Hölder Continuity of Solutions to the Kinematic Dynamo Equations

We study the propagation of regularity of solutions to a three dimensional system of linear parabolic PDE known as the kinematic dynamo equations. The divergence free drift velocity is assumed to be at the critical regularity level with respect to the natural scaling of the equations.     

Visualising many-body electron dynamics using one-body densities and orbitals

As experimental techniques begin to probe electronic motions in increasing detail, the need is arising for compact and informative visualisations of simulations of such processes. The inherent challenge is that a full many-electron wavefunction is a high-dimensional object, representing the complicated correlations of strongly repulsive bodies in a small molecular volume. A general procedure is needed to distill this to a smaller amount of information that does not rely on any specific level of approximation. The result should allow for easy and intuitive interpretation while drawing out nontrivial aspects of the underlying many-body dynamics, such as the complex phase information inherent of a nonstationary state. Current visualisation schemes based on physical observables or the qualitative information contained in simple wavefunctions, such as time-dependent configuration-interaction-singles (TD-CIS) and time-dependent self-consistent-field (TD-SCF), are discussed. This information is compared to an analysis based on the one-body reduced density operator (1-RDO), which is well-defined for general wavefunctions. It is seen that the distinction between two paradigms of many-body dynamics, electron transport and energy transport, is reflected in the coherences of a difference-1-RDO, or lack thereof.     

Purification of a 166mHo solution by successive high-performance liquid chromatography and gravitational chromatography for half-life determination

A methodology to purify a ^166mHo solution has been developed by a combination of activity and mass concentration measurements in order to further determine the ^166mHo half-life. The isobaric interference at m/q ? 166 requires Ho purification from non-natural Er with a high purification degree due to the large amount of Ho as opposed to Er. The Ho/Er separation was achieved using high-performance liquid chromatography on a semi-preparative column followed by purification on gravitational chromatography. The efficiency of the separation was evaluated after precise determination of the Er isotopic composition. The purification methodology enabled to separate Ho from Er.     

Chiral Amine Synthesis Using ω‐Transaminases: An Amine Donor that Displaces Equilibria and Enables High‐Throughput Screening

The widespread application of ω‐transaminases as biocatalysts for chiral amine synthesis has been hampered by fundamental challenges, including unfavorable equilibrium positions and product inhibition. Herein, an efficient process that allows reactions to proceed in high conversion in the absence of by‐product removal using only one equivalent of a diamine donor (ortho‐xylylenediamine) is reported. This operationally simple method is compatible with the most widely used (R)‐ and (S)‐selective ω‐TAs and is particularly suitable for the conversion of substrates with unfavorable equilibrium positions (e.g., 1‐indanone). Significantly, spontaneous polymerization of the isoindole by‐product generates colored derivatives, providing a high‐throughput screening platform to identify desired ω‐TA activity.     

Glutaraldehyde crosslinking of arabinoxylan produced from corn ethanol residuals

This study investigated the possibility of substituting petroleum-based polymers with biopolymers for films and paper coatings. Arabinoxylan (AX) was extracted from distillers’ grains, a low-value corn ethanol byproduct, and modified through crosslinking with glutaraldehyde (GA) which was made into films and paper coatings. The effects of degree of substitution (DS) on film and coating properties of GA cross-linked AX, referred to as GAX, were investigated. The GAX films had markedly higher tensile strength, approximately 3 times higher than the unmodified AX films at low DS, with higher DS causing a negative effect on the film tensile strength. Compared to unmodified AX coating, paper coated with GAX also had significantly higher tensile index, presumably due to high adhesion between the coating and paper interface. When used as a coating binder with calcium carbonate pigments, GAX showed comparable performance to polyvinyl alcohol, a common industrial binder, demonstrating the potential to be substituted for the petroleum-based paper coating binder.     

Determination of the Dominant Species and Reactions in Non-equilibrium CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Thermal Plasmas with a Two-Temperature Chemical Kinetic Model

It has become increasingly clear that deviations from local thermodynamic equilibrium occur in thermal plasmas. This paper is devoted to investigating the non-equilibrium characteristics of CO₂ thermal plasmas, which have wide application in industry. A two-temperature chemical kinetic model with a comprehensive chemical system is developed to calculate the non-equilibrium characteristics of CO₂ thermal plasmas for a wide temperature range, from 12,000 to 500 K, at atmospheric pressure. The non-equilibrium results are compared to the equilibrium composition obtained by Gibbs free energy minimization, and significant deviations are found at lower temperatures. Based on the dependence of molar fractions on temperature, the dominant species are determined in three temperature ranges. The dominant reactions are then obtained by considering their contribution to the generation and loss of the dominant species. Using the dominant species and reactions, the full model is simplified into three simpler models and the accuracy of the simplified models is evaluated. It is shown that this approach greatly reduces the number of species and reactions considered, while showing good agreement with the full model, with a root-mean-square error of no more than 4 %. Thus, the complicated physicochemical processes in non-equilibrium CO₂ thermal plasmas can be characterized by relatively few species and reactions. It is suggested that the two-temperature chemical kinetic model developed in this paper can be applied to the full range of pressures that occur in arc welding, arc quenching and other industrial applications. In addition, the simplified methods can be applied in multi-dimensional models to reduce the chemical complexity and computing time while capturing the main physicochemical processes in non-equilibrium CO₂ thermal plasmas.     

Multiaxial mechanical behavior of aramid fibers and identification of skin/core structure from single fiber transverse compression testing

The transverse and longitudinal mechanical properties of aramid fibers like Kevlar? 29 (K29) fibers are strongly linked to their highly oriented structure. Mechanical characterization at the single fiber scale is challenging especially when the diameter is as small as 15 µm. Longitudinal tensile tests on single K29 fibers and single fiber transverse compression test (SFTCT) have been developed. Our approach consists of coupling morphological observations and mechanical experiments with SFTCT analysis by comparing analytical solutions and finite element modeling. New insights on the analysis of the transverse direction response are highlighted. Systematic loading/unloading compression tests enable to experimentally determine a transverse elastic limit. Taking account of the strong anisotropy of the fiber, the transverse mechanical response sheds light on a skin/core architecture. More importantly, results suggest that the skin of the fiber, typically representing a shell of one micrometer in thickness, has a transverse apparent modulus of 0.2 GPa. That is around more than fifteen times lower than the transverse modulus of 3.0 GPa in the core. By comparison, the measured longitudinal modulus is about 84 GPa. The stress distribution in the fiber is explored and the critical areas for damage initiation are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 374–384