbles (smaller than 500 μm) are transported through the bottom of the hull and reach the transom. The roller present at the transom, the associated strong unsteadiness and bubble entrainment are well captured, as indicated by the stern results, showing the frothy nature of the upper layer.     

Low-temperature thermal fixing of holograms in photorefractive La(3)Ga(5)SiO(14):Pr(3+) crystal

Thermal fixing in a La(3)Ga (5)SiO (14):Pr (3+) photorefractive crystal is demonstrated all the way down to room temperature. This, to our knowledge, is the first report of such an effect in any photorefractive material. From the temperature dependence of the process the activation energy of the carriers involved in the fixing process is measured to be E(A)=0.89 eV . Further, an effective photorefractive charge density of (1.4+/-0.2)x10(16) cm (-3) and Debye screening length of (6.8+/-0.7)x10(-6) cm is measured.     

Single-mode operation of a laser-diode array with frequency-selective phase-conjugate feedback

A new technique for single-mode operation of laser-diode arrays is presented. A gain-guided GaAlAs laser diode array is coupled to an external frequency-selective phase-conjugate feedback system that contains a photorefractive barium titanate crystal, a Fabry-Perot etalon, and a spatial filter. The etalon is the key component, and it forces the array, which has low spatial and spectral coherence when it runs freely, to oscillate in a single spatial and a single longitudinal mode. At a drive current of two times the threshold current, the far-field pattern is reduced to only 1.4 times the diffraction limit, the spectral bandwidth is less than 0.02 nm, and the coherence length is increased by a factor of 70. The technique has general validity and can be applied to various other multimode laser systems.     

Polarization functions and geometry optimization inab initio calculations of the rotational barrier in hydrogen peroxide

Ab initio calculations have been carried out for the hydrogen peroxide molecule with different size Gaussian basis sets in an attempt to determine the relative importance of carefully refined geometry and improvement of the wave function for calculation of the trans rotational barrier,d-type polarization functions on the oxygen atoms are found to be essential for calculation of a trans rotational barrier. Using the (O/7,3,1)(H/4,1) basis set, a trans rotational barrier of 0.63 kcal/mole is calculated (exp. value, 1.1 kcal/mole). Except for refined calculations approaching the Hartree-Fock limit, careful geometry optimization is found to be of secondary importance to the inclusion ofd-type functions on the oxygen atoms and may be carried out satisfactorily using a smaller basis set than is used for the energy calculations. The (O/7,3) (H/4,1) basis set which includesp-type polarization functions on the hydrogen atoms yields geometrical parameters in good agreement with experiment as well as good charge distribution between the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

---

Zusammenfassung Ab-initio Rechnungen für das Wasserstoffperoxidmolekül wurden mit Basissätzen verschiedener Größe durchgeführt um den Einfluß einer genauen Geometrie und einer Verbesserung der Wellen-funktion auf die Berechnung dertrans-Rotationsbarriere zu untersuchen. Es zeigte sich, daßd-Polarisationsfunktionen für solche Rechnungen äußerst wichtig sind. Mit dem Basissatz (O/7,3,1) (H/4,1) wurde die Rotationsbarriere mit 0,63 kcal/Mol berechnet (exp.: 1.1 kcal/Mol). Außer bei Rechnungen nahe am Hartree-Fock-Limit zeigte sich, daß die Geometrieoptimisierung gegenüber der Mitnahme vond-Funktionen von sekundärer Bedeutung ist und daher mit einem kleineren Basissatz durchgeführt werden kann, als die Energieberechnung. Der (O/7,3) (H/4,1) Basissatz, derp-Funktionen am Wasserstoffatom einschließt gibt die Geometrie und die Ladungsverteilung zwischen Wasserstoff- und Sauerstoffatom in guter Übereinstimmung mit dem Experiment.

     

Macromolecular prodrugs. V. Simultaneous determination of high-molecular-weight dextran metronidazole monosuccinate ester prodrugs and the hydrolysis products metronidazole and the corresponding monosuccinate ester on nucleosil diol

A high-performance size-exclusion chromatography procedure using Nucleosil Diol has been developed which provides the simultaneous determination of macromolecular dextran metronidazole monosuccinate ester prodrugs and the hydrolysis products metronidazole and metronidazole monosuccinate. Various factors influencing the chromatographic behaviour of the compounds are discussed. Baseline separation of the three substances was achieved within 8 min by using a 0.05 M phosphate buffer pH 7.5 eluent at a flow-rate of 2 ml min-1. The detection limit at 320 nm for a conjugate with a degree of substitution of 4.61 was found to be 3.5 micrograms ml-1.     

