Local crystallization in an oxyfluoride glass doped with Er3+ ions using a continuous argon laser

Local crystalline formation in erbium doped oxyfluoride glass has been obtained under a cw Argon laser irradiation up to 1.8 W pumping power. By exciting at 514 nm, the emission from 800 nm and 850 nm corresponding to the ⁴S_3/2(²H_11/2)→⁴I_13/2 electronic transitions have been analyzed both inside and outside the irradiated area. The changes in the emission spectra indicate that the high power Ar laser irradiation has resulted in a localized desvitrification process. The temperature dependence of the fluorescence intensity ratio of the 800 nm and 850 nm emission bands has been used to determine the temperature of the irradiated zone. Moreover, the average lifetime of the ⁴S_3/2(²H_11/2) thermalized levels have been measured as a function of the excitation spot position. An important decrease is observed at the irradiated area. These results confirm that a localized cristalline phase has been created by the laser action.     

Anomeric effect in pyranose-ring derivatives containing carbon,silicon, and germanium as anomeric centers: an ab initio systematic study

Structural Chemistry - We have performed a systematic conformational analysis focused on the evaluation of the anomeric effect (AE) in a series of pyranose derivatives containing carbon, silicon,...     

Multivariate calibration for the improvement of the quantification of cadmium in the presence of potassium as interferent by total reflection X-ray fluorescence

A multivariate calibration method was applied to improve the accuracy of the determination of cadmium in the presence of potassium by total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF). Due to TXRF's relatively low resolution, a particular interference caused by potassium at line Kα 3.31 keV as interference can compromise the cadmium determination at line Lα 3.13 keV, respectively. The method is based on the hypothesis that the application of a multivariate calibration method, for example, partial least squares, could reduce variations due to interference and, consequently, improve the selectivity and accuracy in Cd determination. In this work, this strategy was evaluated on the X-ray fluorescence emission signals between 2.50 and 3.90 keV for a set of 26 different synthetic calibration mixtures and eight different mixtures for external calibration. Based on a certified reference material (Clay 2—CRM051) with high potassium levels, a significant improvement of accuracy for cadmium determination was observed, overcoming the problems associated with spectral interferences by potassium.     

The effect of argon bombardment on the oxidation of Fe(110) by oxygen and water

The oxidation of Fe(110) by O₂ and H₂O vapour has been studied by AES and LEED at room temperature in well ordered and in Ar bombarded surfaces. Ion irradiation causes in both cases an enhancement of the rate of oxidation. For O₂ adsorption, it has been found that ion bombardment increases the rate of surface oxide growth, whereas in the case of H₂O adsorption, the effect of the irradiation consists in facilitating the penetration of oxygen into the crystal bulk.     

Symplectic spread-based generalized Kerdock codes

Kerdock codes (Kerdock, Inform Control 20:182–187, 1972) are a well-known family of non-linear binary codes with good parameters admitting a linear presentation in terms of codes over the ring (see Nechaev, Diskret Mat 1:123–139, 1989; Hammons et al., IEEE Trans Inform Theory 40:301–319, 1994). These codes have been generalized in different directions: in Calderbank et al. (Proc Lond Math Soc 75:436–480, 1997) a symplectic construction of non-linear binary codes with the same parameters of the Kerdock codes has been given. Such codes are not necessarily equivalent. On the other hand, in Kuzmin and Nechaev (Russ Math Surv 49(5), 1994) the authors give a family of non-linear codes over the finite field F of q = 2 ^l elements, all of them admitting a linear presentation over the Galois Ring R of cardinality q ² and characteristic 2². The aim of this article is to merge both approaches, obtaining in this way new families of non-linear codes over F that can be presented as linear codes over the Galois Ring R. The construction uses symplectic spreads.      

Jordan Superalgebras of Type and the Wedderburn Principal Theorem (WPT)

An analogue of the Wedderburn Principal Theorem (WPT) is considered for finite-dimensional Jordan superalgebras 𝔍 with solvable radical 𝒩, 𝒩 ² = 0, and such that , where 𝔽 is a field of characteristic zero. It is proved that the WPT is valid under some restrictions over the irreducible -bimodules contained in 𝒩, and it is shown with counterexamples that these restrictions cannot be weakened.     

Multiple stability and uniqueness of the limit cycle in a Gause-type predator–prey model considering the Allee effect on prey

In this work, a bidimensional differential equation system obtained by modifying the well-known predator–prey Rosenzweig–MacArthur model is analyzed by considering prey growth influenced by the Allee effect.One of the main consequences of this modification is a separatrix curve that appears in the phase plane, dividing the behavior of the trajectories. The results show that the equilibrium in the origin is an attractor for any set of parameters. The unique positive equilibrium, when it exists, can be either an attractor or a repeller surrounded by a limit cycle, whose uniqueness is established by calculating the Lyapunov quantities. Therefore, both populations could either reach deterministic extinction or long-term deterministic coexistence.The existence of a heteroclinic curve is also proved. When this curve is broken by changing parameter values, then the origin turns out to be an attractor for all orbits in the phase plane. This implies that there are plausible conditions where both populations can go to extinction. We conclude that strong and weak Allee effects on prey population exert similar influences on the predator–prey model, thereby increasing the risk of ecological extinction.     

A survey of static and dynamic potential games

Potential games are noncooperative games for which there exist auxiliary functions, called potentials, such that the maximizers of the potential are also Nash equilibria of the corresponding game. Some properties of Nash equilibria, such as existence or stability, can be derived from the potential, whenever it exists. We survey different classes of potential games in the static and dynamic cases, with a finite number of players, as well as in population games where a continuum of players is allowed. Likewise, theoretical concepts and applications are discussed by means of illustrative examples.     

A limit theorem for continuous selectors

Any (measurable) function K from Rⁿ to R defines an operator K acting on random variables X by K(X) = K(X₁,..., X_n), where the X_j are independent copies of X. The main result of this paper concerns continuous selectors H, continuous functions defined in Rn and such that H(x₁, x₂,..., x_n) ∈ {x₁, x₂,..., x_n}. For each such continuous selector H (except for projections onto a single coordinate) there is a unique point ω_H in the interval (0, 1) so that, for any random variable X, the iterates H^(N) acting on X converge in distribution as N → ∞ to the ωH-quantile of X.