Anomalous Doppler broadening caused by exothermic reactions: application to hydrogen Balmer lines

The three- and one-dimensional velocity distributions of a product species created by an exothermic reaction are calculated using the energy conservation, with the aim of evaluating the impact of such processes on the anomalous broadening of Doppler lines. The calculations are performed to the reaction H₂⁺ + H₂ → H₃⁺ + H, in which according to Christoffersen (1964) an amount of 1.56 eV is transferred to the product species. It is shown that the deviations relatively to Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions are significant as the internal energy defect ΔE increases, even within energies lower than 1.56 eV, and hence the profiles of excited H^∗ atoms, associated with the emission of hydrogen Balmer lines, created in the sequence of H(n = 1) produced by the above reaction are not of Gaussian-type. The profiles are markedly flatter and squarer than Gaussian distributions. The validity of the species temperature determined from the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the lines, as well as the fit of the lines by multimodal Gaussian functions, is then analyzed.     

Low field intermolecular double-quantum coherence imaging via the Overhauser effect

Intermolecular double-quantum coherence (i-DQC) signals in liquids are usually associated with high magnetic fields. We demonstrate that, in a magnetic field of only 16mT, i-DQC imaging of water protons is feasible thanks to the nuclear magnetization enhancement produced by the Overhauser effect. i-DQC images of a phantom containing an aqueous solution of a trityl free radical, with phase encoding in the DQC evolution period or in the acquisition period, are presented. Possible applications of low field i-MQC images are proposed.     

Macroscale and microscale evolutions of mechanically alloyed FeZn systems

The present work aims to correlate, in time, macroscale and microscale phenomenological evolutions of the microstructure of Fe and FeZn alloys processed by mechanical milling (MM) and alloying (MA), respectively. Powders were characterized for particle size distribution (PSD), particle morphology (optical microscopy, OM, scanning electron microscopy, SEM), microhardness, crystallite size, differential scanning calometry (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Two macroscopic regimes of PSD behavior were distinguished: the first one dominated by the cold welding process; and, the other where both fracture and agglomeration play a significant role. Solid solubilization of Zn on bcc Fe was found to reduce the final microhardness as well as increase the lattice parameter and is very well predicted by Miedema's thermodynamical approach. Microhardness and solid solution formation kinetics were correlated in time and both could be precisely described by a logistic function. After 5 h of planetary milling, microhardness and the lattice parameter become stable as well as the PSD and particle morphology, indicating that the system has already reached steady state. Indeed, this condition can be monitored by both macroscopic and microscopic parameters. Prior to an homogeneous powder, DSC results suggest an endothermic solid-state amorphization reaction for samples processed for up to 1 h as a result of the formation of clean Fe/Zn interfaces during MA.     

The Chemistry of Diet: Medicine,Nutrition, and Staple Foods in Imperial Brazil

Brazilian cuisine is much admired by present-day international chefs. However, in the nineteenth century, local ingredients and recipes were looked down upon by the Portuguese colonists, as well as by visiting European naturalists. This fact, together with medical and chemical views formulated throughout the 1800s, led locally trained doctors to attribute the occurrence of countless diseases that devastated Rio de Janeiro to local staple foods, particularly corn and manioc flour. In the first part of the present article, I review the dietary habits of Brazilians through the eyes of European naturalists who travelled across the country in the early nineteenth century. In the second part, I summarise the ideas formulated by French and German chemists on the components, and consequent nutritional value, of cereals and other sources of flour, and then analyse the appropriation of such ideas—particularly those of Justus Liebig—by Brazilian doctors and their adaptation to local conditions.     

Near wall characterization of the flow over a two-dimensional steep smooth hill

Near-wall data for the strongly perturbed flow in a neutrally stable boundary layer encountering a steep, smooth, two-dimensional hill are presented. Observations were made on the centerplane of a water channel at thirteen stations relative to the hill by laser Doppler anemometry. The large reverse flow region that is formed on the lee of the hill was particularly scrutinized through seven measuring stations. Results are presented for the mean and turbulent properties of the flow. Wall shear stress was evaluated through fitting procedures that resorted to the near wall behavior of the velocity profile. Logarithmic fits as well as predictions through the Reynolds stress profiles are also presented.     

Around <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-Appell polynomial sequences

First we show that the quadratic decomposition of the Appell polynomials with respect to the q-divided difference operator is supplied by two other Appell sequences with respect to a new operator \(\mathcal{M}_{q;q^{-\varepsilon}}\), where ε represents a complex parameter different from any negative even integer number. While seeking all the orthogonal polynomial sequences invariant under the action of \(\mathcal{M}_{\sqrt{q};q^{-\varepsilon/2}}\) (the \(\mathcal{M}_{\sqrt{q};q^{-\varepsilon/2}}\)-Appell), only the Wall q-polynomials with parameter q ^ε/2+1 are achieved, up to a linear transformation. This brings a new characterization of these polynomial sequences.     

Fast magnetic reconnection in the plasmoid-dominated regime

A conceptual model of resistive magnetic reconnection via a stochastic plasmoid chain is proposed. The global reconnection rate is shown to be independent of the Lundquist number. The distribution of fluxes in the plasmoids is shown to be an inverse-square law. It is argued that there is a finite probability of emergence of abnormally large plasmoids, which can disrupt the chain (and may be responsible for observable large abrupt events in solar flares and sawtooth crashes). A criterion for the transition from the resistive magnetohydrodynamic to the collisionless regime is provided.