Caesium Heptaiodo‐Dititanate(III), CsTi2I7

Caesium heptaiodo‐dititanate(III), CsTi₂I₇, is obtained from CsI, Ti and TiI₄ at 250 °C in a sealed tantalum ampoule as dark red single crystals. The crystal structure (trigonal, R‐3, a = 1706.6(3), c = 2088.3(5) pm, Z = 12, R1 = 0.0619) contains [TiI₄] tetrahedra sharing common vertices (with Ti—I—Ti angles of 180°) to isolated ditetrahedra [Ti₂I₇]^—. It may also be described as a cubic closest packing of alternating CsI₃ and I₄ layers between which neighbouring tetrahedra are occupied in a way that [Ti₂I₇]^— ditetrahedra are achieved. http://www.gerdmeyer.de     

On Topological Properties of Min-Max Functions

We examine the topological structure of the upper-level set M ^max given by a min-max function φ. It is motivated by recent progress in Generalized Semi-Infinite Programming (GSIP). Generically, M ^max is proven to be the topological closure of the GSIP feasible set (see Guerra-Vázquez et al. 2009; Günzel et al., Cent Eur J Oper Res 15(3):271–280, 2007). We formulate two assumptions (Compactness Condition CC and Sym-MFCQ) which imply that M ^max is a Lipschitz manifold (with boundary). The Compactness Condition is shown to be stable under C ⁰-perturbations of the defining functions of φ. Sym-MFCQ can be seen as a constraint qualification in terms of Clarke’s subdifferential of the min-max function φ. Moreover, Sym-MFCQ is proven to be generic and stable under C ¹-perturbations of the defining functions which fulfill the Compactness Condition. Finally we apply our results to GSIP and conclude that generically the closure of the GSIP feasible set is a Lipschitz manifold (with boundary).     

On Logarithmic Smoothing of the Maximum Function

We consider the maximum function f resulting from a finite number of smooth functions. The logarithmic barrier function of the epigraph of f gives rise to a smooth approximation g of f itself, where >0 denotes the approximation parameter. The one-parametric family g converges – relative to a compact subset – uniformly to the function f as tends to zero. Under nondegeneracy assumptions we show that the stationary points of g and f correspond to each other, and that their respective Morse indices coincide. The latter correspondence is obtained by establishing smooth curves x() of stationary points for g , where each x() converges to the corresponding stationary point of f as tends to zero. In case of a strongly unique local minimizer, we show that the nondegeneracy assumption may be relaxed in order to obtain a smooth curve x().     

Global Optimization: On Pathlengths in Min-Max Graphs

Let f be a smooth nondegenerate real valued function on a finite dimensional, compact and connected Riemannian manifold. The bipartite min-max graph is defined as follows. Its nodes are formed by the set of local minima and the set of local maxima. Two nodes (a local minimum and a local maximum) are connected in by means of an edge if some trajectory of the corresponding gradient flow connects them. Given a natural number k, we construct a function f such that the length of the shortest path in between two specific local minima exceeds k. The latter construction is independent of the underlying Riemannian metric.     

RF cavity simulations for superconducting cyclotron C400

Compact superconducting isochronous cyclotron C400 [1] has been designed at IBA (Belgium) in collaboration with the JINR (Dubna). This cyclotron will be the first cyclotron in the world capable of delivering protons, carbon and helium ions for therapeutic use. ¹²C⁶⁺ and ⁴He²⁺ ions will be accelerated to 400 MeV/u energy and extracted by electrostatic deflector, H₂⁺ ions will be accelerated to the energy of 265 MeV/u and extracted by stripping. It is planned to use two normal conducting RF cavities for ion beam acceleration in the cyclotron C400. Computer model of the double gap delta RF cavity with 4 stems was developed in the general-purpose simulation software CST STUDIO SUITE. Necessary resonant frequency and increase of the voltage along the gaps were achieved. Optimization of the RF cavity parameters leads us to the cavity with quality factor about 14000, RF power dissipation is equal to about 50 kW per cavity.     

Parallel Dynamics of Fully Connected Q-Ising Neural Networks

Using a probabilistic approach, the parallel dynamics of fully connected Q-Ising neural networks is studied for arbitrary Q. A novel recursive scheme is set up to determine the time evolution of the order parameters through the evolution of the distribution of the local field, taking into account all feedback correlations. In contrast to extremely diluted and layered network architectures, the local field is no longer normally distributed but contains a discrete part. As an illustrative example, an explicit analysis is carried out for the first four time steps. For the case of the Q = 2 and Q = 3 model the results are compared with extensive numerical simulations and excellent agreement is found. Finally, equilibrium fixed-point equations are derived and compared with the thermodynamic approach based upon the replica-symmetric mean-field approximation.     

The developmental pattern of stimulus and response interference in a color-object Stroop task: an ERP study

Background

Several studies have shown that Stroop interference is stronger in children than in adults. However, in a standard Stroop paradigm, stimulus interference and response interference are confounded. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether interference at the stimulus level and the response level are subject to distinct maturational patterns across childhood. Three groups of children (6–7 year-olds, 8–9 year-olds, and 10–12 year-olds) and a group of adults performed a manual Color-Object Stroop designed to disentangle stimulus interference and response interference. This was accomplished by comparing three trial types. In congruent (C) trials there was no interference. In stimulus incongruent (SI) trials there was only stimulus interference. In response incongruent (RI) trials there was stimulus interference and response interference. Stimulus interference and response interference were measured by a comparison of SI with C, and RI with SI trials, respectively. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured to study the temporal dynamics of these processes of interference.

Results

There was no behavioral evidence for stimulus interference in any of the groups, but in 6–7 year-old children ERPs in the SI condition in comparison with the C condition showed an occipital P1-reduction (80–140 ms) and a widely distributed amplitude enhancement of a negative component followed by an amplitude reduction of a positive component (400–560 ms). For response interference, all groups showed a comparable reaction time (RT) delay, but children made more errors than adults. ERPs in the RI condition in comparison with the SI condition showed an amplitude reduction of a positive component over lateral parietal (-occipital) sites in 10–12 year-olds and adults (300–540 ms), and a widely distributed amplitude enhancement of a positive component in all age groups (680–960 ms). The size of the enhancement correlated positively with the RT response interference effect.

Conclusion

Although processes of stimulus interference control as measured with the color-object Stroop task seem to reach mature levels relatively early in childhood (6–7 years), development of response interference control appears to continue into late adolescence as 10–12 year-olds were still more susceptible to errors of response interference than adults.