Applications on variational inequalities involving multivalued maps

We present a connection between variational inequalities of Stampacchia's type involving multivalued maps and partial differential inclusions. We solve the variational inequalities considered and, as a consequence, the differential inclusion associated, using the topological degree theory. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Residual stresses in thick electrodeposits of a nickel-cobalt alloy

Some electroplated metals contain residual stresses which can cause warpage or premature failure of parts plated or electrofomed with these materials. Noticeably absent from the literature are residual-stress data for finished parts. Typically for plated or electroformed parts, residual stresses are determined independently on thin strips and then piece parts are plated. This research describes a technique which can be used to measure stress on finished parts. The method involves drilling a hole in the part and measuring the resulting change of strain in the vicinity of the hole. Viability of this technique was demonstrated by measuring the stress in a nickel-cobalt deposit plated on an aluminum cylinder. Two separate runs, one 50 deg removed from the other, provided almost identical results; stress was 160 MN/m² (23,200 psi). Two other runs in a region where plating was somewhat thinner provided slightly lower results probably because all boundary-condition requirements were not met. The computed residual-stress values compared quite favorably with independent rigid-strip measurements of 131 MN/m² (19,000 psi) obtained for the solution before and after plating of the cylinder.     

Magnetically guided fast electrons in cylindrically compressed matter

Fast electrons produced by a 10 ps, 160 J laser pulse through laser-compressed plastic cylinders are studied experimentally and numerically in the context of fast ignition. K(α)-emission images reveal a collimated or scattered electron beam depending on the initial density and the compression timing. A numerical transport model shows that implosion-driven electrical resistivity gradients induce strong magnetic fields able to guide the electrons. The good agreement with measured beam sizes provides the first experimental evidence for fast-electron magnetic collimation in laser-compressed matter.     

Determination of free salsolinol concentrations in human urine using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The urine concentrations of free salsolinol were determined in six healthy volunteers, using a gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method with electron-capture negative-ion chemical ionization after derivatization with pentafluoropropionyl anhydride. The sensitivity of this method allows the quantification of salsolinol concentrations of 0.55 pmol/ml. The synthesis of [2H4]salsolinol from dopamine and [2H4]acetaldehyde via a Pictet-Spengler condensation is described; [2H4]salsolinol was used as the internal standard for salsolinol quantification. The urine concentrations of free salsolinol ranged from ca. 1 to 6 pmol/ml.     

Mechanisms of inter- and intramolecular communication in GPCRs and G proteins

This study represents the first attempt to couple, by computational experiments, the mechanisms of intramolecular and intermolecular communication concerning a guanidine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), the thromboxane A2 receptor (TXA2R), and the cognate G protein (Gq) in its heterotrimeric GDP-bound state. Two-way pathways mediate the communication between the receptor-G protein interface and both the agonist binding site of the receptor and the nucleotide binding site of the G protein. The increase in solvent accessibility in the neighborhoods of the highly conserved E/DRY receptor motif, in response to agonist binding, is instrumental in favoring the penetration of the C-terminus of Gqalpha in between the cytosolic ends of H3, H5, and H6. The arginine of the E/DRY motif is predicted to be an important mediator of the intramolecular and intermolecular communication involving the TXA2R. The receptor-G protein interface is predicted to involve multiple regions from the receptor and the G protein alpha-subunit. However, receptor contacts with the C-terminus of the alpha5-helix seem to be the major players in the receptor-catalyzed motion of the alpha-helical domain with respect to the Ras-like domain and in the formation of a nucleotide exit route in between the alphaF-helix and beta6/alpha5 loop of Gqalpha. The inferences from this study are of wide interest, as they are expected to apply to the whole rhodopsin family, given also the considerable G protein promiscuity.     

Determination of metal ion content of beverages and estimation of target hazard quotients: a comparative study

Background  

Considerable research has been directed towards the roles of metal ions in nutrition with metal ion toxicity attracting particular attention. The aim of this study is to measure the levels of metal ions found in selected beverages (red wine, stout and apple juice) and to determine their potential detrimental effects via calculation of the Target Hazard Quotients (THQ) for 250 mL daily consumption.     

Regulating Hartshorne’s connectedness theorem

The tensor square conjecture states that for \(n \ge 10\), there is an irreducible representation V of the symmetric group \(S_n\) such that \(V \otimes V\) contains every irreducible representation of \(S_n\). Our main result is that for large enough n, there exists an irreducible representation V such that \(V^{\otimes 4}\) contains every irreducible representation. We also show that tensor squares of certain irreducible representations contain \((1-o(1))\)-fraction of irreducible representations with respect to two natural probability distributions. Our main tool is the semigroup property, which allows us to break partitions down into smaller ones.