Power-law time distribution of large earthquakes

We study the statistical properties of time distribution of seismicity in California by means of a new method of analysis, the diffusion entropy. We find that the distribution of time intervals between a large earthquake (the main shock of a given seismic sequence) and the next one does not obey Poisson statistics, as assumed by the current models. We prove that this distribution is an inverse power law with an exponent mu=2.06+/-0.01. We propose the long-range model, reproducing the main properties of the diffusion entropy and describing the seismic triggering mechanisms induced by large earthquakes.     

On the structure of 3‐acetylamino‐5‐methyl‐1,2,4‐oxadiazole and on the fully degenerate rearrangements (FDR) of its anion: a stimulating comparison between the results of ‘in‐silicon chemistry’ and ‘laboratory chemistry’

An accurate crystal structure determination has provided evidence for a planar conformation for 3‐acetylamino‐5‐methyl‐1,2,4‐oxadiazole ( 5 ), in agreement with quantum‐mechanical calculations in the gas phase. In the crystal, a series of strong intermolecular N7H7^….O9 hydrogen bonds link the amido groups of different molecules, causing the formation of infinite parallel ordered chains. The effect of the DMSO solvent on the energy and charge distribution of compound 5 and on its relevant 5 ^? anion, involved in a fully degenerate rearrangement (FDR), has been deepened by quantum‐mechanical DFT calculations. The calculated energy barrier for the FDR increases in going from in vacuo to DMSO, in agreement with previsions based on the Hughes and Ingold rules concerning the nucleophilic substitution of an anionic reagent (the deprotonated amido group in the side chain) on a neutral substrate (the 1,2,4‐oxadiazole ring). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Markovian extensions of symmetric second order elliptic differential operators

Let be bounded with a smooth boundary Γ and let S be the symmetric operator in given by the minimal realization of a second order elliptic differential operator. We give a complete classification of the Markovian self‐adjoint extensions of S by providing an explicit one‐to‐one correspondence between such extensions and the class of Dirichlet forms in which are additively decomposable by the bilinear form of the Dirichlet‐to‐Neumann operator plus a Markovian form. By such a result two further equivalent classifications are provided: the first one is expressed in terms of an additive decomposition of the bilinear forms associated to the extensions, the second one uses the additive decomposition of the resolvents provided by Kre?n's formula. The Markovian part of the decomposition allows to characterize the operator domain of the corresponding extension in terms of Wentzell‐type boundary conditions. Some properties of the extensions, and of the corresponding Dirichlet forms, semigroups and heat kernels, like locality, regularity, irreducibility, recurrence, transience, ultracontractivity and Gaussian bounds are also discussed.     

Handling errors as they arise in whole-class interactions

There has been a long history of research into errors and their role in the teaching and learning of mathematics. This research has led to a change to pedagogical recommendations from avoiding errors to explicitly using them in lessons. In this study, 22 mathematics lessons were video-recorded and transcribed. A conversation analytic (CA) approach was then taken to examine how mathematical errors are treated by teachers and students when they arise in interaction. Despite pedagogical recommendations, in these interactions, errors continue to be predominantly treated as something to avoid. There is a tension between the affective aspects of managing errors in interactions and the cognitive aspects. Close examination of classroom interactions enable us to see how these tensions are managed both by teachers and students.     

On the complexity of some subgraph problems

We study the complexity of the problem of deciding the existence of a spanning subgraph of a given graph, and of that of finding a maximum (weight) such subgraph. We establish some general relations between these problems, and we use these relations to obtain new NP-completeness results for maximum (weight) spanning subgraph problems from analogous results for existence problems and from results in extremal graph theory. On the positive side, we provide a decomposition method for the maximum (weight) spanning chordal subgraph problem that can be used, e.g., to obtain a linear (or O(nlogn)) time algorithm for such problems in graphs with vertex degree bounded by 3.     

The Behavior of Solutions of Multidimensional Aggregation Equations with Mildly Singular Interaction Kernels

The authors consider the multidimensional aggregation equation tp-div（p K＊ ρ） = 0 in which the radially symmetric attractive interaction kernel has a mild singularity at the origin （Lipschitz or better）, and review recent results on this problem concerning well-posedness of nonnegative solutions and finite time blowup in multiple space dimensions depending on the behavior of the kernel at the origin. The problem with bounded initial data, data in L^p ∩ L^1, and measure solutions are also considered.     

Closed trail decompositions of complete equipartite graphs

The complete equipartite graph $K_m * {\overline{K_n}}$ has mn vertices partitioned into m parts of size n, with two vertices adjacent if and only if they are in different parts. In this paper, we determine necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a decomposition of $K_m * {\overline{K_n}}$ into closed trails of length k. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 374–403, 2009     

On the additivity of block designs

We show that symmetric block designs \({\mathcal {D}}=({\mathcal {P}},{\mathcal {B}})\) can be embedded in a suitable commutative group \({\mathfrak {G}}_{\mathcal {D}}\) in such a way that the sum of the elements in each block is zero, whereas the only Steiner triple systems with this property are the point-line designs of \({\mathrm {PG}}(d,2)\) and \({\mathrm {AG}}(d,3)\). In both cases, the blocks can be characterized as the only k-subsets of \(\mathcal {P}\) whose elements sum to zero. It follows that the group of automorphisms of any such design \(\mathcal {D}\) is the group of automorphisms of \({\mathfrak {G}}_\mathcal {D}\) that leave \(\mathcal {P}\) invariant. In some special cases, the group \({\mathfrak {G}}_\mathcal {D}\) can be determined uniquely by the parameters of \(\mathcal {D}\). For instance, if \(\mathcal {D}\) is a 2-\((v,k,\lambda )\) symmetric design of prime order p not dividing k, then \({\mathfrak {G}}_\mathcal {D}\) is (essentially) isomorphic to \(({\mathbb {Z}}/p{\mathbb {Z}})^{\frac{v-1}{2}}\), and the embedding of the design in the group can be described explicitly. Moreover, in this case, the blocks of \(\mathcal {B}\) can be characterized also as the v intersections of \(\mathcal {P}\) with v suitable hyperplanes of \(({\mathbb {Z}}/p{\mathbb {Z}})^{\frac{v-1}{2}}\).     

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Phenolic Compounds from Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Seed Kernels and Their Application as an Antioxidant in an Edible Oil

Phenolic compounds from mango (M. indica) seed kernels (MSK) var. Sugar were obtained using supercritical CO₂ and EtOH as an extraction solvent. For this purpose, a central composite design was carried out to evaluate the effect of extraction pressure (11–21 MPa), temperature (40–60 °C), and co-solvent contribution (5–15% w/w EtOH) on (i) extraction yield, (ii) oxidative stability (OS) of sunflower edible oil (SEO) with added extract using the Rancimat method, (iii) total phenolics content, (iv) total flavonoids content, and (v) DPPH radical assay. The most influential variable of the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) process was the concentration of the co-solvent. The best OS of SEO was reached with the extract obtained at 21.0 MPa, 60 °C and 15% EtOH. Under these conditions, the extract increased the OS of SEO by up to 6.1 ± 0.2 h (OS of SEO without antioxidant, Control, was 3.5 h). The composition of the extract influenced the oxidative stability of the sunflower edible oil. By SFE it was possible to obtain extracts from mango seed kernels (MSK) var. Sugar that transfer OS to the SEO. These promissory extracts could be applied to foods and other products.