Determination of pholcodine and its metabolites in urine by capillary gas chromatography

A sensitive and selective method for the determination of pholcodine and its metabolites in urine using capillary gas chromatography with nitrogen detection is described. The procedure includes enzymatic hydrolysis of urine by beta-glucuronidase and sample pretreatment on C2 solid-phase extraction columns. Validation of the method showed good sensitivity, precision and reproducibility. The method was useful for the study of pholcodine metabolism in man. Pholcodine was found to conjugate with glucuronic acid. Morphine was identified as a metabolite and another unidentified metabolite was also detected.     

The structure of self-assembled multilayers with polyoxometalate nanoclusters

Using electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly (ELSA), the formation of multilayers with polyelectrolytes and nanoscopic polyoxometalate (POM) clusters of different sizes and charges is investigated. The multilayers are characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, optical ellipsometry, cyclic voltammetry, and atomic force microscopy. In all cases, it is possible to find experimental conditions to achieve irreversible adsorption and regular multilayer deposition. Most importantly, the surface coverage is directly related to the total charge of the POM anion and can be controlled from submonolayer to multilayer coverage by adjusting the ionic strength of the dipping solutions. Imaging the interfaces after POM deposition by atomic force microscopy reveals a granular surface texture with nanometer-sized features. The average interfacial roughness amounts to approximately 1 nm. Cyclic voltammetry indicates that the electrochemical properties of the POM clusters are fully maintained in the polyelectrolyte matrix, which opens a route toward practical applications such as sensors or heterogeneous catalysts. Moreover, the permeability toward electrochemically active probe molecules can be tailored through the multilayer architecture and deposition conditions. Finally, we note that despite the low total charge and comparably small size of the discrete POM anions, the multilayers are remarkably stable. This work provides basic guidelines for the assembly of POM-containing ELSA multilayers and provides detailed insight into characteristic surface coverage, permeability, and electrochemical properties.     

On the theory of the weighing method for automatic crystal shape control in czochralski growth

We derive the exact analytical expression for the meniscus volume in terms of the crystal radius R, the melt contact angle θ_L, and the meniscus height h for the axisymmetric planar growth interface Czochralski configuration. This relation is applied together with motion and mass balance considerations to find the general rate of change in the force experience by the weighing cell in a standard diameter control arrangement. In contrast to the classical work of Bardsley et al. (1977), which is limited to the close viscinity of stationary right cylinder growth, our results are valid for growth developing any crystal profile. In addition, they also account for the fall of melt level due to finite crucible size. The magnitudes of the capillary contributions to the force, and their implications for diameter servo control, are discussed over a wide range of profile parameters using the Tsivinskii formula for h = h (R, θ_L).     

Invariant manifolds, global attractors, almost automorphic and almost periodic solutions of non-autonomous differential equations

The paper is devoted to the study of non-autonomous evolution equations: invariant manifolds, compact global attractors, almost periodic and almost automorphic solutions. We study this problem in the framework of general non-autonomous (cocycle) dynamical systems. First, we prove that under some conditions such systems admit an invariant continuous section (an invariant manifold). Then, we obtain the conditions for the existence of a compact global attractor and characterize its structure. Third, we derive a criterion for the existence of almost periodic and almost automorphic solutions of different classes of non-autonomous differential equations (both ODEs (in finite and infinite spaces) and PDEs).     

Model cellulose films exposed to H. insolens glucoside hydrolase family 45 endo-cellulase--the effect of the carbohydrate-binding module

The effects of enzyme structure and activity on the degradation of model cellulose substrates were investigated by ellipsometry for the cellulase Humicola insolens GH45. The inactive variant D10N was found to adsorb at the cellulose surface but also to be incorporated into the cellulose films to an extent that depended on pH. For the native protein, the initial adsorption monitored for the inactive variant D10N was followed by enzyme-mediated degradation of the cellulose films. Again, a dependence on pH was found, such that higher pH resulted in slower enzymatic degradation. Removing the carbohydrate-binding module eliminated this pH dependence but also resulted in a decreased adsorption to the cellulose surface, and in a decreased net catalytic effect.